I am in Malta where the Finance Malta Conference kicks off this evening, I look forward to speaking tomorrow. 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.
We added a new Brief in Premium overnight where you can keep up with pending public offerings by market structure companies: Exchange Deals Brief – IPOs
Magnus Bocker gets a fascinating new job on the sell side while the TradingScreen situation is festering and not likely to help that vendor in a competitive environment.
Public Markets
JSE Boss Says Future Merger Is Likely
Wedaeli Chibelushi – African Business Review
Johannesburg SE (JSE) is likely to see a capital alliance or merger with a large overseas exchange eventually, but not in the immediate future, JSE CEO Russell Loubser said.
PLY: Interesting to hear from Russell who really shaped the modern entity which is JSE.
Softer Line On European Trading Rules Approaches (subscription)
Financial Times
PLY: Given the paucity of cash in the coffers of regulators everywhere, as I have noted for some time now, this is only to be expected along with a rollback of rules in the relatively near term.
Top Banks Gain From Discontent Over Hefty LME Fee Increases
Pratima Desai – Reuters
Business moving to banks and in some cases, the CME, is reflected by a 4% drop in volumes last year, the first annual fall since 2009.
CME Europe to Start New FX Liquidity Creation Programme in June
Steven Hatzakis – Finance Magnates
CME Europe is replacing its current Long Term Revenue Share Programme (LTRSP) at the end of June 2016 with a new FX Liquidity Creation Programme (LCP).
LCH To Offer Equities Clearing On SIGMA X MTF
MondoVisione
PLY: From July 2016, LCH will now be CCP to some 17 equity venues in Europe. Good tally.
BGC Partners – Offering Of Senior Notes
BGC Partners
BGC intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment in full of BGC’s 4.50% convertible notes scheduled to mature on July 15, 2016, and to fund future potential acquisitions.
PLY: Plus BGC have a few items from GFI yet to sell… That could give them a significant war chest for acquisitions in future.
Congress To Weigh Spending Cuts To U.S. SEC
Lisa Lambert – Reuters
According to a summary of legislation released on Tuesday, the Financial Services Subcommittee will debate appropriating $1.5 billion for the SEC, which is $50 million below current levels and $226 million less than the amount President Barack Obama requested.
Private Markets
Hackers Steal $2 Million From BTC HK Exchange, Bounty Offered To Recover Funds
Robert Olsen – Forbes
Hackers appear to have made off with the equivalent of $2 million in digital currencies from Gatecoin between May 9 and 12. In total, the hackers were able to steal 250 Bitcoins and 185,000 Ethers, representing 15% of Gatecoin’s crypto-asset deposits.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: MCX up 1%, FTIL slightly up.
FTIL Board Removal Case: CLB Fixes June 2 As Next Hearing Date
KR Srivats – The Hindu Business Line
The Company Law Board (CLB) has set June 2 as the next hearing date in the FTIL board removal case. This emerged at the CLB hearing on Monday in New Delhi.
QV Premium: NSEL Scandal Brief – Part 16 and NSEL-FTIL Merger Brief.
Technology
NYSE Launches New Trading Tech Platform, NYSE Pillar
Tanya Andreasyan – Banking Technology
The roll-out of Pillar started in early 2016. In March, NYSE announced the completion of a “key phase” of the project and said it was on track in the testing stage. Once completely rolled out, Pillar will enable traders to connect to each of NYSE markets – NYSE, NYSE MKT, NYSE Arca, NYSE Arca Options, NYSE Amex Options, Global OTC and NYSE Bonds – using a single specification and will include new gateways and matching engines.
MOEX: Final Testing Of The New FX Market ASTS+ Trading & Clearing System
MondoVisione
NYSE Legend Art Cashin Is Worried About The Rise Of Robots
Myles Udland – Business Insider
Cashin, a MD at UBS and director of floor operations at NYSE, has been a stalwart on the NYSE floor for 50 years.
Products
CFTC Closes U.S. Banks’ Loophole on Swaps (subscription)
Andrew Ackerman & Gabriel T. Rubin – Wall Street Journal
New rules will limit banks’ ability to move swaps business overseas.
CFTC Issues Final Cross-Border Margin Rule
CFTC
MondoVisione
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MondoVisione
LME Plans To Boost PGM Price Benchmark Participation
Ewa Manthey – Bullion Desk
LME has plans to raise participation in its platinum and palladium fixes, Matthew Chamberlain, head of business development at LME, said.
US Treasury Clearing House Eyes HFT Access (subscription)
Financial Times
Non-banks take increasing role in world’s largest government bond market.
ITG Launches PowerMatch for POSIT Alert
ITG
Indexes
STOXX Launches Euro STOXX 50 Multi-Asset Indices That Blend Equities & Bonds
MondoVisione
Career Paths
ICE promoted Mayur Kapani to CTO. He reports to Chuck Vice, ICE President & COO. Kapani joined ICE in 2006, from Philadelphia SE. At ICE he was serving most recently as SVP of Trading Technology.
In April 2016, Magnus Bocker, the ex-CEO of SGX, officially joined Kouclo Group as the chief strategic officer (CSO) in charge of the capital market and listing businesses.
PLY: The Chinglish press release is not entirely accurate by dint of translation error but it is great to see Magnus back in this role and I wish him every success.
Bursa Malaysia appointed Encik Johari bin Abdul Muid as its Nominee Director to the BoD of its subsidiaries, Bursa Malaysia Securities and its clearing house, Bursa Malaysia Securities Clearing Sdn, effective 25 May 2016. He is currently a Director of Malaysia Debt Ventures, and Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn. He is also an Investment Panel Member of Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen.
The BoD of these subsidiaries as at 25 May 2016 consist of three Directors of Bursa Malaysia and one independent Director, as follows: Encik Johari bin Abdul Muid, NED & Public Interest Director of Bursa Malaysia, Dato’ Saiful Bahri bin Zainuddin, Independent NED of Bursa Malaysia, Datuk Seri Tajuddin bin Atan, CEO & Executive Director of Bursa Malaysia; and Mr. Kuok Wee Kiat, Independent Director.
MondoVisione
PLY: Presumably a covenant/voting rights issue here if the board has a majority one way and the common stock majority is in disagreement (given that this has apparently been festering for some time). Sad to see such an affair in the public eye, and the precise accusations of misconduct against Co-Founder Philippe Buhannic remain broadly undisclosed beyond a reported assault. Certainly things getting nasty and being played out in the value destructive public eye.
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
First Nordic Crowdfunded Campaign Now Listed On Stock Exchange, Becomes Fastest Crowdfunded Exit
MondoVisione
PLY: Hmmm, I am a tad cynical – the number of firsts in crowdfunding claims is, er, a bit. ‘Crowded.’ This was surely much more a crowdfunded move to exchange (qv simultaneous raises in the UK by crowd and SME market e.g. ISDX) as opposed to an “exit?” True, the parish ‘leaders’ have in some cases done little to avoid misleading hype so it is unsurprising it will trickle down but I am not convinced this hype is the best way forward reputationally.
Other stories
Ex-Barclays Trader Says Rivals ‘Corrupt’ in Setting Libor
Jeremy Hodges – Bloomberg
PLY: A tricky Occam’s razor-like approach.. Did Barclays managers know or were they incompetent? Hmmm, well it is Barclays of course so that leaves the question better balanced than some banks I suppose.
TABB: Clearing House Evolution Adds to Challenges Facing Futures Commission Merchants
MondoVisione
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MondoVisione
Blockchain Goes Beyond Crypto-Currency
Olga Kharif – Bloomberg
Starting next September, some logistics companies in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia will begin outfitting shipping containers with a soda-can-size device that will beam out the cargo’s location, how much it’s vibrating as it travels, and its ambient temperature. The data will flow into a repository in the cloud so the entire supply chain can be informed if a shipment’s been delayed. “Instead of having separate databases, why not have a single blockchain where everyone can pool information?”
PLY: Elsewhere there’s a load of imho vapid witterings by Swift who claim to have made a new approach to security (problem is the old fashioned network is quite flawed). Which reminds me how Swift is an empty void where no messaging emerges once your cash moves at the speed of a leech through the money system… Now containers can tell you where they are on the high seas… Anybody spot a bit of a widening chasm?