EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 15 April 2010
The SEC voted unanimously to propose the creation of a large trader reporting system to identify large market participants, collect trade information and analyze their trading activity. Participants trading more than $20 mn during any calendar day, or 20 mn shares or $200 mn during any calendar month will be required to identify themselves to the Commission, which will assign each trader a unique identification number. The threshold for options will be calculated based on the value of the underlying asset.
CME’s director of financial products and services Derek Sammann warned regulators of the dangers of forcing clearing of more derivatives products than is appropriate. “Why does the government feel it can do that better when we’re spending the bulk of our time educating those very legislators as what to do, and how to do it,” Sammann commented.
CME, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and DRW Trading are likely to be protected from lawsuits seeking to recoup losses associated with the auction of Lehman's futures book, according to the WSJ.
NYX might open a grain exchange in Ukraine and is looking for local partners as the Delo newspaper reported. Talks are schedule for next week.
DB1: First Trust Advisors launched a new ETF based on the ISE BICK Index that started trading on Nasdaq (BICK).
LSE: IDEM will list futures on the FTSE MIB Dividend index starting April 19.
Hellenic Exchanges is calling for bids to provide it with a new market surveillance system compliant with international practices.
NSE set a record equity options turnover of INR49.1 billion on April 13.
RTS Stock Exchange registered as a subsidiary company in London that will act as its representation in Europe.
RTS Realtime Systems now offers connectivity to the TOCOM through its low latency trading solutions portfolio.
Tullett Prebon’s CEO received a bonus in 2009 of £2 mn in cash plus another £2 mn in the company stocks.
GFI entered into a fifth amendment to its Credit Agreement, dated February 24, 2006. The Fifth Amendment became effective last April 12 and increased the aggregate amount that the company may use to repurchase shares from $20 mn to $50 mn. The Fifth Amendment also contained a consent and waiver from lenders that permits the company to undertake a reorganization of certain subsidiaries.
PIMCO launched its first actively managed equity mutual fund, the EqS Pathfinder Fund, managed by former Templeton PMs Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr, using the same approach as in the Franklin Mutual Discovery Fund. The company will focus its expansion into equities with a global aim Head of new investment initiatives Neel Kashkari commented: “you will see us offer a handful of strategies that are globally oriented that can benefit from PIMCO’s insights”
Eaton Vance launched the Short Term Real Return Fund, investing mainly in short and intermediate-term TIPS. The fund charges between 90 and 190bps in annual management fees according to the share class and has a maximum load of 475bps for class A shares.
Mornigstar acquired UK’s Old Broad Street Research for $18.3 mn as the company attempts to enter he british market. The acquisition is the company’s fourth in the past two month, after acquiring Footnoted, Realpoint and Aegis Equity Research.
Schwab reported 1Q10 EPS of $0.10 (-47% Y/Y), including a $11 mn pre-tax charge related to YieldPlus litigation, net income of $119 (-45% Y/Y) on revenues of $978 (-12% Y/Y, -1% Q/Q) and expenses of $780 (+3% Y/Y, +8% Q/Q). Management indicated that “If rates remain at current levels (excluding YieldPlus effects) the company should achieve revenue growth at least in the low single digits, limit expense growth to about 4%, and deliver a pre-tax profit margin of at least 25%.” And added that YieldPlus litigations “adverse judgment could result in material liability to the company of as much as $890 mn.”
TD Ameritrade CEO Fred Tomczyk said “there are lots of potential acquisitions and we've got a lot of firepower, so we do look at that. We're interested in any deal that makes strategic and financial sense. E*Trade is on a better footing today than they were a year or two ago, no question. But that doesn't mean it’s over. They still have their issues to work out." AMTD has $1.1 bn in cash. Tomczyk also said “a dividend absolutely makes sense for us.”
Interactive Brokers added trading in stocks on Borsa Italiana.
Eaton Vance was downgraded to “Market Perform” from “Outperform” at Wells Fargo. Target price was not provided.
The ECB confirmed it will delay the implementation of T2S. T2S Chairman Jean-Michel Godeffroy admitted that there had been a seven-month delay to the completion of a General Functional Specifications document.
US Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D- Arkansas) said she would include FX derivatives in her OTC derivatives bill. "This is the second-largest part of this $600 trillion marketplace, and it's completely unregulated right now,” Lincoln said.
The ERISA Advisory council “decided not to make any recommendation to the secretary (of Labor) with respect to reconsideration of its decision not to include stable value funds as a QDIA.”
The International Monetary Fund called for policymakers to consider imposing a risk-based tax on dealers as an alternative way to encourage central clearing of OTC derivatives.
Provided By: Equity Research Desk, www.erdesk.com