News Centre

CFTC Charges Florida-Based KB Concepts Group, LLC and Kelvin Burgos With Engaging In Illegal, Off-Exchange Precious Metals Transactions

Date 20/09/2016

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a civil injunctive enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Florida-based Defendants KB Concepts Group, LLC d/b/a Apex Asset Advisors, LLC(Apex) and Kelvin Burgos, Apex’s president, controlling person, and managing member responsible for its day-to-day operations. The CFTC’s Complaint charges the Defendants with engaging in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis. The Complaint further alleges that Burgos, as controlling person for Apex, is liable for Apex’s violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

FINRA Hearing Panel Sanctions Avenir Financial Group And Bars Former CEO Michael Todd Clements For Fraud - Firm Fined $229,000, Ordered To Offer Rescission To Defrauded Investors, And Suspended Two Years From Engaging In Self-Offerings - Registered Representative Suspended Two Years

Date 20/09/2016

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that a FINRA hearing panel has sanctioned Avenir Financial Group, fining the NY-based firm $229,000 and suspending it for two years from engaging in any self-offerings of securities for misconduct including the fraudulent sales of equity interests in the firm and promissory notes. Additionally, the firm failed to provide to customers written disclosures regarding compensation from the sales and the use of proceeds in connection with the equity offerings, and inadequately supervised the firm’s capital raising. The hearing panel also barred former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer Michael Todd Clements from the securities industry for fraud, suspended registered representative Karim Ahmed Ibrahim (aka Chris Allen) for two years for fraud, and ordered Ibrahim to disgorge his $25,000 commission. In addition, Avenir, Clements and Ibrahim were ordered to offer rescission to defrauded customers. The hearing panel dismissed the charges that Clements aided and abetted the fraud, as well as the charge that Avenir misused customer funds. The decision resolves charges brought by FINRA's Department of Enforcement in April 2015. Since May 2015, the firm, Clements, and Ibrahim have been subject to a temporary cease and desist order pending the resolution of the charges.

Bats Welcomes VanEck As A New U.S. Issuer, Building Upon European Relationship - 17 Issuers Now Listed On Bats In The U.S.

Date 20/09/2016

Bats Global Markets, Inc. (Bats: BATS), the #1 market globally for exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading, today welcomed VanEck as a U.S. issuer on The Bats ETF Marketplace, building upon the European relationship between the two companies.

CFTC Orders Raja Michael Mawad And His Texas-Based Company, RNS Holdings LP, To Pay A Civil Monetary And Restitution Totaling More Than $389,000 For Fraud And Failure To File Required Annual Reports

Date 20/09/2016

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today filed and simultaneously settled charges against Respondents Raja Michael Mawad, who resided in Houston, Texas during the relevant period (from in or about 2009 to at least early 2015) and the company he founded, owned, and ran, RNS Holdings LP, a Texas corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas, charging them with engaging in acts or practices which operated as a fraud upon participants in a commodity pool they operated and failing to distribute to participants and submit to the National Futures Association (NFA) the Annual Reports required of a CFTC-registered Commodity Pool Operator (CPO).

Comptroller Of The Currency Discusses OCC Supervision Of Wells Fargo

Date 20/09/2016

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry today discussed supervision leading up to the recent enforcement actions against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., for unsafe and unsound sales practices. His remarks came during testimony before U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

GPW Extends The Transaction Fee Reduction For Market Makers Of Shares

Date 20/09/2016

• GPW has extended the reduction of fees for Market Makers of shares outside the WIG20 index for the period from 1 October 2016 to 31 March 2017;
• The fee reduction is designed to improve trade liquidity in shares of companies not in the WIG20 index and to support local brokers;
• The extension of the fee reduction is part of a strategy aimed at activating investors by means of a flexible pricing policy tailored to the needs of different groups of GPW clients

A Delegation From SCA, ADX, And DFM Reviews US Financial Regulatory Structure And Self-Regulatory Model -Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi Holds Discussions With SEC And Nasdaq Officials - MoU Is Signed With Nasdaq Regulatory Academy To Promote Cooperation In Training And Continuing Education - Best Practices At FINRA And CFTC Are Reviewed

Date 20/09/2016

In line with the directives of H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy and Board Chairman of the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), and as part of initiatives aimed to set in motion a plan to have the UAE markets reclassified to developed markets status, a delegation led by Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi, Acting CEO of SCA, held intensive discussions with officials from Nasdaq, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

SEC Issues $4 Million Whistleblower Award

Date 20/09/2016

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than $4 million to a whistleblower whose original information alerted the agency to a fraud.

The SEC’s whistleblower program has awarded more than $111 million to 34 whistleblowers since its inception in 2011.

Annual Load Testing Of Moscow Exchange Trading And Clearing Systems

Date 20/09/2016

We would like to remind you that the annual load testing of MOEX trading and clearing systems will take place this Saturday, 24 September 2016 (http://moex.com/n13685).

Please note the following details that concern the FX and Equity markets:

1. Exchange gateways located in the 196.* network will not be available during the testing because of their upcoming end of life. ASTS Bridge and MICEX trader terminal users should ensure that the Broadcast setting includes the following IP addresses of the MOEX gateways: 10.63.1.255,10.63.3.255,10.61.1.255,10.61.3.255.

2. The trading systems" configuration, including the available User IDs and their permissions will correspond to the production settings on 6 September 2016.

3. If you plan to connect from IP addresses which you do not use in production, please send the list of those IPs to help@moex.com

4. FAST UDP multicast market data feeds will be published from the Dataspace data center.

5. It is recommended to connect to the trading FIX services located in the Dataspace data center (http://moex.com/a1520) because these servers will become primary in November 2016.

ESMA Consults On Trading Obligation For Derivatives

Date 20/09/2016

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published today a discussion paper regarding the trading obligation under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR).