Greetings from Geneva with a great day ahead, as the ICDA Burgenstock conference discussions get under way. Meanwhile, it’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, with wondrous events going on across the globe, several in my own Polish stomping ground – while I look forward to the FESE / European Issuers SME Awards Thursday evening in Brussels.
In Today’s Exchange Invest
The long awaited prodigal daughter repo trade has been completed, settlement January 1, 2017. Alena Friedman takes the CEO reins at NASDAQ as a remarkably gentle gavotte has been completed. Bob becomes (apparently non-exec) Chairman, new Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm steps back from Chairmanship to stay on the board and of course last month Hans-Ole Jochumsen was installed as supreme commander of NASDAQ Allied forces Europe. That’s a fascinating top team for the next generation of NASDAQ development.
Events
The CME ‘Festival Of HasBeens’ continues apace in Florida (an appropriate retiree haven for post government demagogues of disaster like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown) while I’m in Geneva where the right crowd is in situ for Crossfire…
Then I am off to Stuttgart Wednesday for a session at the 10th Anniversary MIFID Conference where I will be chairing a discussion with ESMA supremo Stephen Maijoor on MIFID et al. A sell-out audience of 300+ from around Germany and further afield is expected.
Straight from to Brussels for the European Issuers / FESE SME Awards, their 3rd event and now increasingly a fixture in the EU calendar.
That Trumpian reboot likely means much better US-Russian relations which is just one amongst many reasons you must book your place for the MOEX Annual Forum. New York is already full but the event in London on Tuesday December 6th still has space. Join the event free via Exchange Invest here.
In BigWorld
In BigWorld, Bund yields leapt to over – wait for it – 1%! US Treasuries touching 3% reminds us of that thing last seen in economics textbooks for most traders on the street today: “Yield Curve” (many in modern finance probably think that is a Pokemon Go character). Interesting times.
Public Markets
Nasdaq Names Adena Friedman CEO – Robert Greifeld Becomes Nasdaq Board Chairman
Reuters
PLY: Some may dwell on the inevitability of Adena Friedman becoming CEO as obvious. At the same time, this is a good moment to applaud the remarkable achievements of Bob Greifeld. He became CEO of an organisation with a collective chip on its shoulder as a result of being only recently officially recognised as a ‘proper’ stock exchange, licking its wounds after the dotcom bubble burst. Bob elevates himself to Chairman (the daily pinko says Bob himself notes he will not be full time) having overseen the transition of a parvenu stock exchange to become a vast global business which is simply unrecognisable from the North American Stock Dealers Automated Quotation system which had been spun out of NASD not that long before Bob became CEO. His myriad achievements deserve significant plaudits and, like Phupinder Gill of CME last week, Bob has chosen his own timeframe for his end of year departure as CEO (and both leave the CEO positions years earlier than their contracts specified).
The NASDAQ reorganisation elevating Hans-Ole Jochumsen to supreme commander of allied forces Europe in the empire remains a recent masterstroke which delivers a fascinating structure for Adena Friedman to make her mark on the next phase of NASDAQ’s expansion with Bob Greifeld overseeing activity from the Chairmanship. Interesting times are ahead…
NB Adena Friedman becomes the most important woman in exchanges – eclipsing even the brilliance of Chitra Ramkrishna at NSE, FESE Chairman Irish SE CEO Deirdre Somers, Nikki Newton-King at JSE and Bente Landsnes, amongst others.
Nasdaq MarketSite To Become Broadcast Home To CNBC’s Flagship Morning Show “Squawk Box”
MondoVisione
PLY: Interesting site for the TV show but ready for multimedia…good idea to market NASDAQ.
Private Markets
Bank Treasurers, Traders Seek SRO Status For Group
PressReader
The Philippine Stock Exchange has rekindled its bid to merge with the Philippine Dealing System…
PLY Coming in the new season soap opera line up – PSE – PDS deja vu.
Korea Exchange Opens New OTC Market For Startups
Yonhap News
Departing Baltic Exchange Boss Predicts Bright Future Under New Singapore Owner
City A.M.
PLY: …And presumably Jeremy Penn thanks SGX for bolstering his pension package in addition to his Reuters plan.
World’s Youngest Stock Market Struggles In Myanmar
The Indian Express
NSE Bars Journalists As Osibanjo Visits Exchange
Vanguard
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Friday, denied journalists who were earlier invited from various media houses in Nigeria, entrance to the gallery.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
No news, no resolution, Jignesh Shah out of jail too…
Technology
PLY: Technology news takes a pause for today…
Products
Teddy Sagi Moving Into Clearing & Institutional FX Business?
FinanceFeeds (blog)
PLY: Isle of Man based Playtech last year almost acquired Plus 500.
Indexes
CME Group Launches Bitcoin Price Indexes
CoinDesk
Career Paths
As noted above, NASDAQ has elevated Bob Greifeld to Chairman while new Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm steps back to being a board member and, as expected, Adena Friedman becomes CEO.
IEX has hired Sara Furber, formerly with Morgan Stanley as the head of listings at the upstart exchange which is seeking to build a primary marketplace alongside its secondary market activities.
Smart Contracts Pioneer Symbiont Fortifies Board Of Directors – Appoints Former SEC Commissioner Gallagher And Former T.Rowe Price President Ruppert
MondoVisione
PLY: Interesting pair, both charismatic, experienced and engaging in their own way.
In the first session of the new board of directors meeting at Tehran Stock Exchange, Dr. Hassan Ghalibaf Asl was re-elected as the Exchange’s chief executive for the fifth consecutive term. Delegates from Bank Tejarat and Pasargad Arzesh Afarinan were respectively announced as TSE’s non-executive chairman and vice chairman. Other board members include delegates from Securities and Exchange Brokers Association (SEBA), Tadbir Investment Group, Saba Tamin Investment, and National Development Investment. The remaining member of the board is a delegate from Mellat Financial Group, whom will be confirmed shortly.
Techies seeking a new position take note: Cinnober is seeking proactive Testers!
Crowdfunding
Fintech Platform Revenues for Lending & Financing to Exceed $10bn by 2020
PR Newswire UK (press release)
Why We Need to Address Crowdfunding Education Now
Crowdfund Insider
Other Stories
ESMA Asks Commission To Delay Central Clearing For Small Financial Counterparties
ESMA
Onwards to breakfast and final preparations for Crossfire – have a great day!
Patrick
Patrick L Young – Executive Director DV Advisors