EXCHANGE NEWSWIRE, 08 September 2010

The SEC may put new rules for high frequency traders (HFTs) that may force traders with the “best access” to markets to purchase and sell stocks to preserve liquidity, and perhaps set minimum quotation amounts for specified periods of time, according to Bloomberg. Practices involving quote stuffing are also under examination “to assess whether they violate existing rules against fraudulent or other improper behavior,” according to SEC Chairman Schapiro.

NYX Liffe will begin to issue reports similar to those produced by CFTC on positions in coffee, sugar and cocoa traded in London, with a trial period starting 28 September 2010.
BATS Europe added near real-time notional value and volume summaries for dark order books operated by BATS Europe, Instinet BlockMatch, Chi-X, Liquidnet, Nomura NX, ITG Posit, Smartpool and Turquoise to its pan European market share display.

Hellenic Exchanges will reduce the share capital by €8.5 mn to €63.4 mn, reducing the par value of the share from €1.10 to €0.97. A special €0.13 dividend will be paid to shareholders on record on September 22.

LME added Antwerp as the fourth approved delivery location for its cobalt contract, effective October 22.

HKEx is reviewing an application filed by AIG to list its Asian life insurance unit, AIA, with a decision planned for September 21.

Financial Technologies India announced it plans to raise up to INR15 bn for onshore and offshore acquisitions, by issuing GDRs, ADRs, foreign currency convertible bonds or through a qualified institutional placement.

Bursa Malaysia may see the largest possible Southeast Asian IPO by Petronas Chemicals, which could raise as much as MYR11 bn ($3.53 bn) in its initial share sale at end of 2011.

BNY Mellon announced the launch of an online market for European asset-backed securities named Structured Credit Connect, which will go live in Q1 2011, and allows banks, dealers, hedge funds and asset managers to trade anonymously in asset-backed bonds.

Direct Edge successfully migrated its clients from its Jersey City data center to its new NY4 facility.

Invesco and GAM are among five companies interested in a bid for UniCredit’s Pioneer asset-management unit, valued at €3.5 bn according to Il Messaggero.

BGC was awarded the overall Number one broker in Currencies in the annual Risk Australia Rankings.

FSA’s proposals for handling exchange outages have received broad positive welcome, but cautious buy-side firms may need greater persuasion to redirect trading flow to MTFs should a market failure occur.

SEBI ordered credit rating agencies a few weeks earlier to stop the rating of structured products which lack capital protection, ending the issuance of such instruments.

A Tabb Group report found that capital market firms worldwide are expected to spend a total of $13.4 bn in 2010 on improving trading infrastructure, 41% of which will come from North America.