News Centre

Tehran Stock Exchange Weekly Market Review - Week Ending 2 November 2016

Date 05/11/2016

Click here to download Tehran Stock Exchange's weekly market review.

New York State Department Of Financial Services Fines Agricultural Bank Of China $215 Million For Violating Anti-Money Laundering Laws And Masking Potentially Suspicious Financial Transactions - DFS Investigation Uncovers Intentional Actions To Obscure U.S. Dollar Clearing Transactions, Including Counterfeit And Falsified Invoices Involving China And Russia And Omission Of Information Regarding Possible U.S. Dollar Trades With Sanctioned Counterparties - Bank Management Silenced And Severely Curtailed The Independence Of Whistleblower Who Attempted To Conduct Internal Investigations Of Suspicious Activity - Consent Order Requires Bank To Establish Effective Compliance Controls And To Retain Independent Monitor To Investigate 18 Months Of U.S. Dollar Clearing Activity

Date 05/11/2016

Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo today announced that Agricultural Bank of China (the Bank) will pay a $215 million penalty and install an independent monitor for violating New York’s anti-money laundering laws. The fine is part of a consent order entered into with the Department of Financial Services (DFS) pursuant to which the Bank shall take immediate steps to correct violations, including engaging an independent monitor reporting directly to DFS to address serious deficiencies within the bank’s compliance program and implement effective anti-money laundering controls. The DFS investigation discovered intentional wrongdoing, including actions by bank officials to obfuscate U.S. dollar transactions conducted through the New York Branch that might reveal violations of sanctions or anti-money laundering laws. The Bank also silenced and severely curtailed the independence of the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) at the New York Branch, who tried to raise serious concerns to Branch management and conduct internal investigations regarding suspicious activity, leading the CCO to ultimately resign.

CFTC Financial Data For Futures Commission Merchants Update

Date 04/11/2016

Financial Data for Futures Commission Merchants information has recently been updated, and is now available.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, At The 17th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference, Sponsored By The International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2016, The Economic Outlook

Date 04/11/2016

Watch Live 

With today's data in the news, I will first say a few words about labor market conditions before moving on to discuss the economic outlook and monetary policy.

The labor market has, by and large, had a pretty good year. Including this morning's release for October, payrolls have increased an average of 181,000 per month this year, a slower pace than last year but enough to keep the unemployment rate flat at about 5 percent. The unchanged unemployment rate reflects a positive, though perhaps transitory, development--mainly a pickup in labor force participation. The rise in participation may reflect the effects of the modest pickup in wages we are now seeing, with the rate of increase in the employment cost index having risen from an annual rate of about 2 percent last year to 2-1/4 percent so far this year.

CFTC Commitments Of Traders Reports Update

Date 04/11/2016

The current reports for the week of November 1, 2016 are now available.

ESMA: Questions And Answers On MiFID II And MiFIR Transparency Topics

Date 04/11/2016

Background

The final legislative texts of Directive 2014/65/EU1 (MiFID II) and Regulation (EU) No 600/20142 (MiFIR) were approved by the European Parliament on 15 April 2014 and by the European Council on 13 May 2014. The two texts were published in the Official Journal on 12 June 2014 and entered into force on the twentieth day following this publication – i.e. 2 July 2014.

EBA: Discussion On A New Prudential Regime For Investment Firms

Date 04/11/2016

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation in response to the European Commission's call for technical advice on the design of a new prudential regime for investment firms, which is specifically tailored to the needs of investment firms’ different business models and inherent risks. The aim of this work is to develop a single, harmonised set of requirements that are reasonably simple, proportionate, and more relevant to the nature of investment business. The consultation runs until 2 February 2017.

Nigerian Stock Exchange Weekly Report For Week Ending 4 November 2016

Date 04/11/2016

A turnover of 873.838 million shares worth N8.024 billion in 15,944 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to a total of 678.710 million shares valued at N6.875 billion that exchanged hands last week in 11,808 deals.

EBA Seeks Views On New Prudential Regime For Investment Firms

Date 04/11/2016

The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a consultation in response to the European Commission's call for technical advice on the design of a new prudential regime for investment firms, which is specifically tailored to the needs of investment firms' different business models and inherent risks. The aim of this work is to develop a single, harmonised set of requirements that are reasonably simple, proportionate, and more relevant to the nature of investment business. The consultation runs until 2 February 2017.

Statement Of Dissent By CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo Regarding Supplemental Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking On Regulation Automated Trading, November 4, 2016

Date 04/11/2016

Introduction

I have previously said that proposed Regulation Automated Trading (Reg. AT) is a well-meaning attempt by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) to catch up to the digital revolution in U.S. futures markets. However, I have also raised some concerns ranging from the prescriptive compliance burdens to the disproportionate impact on small market participants to the regulatory inconsistencies of the proposed rule. I have also warned that any public good achieved by the rule is undone by the now notorious source code repository requirement. Not surprisingly, dozens of commenters to the proposal echoed my concerns and vehemently opposed the source code requirement.