News Centre

Canadian Securities Regulators Seek Comment On Soliciting Dealer Arrangements

Date 12/04/2018

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published for comment CSA Staff Notice 61-303 and Request for Comment Soliciting Dealer Arrangements. The notice outlines regulatory issues raised by soliciting dealer arrangements and seeks input on the practice, which generally involves an issuer paying a dealer to successfully solicit securities from a securityholder in connection with corporate transactions.

FINRA, BOX, Cboe, IEX, NASDAQ And NYSE Fine Instinet, LLC For Market Access Rule Violations

Date 12/04/2018

Instinet, LLC has been censured and fined a total of $1.575 million for violations of various provisions of Rule 15c3-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (known as the Market Access Rule) and related exchange supervisory rules. The action was taken by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), along with BOX Options Exchange LLC (BOX); the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Investors Exchange LLC (IEX); The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; the New York Stock Exchange; and certain of their affiliated Exchanges (collectively, “Exchanges”). The fine was apportioned among FINRA and the Exchanges.

CFTC Charges New York Residents Kevin Whylie And Matthew Zecchini And Their Company, Algointeractive Inc, With Commodity Pool Fraud, Misappropriation, And Registration Violations

Date 12/04/2018

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) yesterday filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Defendants Kevin P. Whylie of Mamaroneck, New York; Matthew James Zecchini of East Islip, New York; and Algointeractive Inc, a New York corporation owned and controlled by Whylie and Zecchini.  The CFTC Complaint charges that, from approximately April 2016 through the present, Defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme to solicit at least $300,000 from members of the public to participate in a pooled investment vehicle for futures trading, misappropriated and commingled commodity pool participants’ funds, issued false account statements to pool participants to conceal their trading losses and misappropriation, engaged in false advertising, and failed to register with the CFTC, as required.

Unauthorised Use Of ESMA’s Identity And Logo By A Named Individual

Date 12/04/2018

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has been informed that an individual operating under the name “Edward Stewart” has used ESMA’s identity and logo. This individual is presenting himself as an employee of ESMA conducting investigations in order to steal personal data and convince the potential victims to transfer money.

Steve Grob At Fidessa Criticises "Asinine" Letter From Marcus Ferber To ESMA On Periodic Auctions - The Periodic Table

Date 12/04/2018

Posted by Steve Grob on Thursday, April 12, 2018 · Leave a Comment 

I read with interest, and some dismay, Sam Agini’s great piece in Financial News yesterday about Marcus Ferber writing to ESMA be-moaning periodic auctions. Perhaps the most asinine comment attributed to Mr Ferber is that some such mechanisms are a “blatant attempt to undermine the Mifid II provisions aiming at having a larger share of trading in the light”. It is hard to know where to start in deconstructing this statement, but let me have a go anyway. The last part really sums up everything that is wrong with the MiFID regulations. When will regulators and their political masters understand that the idea that “lit is good and dark is bad” is (a) wrong and (b) a gross oversimplification? So much so that it reminds me of Orwell’s sheep in Animal Farm bleating out “4 legs good two legs bad” as they seek to wrest control from their human masters. It’s not as if periodic auctions are anything new either as the concept of auctions has existed pretty much as long as trading has. And, just like the periodic table of elements, the idea covers a huge array of different entities each with their own specific properties and configurations. But, yet again, I fear that in “coming up with strategies”, as Mr Ferber asks, ESMA will ignore this and seek some sort of cap or other blunt instrument that does more harm than good.

Pirum Adds 3 Staff To US Operation

Date 12/04/2018

Securities Finance Fin Tech provider Pirum Systems, is delighted to announce the expansion of their US operation with the addition of Kristen Dove and Dominique Rose joining the New York team.  In addition Edward Sharpe will be transferring to New York.

Jordan Hiscott, Chief Trader At Ayondo Markets - “Bitcoin Has An Identity Crisis And Needs To Decide What Its Key Aspect Is For It To Be Truly Successful”

Date 12/04/2018

“Bitcoin is the largest and most well-known digital form of money, and the ideals of cryptography secured paperless transactions will be the future of monetary payments as we know it. The virtues of Bitcoin are clear, involving Blockchain, a publicly recordable technology, and insanely difficult and laborious mining aspects. However, I feel at present that Bitcoin in itself has an identity crisis. Is it these virtues or is it a hyper-turbocharged speculation tool, used by an ever-expanding trading community that has little use or care for Bitcoin as a monetary transaction, and instead is just chasing large exponential performance gains?"

FTSE Russell Acquires Minority Interests To Assume 100% Ownership Of FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets Limited

Date 12/04/2018

• FTSE Russell has acquired a combined c. 27% in minority shareholdings from TMX Group Limited and MTS S.p.A
• Acquisition will further strengthen FTSE Russell’s global fixed income capabilities, complementing recent acquisition of The Yield Book
• Demonstrates FTSE Russell’s commitment to local Canadian market
• Allows FTSE Russell to benefit from key industry trends, including strong growth in multi-asset solutions and passive investment strategies
• FTSE Russell is a leading index provider globally with c.$15 trillion of assets benchmarked to its indexes

The World Federation Of Exchanges & Oliver Wyman Joint Report Examines The Pivotal Role Of Market Infrastructures In Ensuring Market Integrity

Date 12/04/2018

The World Federation of Exchanges ("The WFE"), the global industry group for exchanges and central counterparties (CCPs), today published a joint report with global management consultancy Oliver Wyman on the pivotal role of exchanges and CCPs in supporting market integrity.

Nasdaq Stockholm Orders Clavister To Pay A Fine Corresponding To Six Annual Fees

Date 12/04/2018

The Disciplinary Committee of Nasdaq Stockholm has found that Clavister Holding AB (“Clavister” or “the Company”) has breached the Nasdaq First North Nordic Rulebook, as applicable from time to time, (“the Rule Book”) and thereby ordered Clavister to pay a fine of six annual fees, corresponding to an amount of SEK 1,511,824.