iStock_000005765286XSmall EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 12 August 2011

CME will boost margins on some of its FX and IR futures contracts in response to the increased market volatility. This is the second margin increase in the past two-and-a-half weeks for long-term Treasury futures, for which speculators of 10-year note futures will have to put an initial margin of $2,160 per contract, a 19% increase from the current fee. For JPY futures, initial margins for speculators will be raised by 20% to $4,388 per contract, while that for hedgers and CME members will also rise by 20% to $3,250 per contract.

BVMF3 plans to integrate its clearing operations by the end of the next year in order to lure investors as well as fend off potential competition amid falling profits. The plan will lower margin requirements to 25% from 40%, according to CEO Edemir Pinto. The exchange may also revise its forecast for R$55b in share sales this year due to the global market rout.

CETIP reported 2Q11 adjusted EPS of R$0.3861 (+66% y/y) on net revenues of R$184.8m (+47% y/y) and adjusted operating expenses excluding D&A of R$49.1m (+18% y/y). Average assets under custody in 2Q11 reached R$1,355.4b (+6% q/q), and the number of transactions in the quarter reached approximately 21m (-2% q/q, +44% y/y).

LSE: Borsa Italiana experienced a technical glitch on Thursday, causing it to end trading more than two hours before its intended close. No reasons were cited for the technical issue.

HKEx’s website was hacked for the second consecutive day, with the identity and intention of the hackers still unknown, although the exchange said the “malicious traffic originated from a network of personal computers, the majority of which were based outside Hong Kong”. HKEx CEO Charles Li also said HKEx would change and move away from its centralized publication approach to distribute company news information through vendors like Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg.

Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) aims to launch a new trading system by end-2012. The new system will reduce latency on the exchange by 10 times from the current 50 milliseconds and increase capacity by at least three times from the current level of 3,000 transactions per second. TWSE also plans to introduce continuous trading, followed by the introduction of different order types, once the new system in implemented.

StockMax, HSBC’s Hong Kong dark pool, which was initially marketed at retail customers, will be launched only to institutional and professional investors for now. The change in target customers is because “Hong Kong authorities need a bit more time to fully consider the role of alternative forms of liquidity for the market”, according to HSBC’s managing director Ian Cohen.

Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), the Spanish stock market regulator, started banning short selling on financial stocks for 15 days starting August 11, and may extend the period if necessary. The move is due to the “extreme volatility in European stock markets, especially for shares and financial entities” which is “clearing affecting the stability of the markets and can disrupt their order functioning”.

ASIC proposed new contracts for difference (CFDs) benchmarks aimed at improving disclosure and investor awareness. The guidance also includes margin FX contracts.

 

Provided By: Equity Research Desk, www.erdesk.com

 

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