News Centre

ASIC Proposals For Research Houses

Date 15/11/2011

ASIC today released a consultation paper proposing research report providers, including research houses, separate their business units as a strategy to manage conflicts of interest as part of moves to improve confidence in the independence and quality of research reports.

Exchanges Ride Wave Of Good Fortune - FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index Increased 13.5 Per Cent In October

Date 15/11/2011

“The Pandemic Of Ponzimonium”: Speech Of CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton To The New York Law School, Center On Financial Services Law

Date 15/11/2011

Introduction

It is an honor and pleasure to be here with you this afternoon. Thanks particularly to Professor Ron Filler for his extraordinary efforts in setting this up.

Direct Edge Update: Direct Edge Updates FIX Short Sale Order Marking Requirements

Date 15/11/2011

Overview
As part of our effort to promote unified compliance standards across the industry, Direct Edge will update the order entry requirements for sending short sale orders via FIX on both EDGA and EDGX Exchanges. Effective February 15, 2012, Direct Edge will require firms to populate FIX tag 114. This change will ensure short sale orders are clearly defined before entering the Direct Edge Exchanges. 

European Commission: Frequently Asked Questions: Legislative Proposal On Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs)

Date 15/11/2011

I. GENERAL CONTEXT AND APPLICABLE LAW

1. What is a credit rating?

A credit rating is an opinion issued by a specialised firm on the creditworthiness of an entity (e.g. an issuer of bonds) or a debt instrument (e.g. bonds or asset-backed securities). This opinion is based on research activity and presented according to a ranking system (e.g. AAA, BBB. For full list, please refer to the annex attached to this memo.)

Antitrust: European Commission Makes Standard & Poor's Commitments To Abolish Fees For Use Of US International Securities Identification Numbers Binding

Date 15/11/2011

The European Commission has made legally binding commitments offered by Standard & Poor's (S&P) to abolish the licensing fees that banks pay for the use of US International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs) within the European Economic Area (EEA). Moreover, for direct users, information services providers (ISPs) and service bureaus (i.e. outsourced data management service providers), S&P committed to distribute the US ISIN record separately from other added value information, on a daily basis for USD15.000 per year, to be adjusted each year in line with inflation.

European Commission Wants Better Quality Credit Ratings

Date 15/11/2011

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) are major players in today's financial markets, with rating actions having a direct impact on the actions of investors, borrowers, issuers and governments. For example, a corporate downgrade can have consequences on the capital a bank must hold and a downgrade of sovereign debt makes a country's borrowing more expensive. Despite the adoption of European legislation on credit rating agencies in 2009 and 2010, recent developments in the context of the euro debt crisis have shown our existing regulatory framework is not good enough. So, today the Commission has put forward proposals to toughen that framework further and deal with outstanding weaknesses.

FINRA Orders Chase To Reimburse Customers $1.9 Million For Unsuitable Sales Of UITs And Floating-Rate Loan Funds - FINRA Also Fines Chase $1.7 Million

Date 15/11/2011

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has ordered Chase Investment Services Corporation to reimburse customers more than $1.9 million for losses incurred from recommending unsuitable sales of unit investment trusts (UITs) and floating rate loan funds. FINRA also fined Chase $1.7 million.

TMX Group Improves Equity Trading Performance With Second Phase Of Enterprise Expansion

Date 15/11/2011

TMX Group announced today that it has successfully completed the second phase of its equity Enterprise Expansion project. This initiative was designed to provide customers with significantly improved trading technology and performance across the TSX Quantum® trading enterprise.

ICE Reaches $25 Trillion Milestone In Global CDS Cleared

Date 15/11/2011

IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced that its credit default swap (CDS) clearing houses surpassed $25 trillion in cumulative gross notional value during the week ending November 11, 2011.