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Federal Court In Florida Orders Joseph Charles DiCrisci To Pay More Than $2.9 Million In Disgorgement And A Civil Monetary Penalty For Engaging In Illegal, Off-Exchange Precious Metals Transactions - Court Earlier Entered A Default Judgment Order Against His Company, Oakmont Financial, Inc.

Date 01/02/2017

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that Judge William P. Dimitrouleas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an Order of Final Judgment by Default (Order) against Defendant Joseph Charles DiCrisci of Henderson, Nevada, an owner and principal of Oakmont Financial Inc. (Oakmont), for engaging in in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions (see CFTC Complaint and Press Release 7317-16, February 3, 2016). The Court previously, on November 8, 2016, entered a Default Judgment Order against Oakmont (Oakmont Order).

OCC Announces Total Cleared Contract Volume Down Nine Percent In January - Securities Lending Activity Up 32 Percent In January

Date 01/02/2017

OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, announced today that total cleared contract volume in January was down nine percent from January 2016 with 338,381,588 contracts. Average daily volume at OCC was down 14 percent from January 2016 with 16,919,079 contracts. OCC's stock loan program reported strong volume numbers in January with year-to-date activity up 32 percent.

CFTC Swaps Report Update

Date 01/02/2017

CFTC's Weekly Swaps Report has been updated, and is now available.

China’s Bank Brands More Valuable Than America's

Date 01/02/2017

• Total value of Chinese bank brands surpasses that of US, brand study reveals
• Wells Fargo loses its status as the world’s most valuable banking brand
• ICBC is now the world’s most valuable, worth US$47.8bn after 32% growth

DTCC Appoints Ann Shuman As General Counsel - Larry Thompson To Focus Full Energies On Vice Chairman Responsibilities

Date 01/02/2017

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that Ann Shuman, DTCC Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel, has been appointed General Counsel, effective February 1, 2017. Ms. Shuman assumes the General Counsel position from Larry Thompson, who is stepping down to serve full-time as Vice Chairman of DTCC. In this role, Mr. Thompson, who was appointed Vice Chairman in 2015, will continue to lead DTCC’s public policy engagement with key regulators and lawmakers globally, serve as a senior advisor to the firm and act as a chief spokesperson.

Amendments To Derivatives Regulation - Autorité Des Marchés Financiers Proposes To Prohibit The Sale Of Binary Options To Québec Consumers

Date 01/02/2017

After issuing several warnings to Quebeckers about the risks of binary options, the Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”) intends to formally prohibit the offering of such products to Québec consumers. The AMF would thus become one of the first regulators to ban the sale of binary options to the general public.

MGEX Has 5th-Best Month Of All-Time

Date 01/02/2017

MGEX, a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), has concluded the month of January with a total volume of 250,929, making it the 5th-best month in the history of the Exchange. This is also the highest January volume total, up 26 percent from the previous January record set in 2008.

ESMA Seeks Investment Management Experts For Stakeholder Panel

Date 01/02/2017

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued today a call for candidates in order to renew the composition of its Consultative Working Group (CWG) which advises ESMA’s Investment Management Standing Committee (IMSC).

Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement

Date 01/02/2017

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace. Job gains remained solid and the unemployment rate stayed near its recent low. Household spending has continued to rise moderately while business fixed investment has remained soft. Measures of consumer and business sentiment have improved of late. Inflation increased in recent quarters but is still below the Committee's 2 percent longer-run objective. Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; most survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed, on balance.

Apple No Longer the World’s Most Valuable Brand, Global Brand Ranking Reveals

Date 01/02/2017

• The world's most valuable brand is Google, with a value of US$109.4 billion
• Apple’s brand value has dropped 27%, ending a 5 year period at the top
• Lego regains its status as the world’s most powerful brand ahead of Lego Batman release