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From February's Trading Places: In Patrick’s Opinion - Blockchain’s Distributed Bubble - Party Like It’s Y2K Seems To Be The Order Of The Day Watching Those On The Blockchain Bandwagon, Muses Our Columnist, Patrick L Young

Date 15/02/2016

Funny things cycles. Even odder thing, the weird way cycles impact the world of finance and indeed the parish of exchanges. Way back when, I spent more than a few months being roundly abused by the middle management (sometimes even those apparently in charge) of various market entities, for having the temerity to endorse, well the vaguest vestiges of what we now take for granted as the digital world. Of course, in the land of the blind being vindicated is usually only one single sided blink away and sure enough... Leaf through a tome from the period, say “Capital Market Revolution!” of 1999 & you soon find a tome nowadays making clear sense that the younger generation can’t see what the analogue anybody made a fuss about.

Better Finance: EU Authorities Must Disclose The Falsely Active Funds (“Closet Indexers”) They Identified

Date 15/02/2016

On 11 February 2016 Better Finance sent an open letter to the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) and to the Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union to request that the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) follow up on its release of the results of its investigation into falsely active equity UCITS funds, and actually disclose the names of the hundreds of funds that it highly suspects of engaging in “closet indexing” and therefore of misleading investors.

Comment By John Thanassoulis, Professor Of Financial Economics At Warwick Business School: HSBC Decision Good News, But Is UK Government Playing Into Banking Sector's Hands?

Date 15/02/2016

Commenting on HSBC opting to stay in London rather than move abroad, John Thanassoulis, Professor of Financial Economics at Warwick Business School and an expert on the banking sector, has made the following statement:

"This is great news for the UK: It safe guards London's position as a global centre of Finance and so protects the jobs in professional services and banking which deliver the financial services."

Powernext And ECC To Introduce Measures To Further Strengthen Liquidity In TTF Futures On PEGAS

Date 15/02/2016

Powernext and the clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) are to introduce a series of new measures throughout 2016 in order to further accelerate the positive development of theTTF futures market. 

ESMA Consults On Implementation Of The Benchmarks Regulation

Date 15/02/2016

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published a Discussion Paper (DP) regarding thetechnical implementation of the incoming Benchmarks Regulation (BR). ESMA is seeking stakeholder’s input to inform itsfuture proposals on draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Technical Advice (TA) to the European Commission.

Irish Stock Exchange And Deutsche Börse Extend Strategic Technology Partnership Until 2021

Date 15/02/2016

The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) has renewed its strategic technology partnership with Deutsche Börse and extended its use of the Deutsche Börse trading infrastructure and related services. The new contract runs for 6 years until the end of 2021. 

HSBC Chooses SWIFT To Connect To Target2-Securities - SWIFT’s Reliability, Long-Term Commitment And Competitive Pricing Rank High Amongst HSBC’s Selection Criteria

Date 15/02/2016

SWIFT announces today that HSBC in Germany will use SWIFT’s Value Added Network (VAN) solution to connect to Target2-Securities (T2S).  SWIFT's VAN Solution enables T2S participants to connect to the new pan-European securities settlement platform for the secure exchange of business information in ISO 20022, offering the highest resilience, with minimal risk and cost.

Graydon Appoints Rob Veneboer As New Chief Operating Officer - Business Intelligence Specialist Undergoes Unique Transition With Data Assets To Develop And Deliver Unique Analytical Insights

Date 15/02/2016

Business Information specialist Graydon announced the appointment of its new group COO today. Mr Veneboer is an experienced business leader in the online information industry and his expertise is considered a key strategic asset for the  transition the company is currently undergoing. In his previous role, Mr Veneboer was Managing Director Business Information Solutions for LexisNexis International.  

HKFE Announces Revised Margins For Futures Contracts

Date 15/02/2016

Please be advised that pursuant to Exchange Rule 617(d) and HKCC Rule 402, the Exchange and the Clearing House have determined that with effect from the commencement of trading on Wednesday, 17 February 2016, the margin levels of the following Futures Contracts shall be as follows:

Dutch Settlement Foundation Seeks To Resolve Securities Claims Both For The Benefit Of Volkswagen And Its Investors

Date 15/02/2016

The disclosure that Volkswagen installed devices to circumvent mandatory emissions regulations for its diesel engineshas caused the Company’s shareholders and bondholders to suffer billions of euros in losses. The Volkswagen Investor Settlement Foundation (“the Foundation”) provides a non-litigation and no cost vehicle for Volkswagen investors worldwide to recover damages incurred on Volkswagen securities pursuant to the Dutch Collective Settlement Act.