EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 16 August 2010
The CFTC said in a letter to the CME it “supports the conclusion that ELX’s EFFs, when used solely to liquidate and establish look-alike futures positions on different designated contract markets (“DCM”), are not wash or fictitious trades prohibited by the Commodities and Exchange Act. The Commission has concluded that neither the CEA nor Commission regulation prohibits (i) EFF trades or (ii) matched block trades used to transfer positions from one exchange to another exchange with different clearinghouse. (…) The Commission has directed staff separately to analyze the Core Principle 18 (Antitrust Considerations) claims that have been made in connection with this matter, and accordingly no inferences should be drawn in that regard from any statement in this letter.”
CME said CFTC’s letter does not change CBOT rules, which clearly prohibit EFFs. As permitted by the Commodity Exchange Act, CBOT will continue to prohibit EFFs, which would reduce transparency and price discovery in CBOT Treasury futures markets, CME said.
BATS received SEC approval to operate a second equities exchange and expects to launch it in 60 days. The new exchange is called BATS Y-Exchange, or BYX, as it will be identified on the consolidated tapes with the ‘Y’ identifier. To trade via BYX, current BATS members will be allowed a 90-day grace period to complete the BYX waive-in process. As with BATS ‘Z’, there is no membership cost at BYX. BATS CEO Joe Ratterman said BYX will offer “greater flexibility in pricing.”
Alpha will initially waive fees when it launches IntraSpread, its new "dark pool." IntraSpread will be launched in November and Alpha would extend the waiver until March 2011.
CBOE instituted new pricing in 24 of the most-active and lower-priced securities traded on CBSX. The new pricing inverts traditional maker and taker rates, with "makers" charged a $0.0018 fee per share and "takers" receiving a credit of $0.0014 per share for selected securities.
DTCC is planning to expand its staff in Europe
PSE is evaluating three IPO applications for this year, including Globe Asiatique Realty, according to legal counsel, Jay Banaag.
Citigroup plans to start dark pool electronic trading in Singapore early 2011.
Lime Brokerage rolled out CBOE’s Real Time Data feed.
Charles Schwab: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is investigating potential new claims against Schwab for causing the Schwab Total Bond Market Fund (SWLBX) to deviate from its fundamental investment objective to track the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate Bond Index beginning August 31, 2007.
EFG International was downgraded to “Neutral” from “Buy” at Goldman Sachs. Target price was reduced to CHF13 from CHF23.
SIFMA's Equity Options Trading Committee sent a comment letter to the SEC saying that a ban of "flash orders" in options "could have significant adverse consequences for the options markets generally by decreasing competition and liquidity and increasing volatility."
IOSCO published a final report outlining principles for the regulation of DMA. Principles include pre and post-trade transparency, customer identification, minimum customer standards, and intermediary’s responsibility for trades.
The SEC and CFTC jointly published a notice requesting public comment on defining certain key terms and in prescribing regulations regarding mixed swaps, as required by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The SEC and CFTC will hold a public roundtable on August 20 to discuss issues related to governance and conflicts of interest in the clearing and listing of swaps and security-based swaps. The roundtable will assist both agencies in the rulemaking process to implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
SEC chairman Mary Schapiro said at a meeting of the SEC-CFTC Joint Advisory Committee the regulators are considering "deterrring or prohibiting the use of stub quotes by market makers" and that the SEC is "studying the impact of trading protocols at individual exchanges, including the use of trading pauses, price collars and self-help rules.
SEC’s Deputy Chief Economist, Stewart Mayhew, is leaving the agency after eight years of public service.
The SEC, FINRA and NASAA updated a joint report that outlines practices being used by financial services firms to strengthen their policies and procedures for serving senior investors.
Provided By: Equity Research Desk, www.erdesk.com