News Centre

COVID-19 And Financial Hardship: Retail Lenders’ Obligations And ASIC’s Expectations

Date 29/04/2020

ASIC is closely monitoring how lenders are assisting consumers who are experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19.

New Zealald Financial Markets Authority Suspends EncoreFX Licence Following Voluntary Administration

Date 29/04/2020

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has suspended the derivatives issuer licence of EncoreFX (NZ) Limited after the business was put into voluntary administration by its Canadian parent.

ASIC Enforcement Update July To December 2019

Date 29/04/2020

ASIC has today released its enforcement update report for the period 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019.

APAC Deal Activity Continues To Show Resilience For Second Consecutive Week Ended 26 April 2020, Finds GlobalData

Date 29/04/2020

A total of 345 deals were announced in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during the week ended 26 April 2020, an increase of 17.7% over the 293 deals announced during the previous week, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Federal Appellate Court Upholds Enforcement Of IRS Summons Seeking Information Concerning Law Firm Clients Involved In Foreign Transactions

Date 29/04/2020

On April 24, 2020, a federal appellate court upheld an order enforcing an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) summons directed to the Taylor Lohmeyer Law Firm PLLC, the Department of Justice announced.  The summons directed the law firm to provide information about clients who used the law firm’s services to create and maintain foreign bank accounts and entities.  On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the trial court’s enforcement of the summons and rejected the law firm’s “blanket” claim that all responsive materials were protected by the attorney-client privilege.  It explained that revealing the fact that the clients participated in specific types of transactions would not necessarily reveal any confidential communication of legal advice protected by the attorney-client privilege.

IMF Executive Board Approves US$65.6 Million In Disbursements To Dominica, Grenada, And St. Lucia To Address COVID-19 Pandemic

Date 29/04/2020

• The IMF Executive Board approves three requests from Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia for emergency financial assistance to help address the challenges posed by COVID-19.
• The approval of the Board will make available a combined SDR 48 million (US$65.6 million) in emergency financing to help these three countries deal with the challenges posed by COVID-19.
• IMF financing support provides resources to the countries’ authorities for essential health-related expenditures and income support to ease the impact of COVID-19 on the population.
• To address the pandemic, the authorities announced measures to help employees and households, including income support to the unemployed, tax relief, and providing cash transfers to the most vulnerable and affected.
• Dominica, Grenada, and St. Lucia are members of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), and the disbursements would support macroeconomic stability and facilitate the subsequent economic recovery of the region.

Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee To Discuss The SEC’s Capital Formation Proposal On May 8

Date 28/04/2020

The Securities and Exchange Commission today released the agenda for the Friday, May 8 meeting of its Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, which will be hosted via video conference.

Nadex Refrains From Listing Certain Contracts

Date 28/04/2020

Due to activity in the underlying markets upon which the Nadex contracts are based and pursuant to the authority granted in Nadex Rule 12.1(i), Nadex took the following actions:  

• No Daily, Weekly or Intraday Natural Gas Binary contracts will be listed for the week of April 27, 2020;

• No Weekly FTSE 100 or Germany 30 Binary contracts will be listed for the week of April 27, 2020.

• No EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, or USD/CAD 5-Minute Intraday Currency Binary contracts were listed for the 6:05pm and 6:10pm ET expiration times on trade date April 27, 2020.The EUR/JPY and USD/CAD 5-Minute Intraday Currency Binary contracts were listed beginning with the 6:15pm ET expiration, and the GBP/JPY 5-Minute Intraday Currency Binary contract were listed beginning with the 6:20pm ET expiration.

• No GBP/JPY 5-Minute Intraday Currency Binary contracts were listed for the 6:05pm or 6:10pm ET expiration times on trade date April 28, 2020.The GBP/JPY 5-Minute Intraday Currency Binary contract was listed beginning with the 6:15pm ET expiration time.

Intercontinental Exchange To Hold Virtual 2020 Annual Meeting Of Stockholders

Date 28/04/2020

 Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced today that, due to the public health impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to prioritize the health and well-being of its employees, stockholders and community, ICE’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (“Annual Meeting”) has been changed from an in-person meeting to a virtual format only. The original date and time of the Annual Meeting, as well as the items of business to be addressed at the Annual Meeting, remain unchanged. Stockholders, however, will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person.

IMF Executive Board Approves US$ 3.4 Billion In Emergency Support To Nigeria To Address The COVID-19 Pandemic

Date 28/04/2020

• The IMF approved US$3.4 billion in emergency financial assistance under the Rapid Financing Instrument to support the authorities’ efforts in addressing the severe economic impact of the COVID-19 shock and the sharp fall in oil prices.
• The COVID-19 outbreak has magnified existing vulnerabilities, leading to a historic contraction in real GDP growth and to large external and fiscal financing needs.
• Once the impact of the COVID-19 shock passes, the authorities’ commitment to medium-term macroeconomic stability remains crucial to support the recovery and ensure debt remains sustainable.