Slightly earlier edition this AM due to my flight schedule…thanks to Florin and the team for organising the files earlier today!
Parish events: This week I will be speaking at the Finance Malta May 25/26 on a FinTech theme.
Meanwhile the FESE Convention, is upcoming at the same venue, Malta, 15/16th June while ICDA have already delivered a discount code for their upcoming CyberRisk conference in London, July 20th: Secure a place at GBP 295 with the code YOUNG295.
Public Markets
Cetip Agrees To Be Acquired By BM&FBovespa
Reuters
Shareholders in Cetip SA Mercados Organizados agreed on Friday to a takeover by BM&FBovespa. Shareholders also decided to drop a compulsory tender offer that could have had to be launched prior to the acquisition by BM&FBovespa, according to a securities filing. BM&FBovespa agreed to pay $3.6 billion for Cetip in April.
QV Premium: Exchange Deals Brief.
PLY: It’s a big moment in unifying Brazilian infrastructure (albeit with execution platform competition emerging from ATG etc.). I cannot help but think that BM&F Bovespa have been motivated by the installation of the Cinnober real time clearing system AKA having seen the advantages that delivers in terms of collateral benefits et al, management realised it was an optimum moment to pounce… Very interesting deal, albeit with some not inconsiderable competition considerations.
France: DB1, LSE Deal Raises Competition Concerns
Reuters
France Warns Over Stock Exchange Merger Deal
SKY NEWS
French finance minister Michel Sapin called for the European Commission to intervene to stop the new group achieving a dominant position, and also warned of the possible consequences of the deal for Europe’s economy.
PLY: If anybody is remotely surprised by this, they may be having visions of messianic brilliance, amongst other foibles.
Activist Hedge Fund TCI Boosts Its Investment in M&A Target LSE
Trista Kelley – Bloomberg
QV Premium: DB1-LSE Merger Brief.
PLY: Doubtless a source of water cooler discussion for days to come.
RBI Allows Overseas Investors To Buy Stake In MCX
The Economic Times
The Reserve Bank has allowed overseas investors to buy equity shares in MCX after foreign shareholding in the bourse fell below the prescribed threshold caution limit.
PLY: An ultimate latency issue, if you buy as soon as tomorrow or perhaps next week the foreigner allocation may already be locked limit up again… not what I would regard as a coherent way to deal with foreign investors…
Hong Kong Kicks Off Talks To Boost Scrutiny On Stock Markets
Saikat Chatterjee – Reuters
Hong Kong’s markets regulator has taken the first step to introduce rules that would force stock brokers to disclose the individual identities of investors making equities trades in the city.
Private Markets
Some Foreign Investors Target NSE In Rare Shareholder Backlash
Rafael Nam & Abhirup Roy – Reuters
Some foreign investors are accusing India’s National SE of dragging its feet on an IPO, saying management is ignoring them and purging their views from minutes of meetings, letters and emails.
PLY: Sohil Chand, Norwest VP: “The NSE is a model of poor corporate governance.”
Ouch!
Sebi Asks NCDEX To Probe Senior Management’s Role In Castor Seed Fiasco
Ram Sahgal & Reena Zachariah – The Economic Times
Sebi has asked the NCDEX board to consider the forensic report by an external agency appointed to run an audit on the castor default and take action against the senior management of the exchange accordingly.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: Monday bounce with news of foreign investor headroom pushing MCX up 6% while FTIL is up 3%.
Technology
Intesa Sanpaolo Sets Up London Innovation Centre (subscription)
Anna Irrera – Financial News
Intesa Sanpaolo has opened an innovation centre in London, less than a month after it launched a new venture fund to back fintech startups.
Products
Banks Identify Possible Replacements For U.S. Libor
Richard Leong – Reuters
A group of global banks and clearing houses, working with U.S. regulators, said on Friday it has identified two possible replacements for Libor.
Reuters
Euroclear & Lyxor Launch Bond Liquidity Calculator (subscription)
Elizabeth Pfeuti – Financial News
Euroclear and Lyxor Asset Management have launched a tool to help the buyside calculate liquidity in the bond markets, which has been deteriorating amid regulatory and central bank pressures.
Indexes
Bats Global Markets To Be Added To Wilshire 5000 Index
MondoVisione
Career Paths
TradingScreen announced the creation of an Executive Committee consisting of three long time board members, Piero Grandi, Pierre Schroeder and Robert Trudeau, to oversee the operations of the company. Grandi has been elected Chairman of the Board and effective immediately, Schroeder will serve as CEO during Co-founder Philippe Buhannic’s leave of absence.
Reuters reports that the nominee for CEO of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Pedro Parente, plans to keep his post as Chairman of BM&FBovespa if the companies see no conflict of interest.
Reuters reports that China has appointed Wu Qing as head of the Shanghai SE, replacing Gui Minjie who is due to retire.
FOW reports that former head of business development at HKEX, Sharon Ang, has joined CBOE as a HK-based business development consultant.
Finance Magnates reports that Bombay SE (BSE) appointed Sumit Bose – former finance secretary in India – as a new member of its Governing Board as a Public Interest Director, following the appointment of Justice Vikramajit Sen.
The GMS of SIX has elected Dr Shannon Thyme Klinger, Dr Jürg Bühlmann and Stefan Helfenstein as new members of the BoD. They are replacing Dr Barbara Kessler, Hermann Wirz and Dr Philipp Halbherr, who did not stand for re-election.
FX-Week reports that Jim Cochrane, a MD in charge of FX transaction cost analysis (TCA) at ITG, has left the firm. Cochrane joined ITG in December 2011, and acted as senior product manager for the firm’s FX TCA offering.
Financial Calendar
25-26.05 – Finance Malta Annual Conference
26.05 – Oslo Bors NOK 4.15 dividend payment
27.05 – Record date TMX $0.40 dividend
All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.
Crowdfunding
LendingClub Is Ruining It for the Rest of Fintech
Elizabeth Dexheimer – Bloomberg
Scandal, fleeing investors and a subpoena at the high-profile financial-technology firm aren’t the only bumps in the road. A U.S. Treasury report last week recommended stricter scrutiny of fintech firms, which have mostly been regulated until now only on the state level.
PLY: The LendingClub shambles is a classic old fashioned conflict of interest story – nothing new. However the way the incumbent bankers are pushing to make a big deal out of it is a clear example of their desperation to maintain their monopoly on money and money process… The difficulty is government may not have enough backbone to regulate pragmatically.
Other stories
CEINEX Gets Off To A Sound Start
MondoVisione
PLY: Chinese state controlled capitalism meets up with Germany’s crack markets’ messiahs – how can things fail to flourish given an abiding unity of transparent standards and desire to promote the message of open markets?
MondoVisione
Watching The ‘Insiders’: The FCA’s Fight Against Illicit Traders In The City (subscription)
Caroline Binham – Financial Times
‘Operation Tabernula’ was the FCA’s most ambitious insider trading case. Yet £14m later, only five men have been convicted.
PLY: QV A track record akin to The Serious Fraud Squad. Presumably past courtroom outcomes cannot be considered as an indicator of likely future litigation performance?