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Statement On Life Partners Verdict, Andrew Ceresney, Director, SEC Division Of Enforcement

Date 04/02/2014

"We’re very pleased the jury found Life Partners and its executives liable for knowingly or recklessly defrauding shareholders, filing false SEC filings, and keeping inaccurate books and records.  We’re also pleased the jury found Pardo, Life Partners’ CEO, responsible for falsely certifying that the company’s public filings were accurate when they were not."

CME Group Volume Averaged 12.9 Million Contracts Per Day In January 2014, Up 13 Percent From January 2013

Date 04/02/2014

• Equity index volume up 24 percent
• Interest rate volume up 18 percent
• Energy volume up 10 percent

North-Western European Power Markets Successfully Coupled - A Landmark In The Integration Of The European Power Market

Date 04/02/2014

In a landmark move for the future of Europe’s power markets, the four Power Exchanges and 13 Transmission System Operators (TSOs) in the North-Western Europe (NWE) day-ahead price coupling project have today successfully launched NWE Price Coupling. For the first time, the NWE region, stretching from France to Finland, operates under a common day-ahead power price calculation using the Price Coupling of Regions (PCR) solution. The same solution is also used at the same time in the SWE region in a common synchronised mode. 

CME Group Inc. Reports Fourth-Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Date 04/02/2014

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today reported revenues of $687 million and operating income of $323 million for the fourth quarter of 2013. Net income attributable to CME Group was $193 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.58.  Excluding the items noted in the reconciliation, adjusted earnings per share would have been $0.64.

Speech By David Lawton, Director Of Markets Of The UK Financial Conduct Authority At The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Capital Market Lecture Series 2014 On Monday 3 February 2014 - Price: The Cornerstone Of Markets

Date 04/02/2014

I thought, given that this is the first seminar of the new year, I would go back to market fundamentals in choosing my subject matter for today’s session.

Hong Kong's Securities And Futures Commission: Former CITIC Pacific Senior Executive Convicted Of Insider Dealing

Date 04/02/2014

Former assistant director of finance at CITIC Pacific Limited (CITIC Pacific), Mr Simon Chui Wing Nin, was convicted on two counts of insider dealing in the shares of CITIC Pacific in the Eastern Magistrates’ Court after he pleaded guilty to the charges he had denied during an earlier trial. 

European Commission: Directive On Criminal Sanctions For Market Abuse – Frequently Asked Questions

Date 04/02/2014

1. Why are criminal sanctions needed for market abuse?

In recent years financial markets have become increasingly global, giving rise to new trading platforms and technologies. This unfortunately has also led to new possibilities to manipulate these markets. During the LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) scandal, serious concerns were raised about the manipulation of benchmarks which can result in significant losses for consumers and investors or distortion of the real economy. As part of its work to make financial markets sounder and more transparent, the European Commission proposed in 2011 (with amendments in 2012) revised legislation to better tackle market abuse. This included a draft Regulation on insider dealing and market manipulation (market abuse) to update and strengthen the existing rules and a draft Directive to ensure minimum criminal sanctions for market abuse (see IP/11/1217, IP/11/1218 andIP/12/846).

European Parliament: Financial Market Manipulators May Face At Least Four Years In Jail

Date 04/02/2014

Judges imposing their countries’ maximum penalties for serious offences such as manipulating the LIBOR benchmark interest rate would have to stipulate at least four years in jail under draft rules approved by Parliament on Tuesday. These rules, which aim to restore confidence in the EU's financial markets and improve investor protection, now have to be formally approved by EU member states.

Statement By Vice-President Reding And Commissioner Barnier On European Parliament's Vote To Approve Criminal Sanctions For Market Abuse Directive

Date 04/02/2014

The European Commission has welcomed today's vote by the European Parliament's plenary to approve the Commission's proposal for a Directive on criminal sanctions for market abuse (IP/11/1218). The vote follows the political agreement reached with the Council in the trilogue on 10 December 2013, which was confirmed by COREPER on 20 December (IP/13/1299).

ERI Scientific Beta Announces Availability Of Full Transparency For All Of Its “Smart Beta” Indices

Date 04/02/2014

ERI Scientific Beta has announced that all 2,958 smart beta indices available on the www.scientificbeta.com platform are now available with full transparency. This transparency enables all the Scientific Beta indices to be fully compliant with ESMA’s recommendations on the transparency of financial indices, and in addition allows any counterpart in the index market to be able to check and analyse the track records published by ERI Scientific Beta.