News Centre

European Parliament: Crack Down On Short Selling And Sovereign Debt Speculation

Date 18/10/2011

Lead MEPs and the Polish Presidency on Tuesday clinched a deal on the regulation beefing up standards and requirements for the practices of short selling and trading in credit default swaps (CDS), a financial product insuring against default. The rules will impose much more transparency, increase the powers of the EU's financial watchdog and virtually ban certain CDS trades, thereby making speculation on a country's default more difficult.

SEC Halts Scheme Involving Investments To Purportedly Help Homeowners Restructure Mortgages

Date 18/10/2011

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of a Texas resident and his company charged with falsely telling investors he was using their money to buy and restructure pools of non-performing home mortgages in the wake of the housing market’s decline.

Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX SmallCap And Global Mining Indices

Date 18/10/2011

Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX SmallCap and Global Mining Indices:

Shareholders of Western Copper Corporation (TSX:WRN) approved on October 3, 2011, the Plan of Arrangement whereby the company will spin out certain copper interests to shareholders. For every 2 shares of Western Copper held, shareholders will receive 1 share of a new company named Copper North Mining Corp. and 1 share of a new company named NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc. Copper North and NorthIsle Copper will trade on TSX Venture Exchange for the first time (the ex-date of the spin-off) on October 20, 2011, under the ticker symbols "COL" and "NCX" respectively. The spun out shares of Copper North and NorthIsle Copper will be added at zero price to the S&P/TSX SmallCap and Equity SmallCap, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and Global Base Metals and the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals Indices after the close of trading on Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

SEC Charges Former CEO In Tulsa With Misleading Investors About Liquidity Risks

Date 18/10/2011

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the co-founder of a Tulsa-based energy company with misleading investors in one of its subsidiaries about liquidity risks they faced from his energy trading.

Concurring Statement, Second Extension Of Temporary Exemptive Relief - CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia

Date 18/10/2011

As Yogi Berra famously proclaimed: “It is déjà vu all over again.” Yogi perfectly encapsulates my feelings today. We find ourselves again voting on a proposed order aimed at providing legal certainty in the form “temporary exemptive relief” for swap market participants that extends the soon to expire relief found in the Commission’s July 14, 2011 exemptive order (“July 14 Order”). This temporary relief is necessary because: (1) the Commission has not yet put forth final rules defining such key terms such as “swap” and “swap dealer”; and (2) certain exemptions and exclusions for transactions in exempt and excluded commodities currently relied upon by market participants will be repealed effective December 31, 2011. The proposal states: “[t]he Commission proposes that this further amendment to the July 14 Order is necessary to ensure that the same scope of the exemptive relief available before December 31, 2011 is available to all swaps and extends through July 16, 2012, at the latest.”

Speech Given By Mervyn King, Governor Of The Bank of England To The Institute Of Directors, St George’s Hall, Liverpool 18 October 2011

Date 18/10/2011

Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Surrounded by the magnificent architecture of St George’s Hall, we are reminded of the benefits and the costs of exposure to the world economy.  Built at the peak of Liverpool’s mercantile fortunes, the Hall, and the other magnificent buildings of the cultural quarter, exhibit the prosperity derived from openness to trade.  Indeed, tonight is the anniversary of a grand banquet held here on 18th October 1860 to celebrate the opening of the public library and museum building that stands opposite.  Its construction had been financed by the guest of honour at the banquet that evening, William Brown, whose statue stands in the Hall today.  Brown had profited from transatlantic trade both as a merchant and by establishing a bank which financed trade – at the time a risky business.   In those days, finance and trade supported each other, and the city prospered.  But the subsequent history of St George’s Hall, which fell into neglect in the last century, illustrates Liverpool’s vulnerability to changes in the rest of the world.   

Statement Of Dissent, Position Limits For Futures And Swaps - CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia

Date 18/10/2011

I respectfully dissent from the action taken today by the Commission to issue final rules relating to position limits for futures and swaps. While I have a number of serious concerns with this final rule, my principal disagreement is with the Commission’s restrictive interpretation of the statutory mandate under Section 4a of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA” or “Act”) to establish position limits without making a determination that such limits are necessary and effective in relation to the identifiable burdens of excessive speculation on interstate commerce.

Russell Investments Expands Defensive And Dynamic Indexes To Global Markets - Russell's Innovative Investment Style Indexes Add Global Stock Coverage To Help Investors Better Navigate Increasingly Complex And Volatile Global Markets

Date 18/10/2011

Russell Investments, a pioneer in the notion of multi-factor style investing, yesterday announced that its Defensive and Dynamic Indexes, introduced in February 2011, will expand coverage beyond the U.S. stock universe to the 10,000 stocks tracked by Russell Indexes globally.

Statement Of Dissent, Final Rulemaking On Derivatives Clearing Organizations - CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia

Date 18/10/2011

Introduction

Today, the Commission approved a final rulemaking on the operation of derivatives clearing organizations (each, a “DCO”). Of the Dodd-Frank rulemakings that the Commission has so far undertaken, this rulemaking is among the most important. I have been a strong proponent of clearing. In the aftermath of the Enron crisis, I witnessed first-hand how the creation of ClearPort ameliorated counterparty credit fears in the energy merchant markets and restored liquidity to those markets. I am certain that clearing will similarly benefit the swaps market, particularly by significantly expanding execution on electronic platforms, thereby increasing price transparency and discovery. Moreover, as we have seen in the 2008 financial crisis, clearing has the potential to mitigate systemic risk, by ensuring that swap counterparties – not hardworking American taxpayers – post collateral to support their exposures.

Kunlun Energy Co. Ltd Added To Dow Jones Emerging Markets Oil & Gas Titans Index

Date 18/10/2011

Kunlun Energy Co. Ltd of Hong Kong will be added to the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Oil & Gas Titans 30 Index, Dow Jones Indexes announced today.