October 27 2015

elb2

It’s a day when the world around the exchange parish pivoted a bit and even the one eyed folk can immediately see that ICE is the King whoever may think they are on the throne. The also rans are dropping behind and the end thesis is simple on multiple levels: ICE Gets Big Data.

Brilliant day for ICE, everybody else didn’t have a bad day, they just aren’t in the same game, that’s all, as my Premium post linked above points out. And if you can’t access the Premium post, hey, you’re reading all this for free, it’s only $120 to get some further value added pith…can you afford to be without it?

Happy scrolling…

Public Markets

ICE To Buy Market Data Firm Interactive Data In $5.2 Billion Deal
Reuters

ICE bought financial data firm Interactive Data Corp (IDC) from Silver Lake & Warburg Pincus LLC in a deal valued at about $5.2 billion ($3.65 billion in cash and $1.55 billion in ICE stock)

PLY: Whoops, all those bond platforms looking to trade corporates just lost a bit of home advantage…Meanwhile Uncle David of Toronto and Mayor Mike, of New York, ought not to be surprised to find a tank parked on their lawn this morning. Don’t say I didn’t warn you – this has its genesis in the SuperDerivatives acquisition last year… For more, Premium Post: ICE Gets Big Data.

Cost synergies of $150 million will of course be realised as will the other deliverables (this is ICE we are talking about – a group with management and execution skills) while CFO Scott Hill noted it was “early days” for the expansion of ICE’s data business. This translates into “blood blood blood” for any legacy incumbents regardless of the spoken or programming language in which it is conveyed.

QV EI Premium: Exchange Deals Brief 1, Exchange Deals Brief 2

Dubai Financial Market’s Third-Quarter Net Profit Slumps 70 pct
Reuters

The Gulf’s only listed stock exchange, reported a 70% fall in in Q3 profit as trading activity plunged, tracking a slump in oil prices. Net profit 45.4 million dirhams ($12.4 million).

LME Concerned Over Stifling Commodities Regulation
Matt Smith – Business Reporter

LME voiced its concern over controversial new European financial regulation at its 2015 Metals Seminar in London this month.

PLY: Repeating earlier reports of these concerns because the gulf between comprehension and reality with EU regulators has the potential to create a catastrophic economic problem when commodity markets simply shut down as they cannot deal with contradictory regulations driven by fundamental definition problems

Athens & Shanghai Exchanges Commit To Foster A Mutually Beneficial Relationship
Mondovisione

MOU signed.

QV EI Premium: China Capital Markets Transformation Brief – Main File

SEBI’s Networth Norms May Nudge Farmers Out Of NCDEX
Hindu Business Line

Farmers’ collectives selling their produce directly on the online forward platform of NCDEX would be affected by Sebi making it mandatory for members (brokers) to maintain a networth of ₹1 crore (about 154.000 dollars) and an annual deposit of ₹50,000 (about 770 dollars) by end-November.

PLY: #Moronic. SEBI after all those bon mots steps in and destroys a core reason to have commodity markets. Sadly this rather forces reversion to the “blob out of control’ angle on India’s dismal regulatory governance standards. The whole point of these markets is to help the poorest hedge but the arrogant swaggering of socialists with a distaste for the poor is as always prevalent within SEBI and other such left wing agencies run by an aloof bourgeoisie

Capital Market Operators Task SEC, NSE On Increased Local Participation (subscription)
BusinessDay

Some capital market operators on Monday called on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the local SEC to map out strategies aimed at increasing the participation of local investors.

QV EI Premium: Rise of Africa Brief – Part 5

Sebi Turns Up The Heat On Hoarders
Jayshree P Upadhyay – Business Standard

Sebi is likely to act against entities violating the Essential Commodities Act, where present in the commodity futures markets.

PLY: Hmmm, I am not sure it is any of SEBi’s business. Dumb populist laws prevail about commodities in much of India, Sebi could do a lot by ignoring them. Again a worrying day of developments as clearly the new regulator doesn’t understand markets – then again they don’t really understand stock markets so why would commodities be much different, I suppose?

SEBI Open To make Changes On Exchange-traded Funds Norms: Sinha

BusinessLine

SEBI chief U K Sinha: “Based on inputs from cross section of experts or participants if there is any need that further changes are required for rules and regulations of the ETFs, SEBI will be more than willing to listen to you and incorporate them,” Sinha said at a conference.

PLY: QV the above on commodities. #Unconvinced.

KSE Approves Integration With Counterparts
The Express Tribune

Karachi SE approved integration with Lahore and Islamabad besides changing its name from KSE to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) Limited.

Hijazi Assures Enhanced Corporate Governance At PSE
Pakistan Observer

SECP Chairman Zafar Hijazi assured enhanced corporate governance at the unified Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE).

German Official Says Deutsche Boerse Could Seal China Cooperation deal
Reuters UK

DB1 could soon agree a cooperation deal with a Chinese financial market operator, ahead of a visit to China by Chancellor Angela Merkel this week.

PLY: QV Britain’s recent trade deals in the China visit to the UK. DB1 has been developing ties with Shanghai SE, so there’s probably a bit of pomp to be had here. That helps fuel the illusion at the macro level that the utterly inadequate Mrs Merkel is governing a nation which amounts to something more than what could be perceived as a diesel emission funded ponzi scheme for economic migrants and renewable energy carpetbaggers, once known as the industrial powerhouse of Germany. Some people speak highly of Mrs Merkel. I have yet to meet one who wasn’t on her payroll.

CFTC’s Massad Cites Patience, Outlines Future SEF Rules as Some Tech Questions Remain (subscription)
Waterstechnology

Timothy Massad, CFTC Chairman, spoke at Sefcon VI about changes regulators are working on surrounding SEFs.

Nasdaq OMX: The Benefits Of Balanced Earnings
Motley Fool

The Nasdaq stock exchange operator enjoys record revenue from its base of attractively diversified business segments.

PLY: Some say NASDAQ are as good at increasing their revenue as they are poor at paying their bills.

Singapore To Liberalize Gas Market To Bolster Asia LNG Trading Hub Plans
Reuters UK

Singapore plans to establish a domestic natural gas trading market to help support plans to become a centre for trading liquefied natural gas (LNG) and take advantage of the growing importance of the fuel in Asia’s energy markets.

PLY: Note to EU – FTT? Open access? Singapore will be ready… q.v. So will ICE and DB1.

Private Markets

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Wants More Market Makers
John Everington – The National

ADX is in discussions with two financial institutions to act as market makers alongside National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads

PLY: MCX and FTIL flat, no good news to balance a broadly worrying day for commodity futures regulation from the newly unified SEBI behemoth.

Technology

Belgium’s Financial Services Provider Eyes Foray Into Securities Clearing, Settlemen
Hindu Business Line

Global financial messaging service provider SWIFT is looking to make inroads into the Indian capital markets and has drawn up a strategy to provide services around the securities clearing and settlement to to go live next year.

PLY: Note to India, soon you can have a bank clearing system which has technology older than some components of the Hindustan Ambassador automobile. I bet you can’t wait.

Products

S. Korea To Expand ETF, ETN Markets
The Korea Observer

KRX:Expansion Of Clearing Eligible Transactions For KRW Interest Rate
Mondovisione

Korea Exchange (KRX) has amended OTC Derivatives Clearing and Settlement Business Regulation and Enforcement Rules* in order to expand the range of clearing eligible transactions for KRW Interest Rate Swap as a part of follow-up measures of the 2014 ‘Development Plan of Derivative Products Market.’

Tanzania To Launch Derivatives Trading For Stocks, Forex (press release)
Citizen TV

Tanzania plans to introduce derivatives trading on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange over the next few months.

NSE Mulls Launching More Commodity ETFs
Hindu Business Line

NSE hopes to see the launch of more commodity exchange traded fund (ETFs) in the next few months.

PLY: Celebrations are in full swing to mark the 20th anniversary of the NSE and huge plaudits must go to the amazing progress made by the team over the years.

ZCE To Promote Listing Sugar Option
Xinhua Finance Agency

Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) will promote the listing of sugar option, Zhang Fan, chairman of the Exchange said at a recent forum.

IFC Lists 100 Mln USD Islamic Bond On Nasdaq Dubai
Xinhua

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, listed a 100 million dollar Islamic bond (Sukuk), the second listed by IFC on Nasdaq Dubai, following a 100 million U.S. dollar Sukuk in 2009.

Eurex Exchange Launched A New Interest
Fidelity Investments

Eurex Exchange launched a new interest rate future based on the long-term bonds issued by the Spanish government.

PLY: The return of the Bonos! Good to see European integration going so well that EUREX have been able to make a whole suite of products around Brussels’ festering inadequacy. #Ilovefreemarkets.

Career Paths

Euronext EGM Results
Euronext

Stéphane Boujnah unanimously approved as a member of the Managing Board, will commence his role on 16 november 2015, subject to regulatory approvals.

CME Group, has hired Joanne Shannon as Executive Director and Head of Commercial Development for CME Europe, its London-based derivatives exchange, Shannon was formerly with NYSE LIFFE, leaving after the ICE takeover.

Fidessa Group says Andy Skelton joins as CFO. Andy Malpass stepped down as CFO but will remain an exec director until announcement of 2015 preliminary results in February 2016.

David Chin, Executive Director of the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF) and former Deputy Chairman of the Singapore Commodity Exchange for eight years, will be honoured with the Pioneer Generation Award at the upcoming Lloyd’s List Asia Awards 2015, in Singapore on Wednesday

Financial Calendar

27.10 – Euronext EGM
27.10 – SEC Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee Meeting
28.10 – ICE Q3 2015 Results
28.10 – BVB EGM
28.10 – BGC Partners’ & GFI Group’s Q3 2015 Results
28.10-30.10 – KRX general meeting of ISG at Seoul
29.10 – CME Q3 2015 Results
30.10 – JPX Earnings FY2015
30.10 – CBOE Q3 2015 Results
30.10 – WSE Q3 2015 Financial Results

All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.

Share Note

CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOE) Given $64.777 Consensus Target by Zacks
Maybank Investment Research has raised its target price for Bursa Malaysia Bhd to RM8.65 (approx 2 USD) from RM8.20 previously (approx. 1.92USD)

Analyst Notes

NASDAQ OMX Group Downgraded to “Market Perform” at Wells Fargo
CME Group Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from sixteen research firms
Tmx Group Limited Price Target Cut from C$50.00to C$49.00 by National Bank Financial
Vetr Inc. Downgrades NASDAQ OMX Group to Hold
LSE Hold Rating kept by Numis

A full table of current analysis can be found on our Analyst Ratings page which is updated daily.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding Of US Real Estate Deals Gains Momentum
Herbert Lash – Reuters

A tipping point may be near for U.S. investors seeking to benefit from crowdfunding in real estate.

Crowdfunder: Rewards Based Crowdfunding
UK Investor Magazine

What makes Crowdfunder different from other crowdfunding platforms such as Crowd2Fund and Crowdcube is Crowdfunder’s emphasis and importance placed on crowdfunding for non-profit organizations such as community groups and charities.

Groundfloor Announces Three New Tools To Expand P2P Real Estate Lending
Samantha Hurst – Crowdfund Insider

Tools enable quick comparison of loans, automated investing and in-depth analysis of loa comment.