News Centre

Chairman’s Address At SEC Speaks 2015 By Mary Jo White

Date 20/02/2015

Good morning.  It is great to be back at SEC Speaks to give the Chairman’s Address and welcoming remarks.  This event is an excellent opportunity for the public to hear from agency staff about our work over the past year and what is in store for 2015.

IMFC Selects Agustín Carstens As New Chairman

Date 20/02/2015

The members of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have selected Mr. Agustín Carstens, Governor of Banco de México, as Chairman of the Committee for a term of three years, effective March 23, 2015. Mr. Carstens will succeed Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, whose term ends on March 22, 2015.

Decisions Taken By The Governing Council Of The ECB (In Addition To Decisions Setting Interest Rates) - Public Account Of The Monetary Policy Discussion Held On 21-22 January 2015

Date 20/02/2015

On 18 February 2015, the Governing Council approved the public account of its monetary policy meeting of 21 and 22 January 2015. The first edition of this new communication product, which is aimed at enhancing the transparency of Governing Council’s monetary policy deliberations and will, as a rule, be published on the ECB’s website four weeks after the relevant monetary policy meeting, was published on the ECB’s website yesterday, together with a related press release.

Bank of England - Solvency II: Recognition Of Deferred Tax – SS2/14 UPDATE

Date 20/02/2015

Update 20 February 2015:  SS2/14 has been amended to:

• reflect the subsequent publication in November 2014 of EIOPA guidelines on loss absorbing capacity of deferred tax; and
• respond to feedback received after publication of SS2/14 requesting more detail regarding the rationale behind PRA expectations set out in SS2/14.

ECB Announces Publication Of A New Guideline On The Implementation Of Monetary Policy

Date 20/02/2015

Today the European Central Bank (ECB) has published a new Guideline (ECB/2014/60) on the implementation of the Eurosystem monetary policy. This Guideline will replace Guideline ECB/2011/14, i.e. the current framework on Eurosystem monetary policy instruments and procedures, from 1 May 2015.

Lahore Stock Exchange Formally Launches Algo Trading Software

Date 20/02/2015

A large number of participants and representatives of Electronic and Print Media were present at the time of launching ceremony of Algo Trading Software organized by the Management of Lahore Stock Exchange today in the Auditorium of the Exchange. It has been learnt that Lahore Stock Exchange Limited is endeavoring to bring back liquidity at LSE’s Order Book for which a number of initiatives has been taken by the management of LSE.

London Stock Exchange Group Hosts Pakistan Capital Markets Day

Date 20/02/2015

• Mohammad Zubair, Minister of State for Privatisation opens London trading
• 14 leading Pakistani companies attending
• 140 investor meetings scheduled

Better Finance Demands That “Dark” Capital Market “Venues” Such As “Systematic Internalisers” Treat Individual Investors As Fairly As The Regulated Markets

Date 20/02/2015

Guillaume Prache, Managing Director of Better Finance, the European Federation of Financial Services Users, raised the issue of the Systematic Internalisers (SIs) – typically large banks – which offer securities trading to individual non-professional investors without complying with the best execution rules. The SI “market venue” was created by the European MiFID I Directive, which came into force in 2007.

European Commission: Building The Energy Union: Key Electricity Interconnection Between France And Spain Completed

Date 20/02/2015

Today Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, together with Mariano Rajoy, the Prime Minister of Spain, and Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister of France, and with the participation of José Manuel Soria López, the Spanish Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism and Mario Monti, European Coordinator of the project, attended the inauguration of the Santa Llogaia – Baixàs power line. The inauguration takes place in Montesquieu-des-Albères on the French border and in Castillo de Perelada on the Spanish border. This power line, a project of common European interest, doubles the existing electricity interconnection capacity between France and Spain, from 1400 megawatt to 2800 megawatt, and helps connecting the power system of the Iberian Peninsula to other European energy markets. The project has received €255 million EU support under the European Energy Programme for Recovery.

BGC Partners And GFI Group Reach Agreement GFI Board Supports BGC's $6.10 Per Share Tender Offer - GFI Board Recommends That GFI Stockholders Tender Their Shares to BGC - BGC to Appoint 6 out of 8 Directors On Expanded GFI Board - Stockholders Representing Almost 48% Of GFI Common Shares Supported Tender Offer - BGC Extends Tender Offer Deadline To February 26, 2015; No Further Extensions Expected - GFI Stockholders Who Miss the February 26 Deadline May Have To Wait Until Restriction Lapses On January 30, 2016 For An Opportunity To Receive $6.10 Per Share

Date 20/02/2015

BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP) ("BGC Partners" or "BGC"), a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets, and GFI Group Inc. (NYSE: GFIG) ("GFI Group" or "GFI"), a leading intermediary and provider of trading technologies and support services to the global OTC and listed markets, today announced that they have entered into a tender offer support agreement in which GFI's board of directors unanimously agreed to support BGC's tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of GFI common stock at $6.10 per share in cash.