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Bursa Malaysia Updates Palm Oil Futures to Support Sustainability
The production of palm oil, the most popular vegetable oil on the planet, comes with some serious problems. In Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Asia, rainforests have been destroyed to create palm oil plantations, displacing endangered species and causing irreparable harm to the environment.
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Wall Street Rides FAR Helps Fund Autism Research
No one will deny that Wall Street can be a competitive place. But Bryan and Melissa Harkins have found the perfect way to put those competitive energies to good use—and for a good cause. The annual Wall Street Rides FAR charity event brings together hundreds of people from across the financial markets to benefit autism research. Now in its fourth year, the event has raised a cumulative total of roughly $1 million. The funds go to the Autism Science Foundation, which provides assistance to scientists and researchers studying the genetic causes behind the disorder.
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Equity Derivatives: Buyside Usage in Asia-Pacific
Each year, EQDerivatives conducts a “market mapping” analysis of the global equity and volatility derivatives market, including its potential for growth in the coming years. The analysis is based on the views of buyside firms around the globe: asset managers, hedge funds, pension funds, private banks, family offices and insurance companies. The findings and analysis provide a map of how equity and volatility derivatives are deployed by managers globally, as well as the types of listed and over-the-counter derivatives that they tend to use most frequently.
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Viewpoint - Derivatives markets demand a global approach
As I write this in early November, I am preparing for a trip to Beijing and Singapore, and I only just returned from a trip to Chicago. I can’t help but think about the connections that link our global markets together. I start with Scandinavia. As I am sure many of you know, a large default took place in September in the power derivatives market operated by Nasdaq. Nasdaq has published several FAQs regarding the default and is conducting an in-depth analysis of that incident, so it would be premature to jump to conclusions. However, this incident has caused ripples far beyond that marketplace.
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Capturing Trans-Pacific Investment Flows
The Taiwan Futures Exchange is set to introduce Electronic Sector Index Futures to its after-hours trading session, the latest step in the exchange’s efforts to make its products more accessible to investors in the U.S. and Europe. A key breakthrough in the history of Taiwan’s financial market came in May 2017, when TAIFEX introduced an after-hours trading session. This session starts after the close of the regular session and runs until 5:00 am the next morning. The extension of trading hours has proved highly popular with both domestic and foreign investors, with overnight trading volume averaging almost 200,000 per session, equivalent to around 20% of the exchange’s average daily trading volume of the regular session.
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What the Market Is Getting Wrong About Market Data
Q: Why is market data so critical in today’s equity markets? A: The U.S. equity markets are the envy of the world. To put this in context, more capital has been raised by U.S. listed companies so far this year than the GDP of some members of the European Union. Advances in technology and adoption of regulatory policies that increased competition among execution venues have enabled retail investors to buy and sell stock more cheaply than ever. Unlike the futures markets, U.S. equity markets are now incredibly fragmented as a by-product of this competition. Policy decisions — specifically, Regulation National Market System (Reg NMS) and Regulation Alternative Trading System (Reg ATS) — have contributed to the fragmentation of the U.S. equity markets, where there are now 13 licensed exchanges and more than 50 alternate trading systems and dark pools where listed securities can trade.
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People News - October 2018
Securities lawyer and market regulator Gary Goldsholle has joined law firm Steptoe & Johnson as a partner after nearly four years as deputy director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets. Goldsholle will work out of Steptoe's Washington office on financial services, public policy, blockchain and cryptocurrency matters. At the SEC, he was involved with nearly all aspects of the securities markets, including broker-dealer registration and sales practices, order routing and execution, and clearance and settlement. He also was a member of the SEC’s fintech working group and participated in the SEC’s orders pertaining to cryptocurrency trading platforms and bitcoin ETFs.
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U.S. trade policies cause pain for farmers but renew interest in agricultural derivatives
For the agricultural futures and options markets, the uncertainty caused by current U.S. trade policies is creating both the best of times and the worst of times, according to a panel of experts speaking at the FIA's annual trade show. Blu Putnam, chief economist at CME Group, noted that the overall level of trading in agricultural derivatives is generally up compared with last year. In particular, "short-dated options have just exploded," he said. These products are crucial for managing the risk of an immediate price break, he explained, when "some news comes out and prices move here to there very quickly."
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BaFin's Hufeld calls for expanded oversight to address risks of big data and AI
Financial regulators will face new challenges arising from the "digitalization" of finance and may need to extend their oversight powers to include certain services provided by technology companies, according to Felix Hufeld, the president of Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, known as BaFin. Speaking on Oct. 4 at a fintech conference in Washington, D.C. organized by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Hufeld cautioned that traditional models for supervision and regulation need to be adjusted to address the impact of technology on financial services. Hufeld spoke primarily about the implications of big data and artificial intelligence, although he also pointed to distributed ledger technology as having the potential to transform the financial services sector.
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SEC focuses on swap regulation, pledges cooperation with CFTC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has scheduled an open meeting Oct. 11 to discuss one of several outstanding rulemakings necessary to complete the Dodd-Frank requirements for credit default swaps and other security-based derivatives. At that meeting, the five SEC commissioners will discuss whether to reopen the comment period on proposals related to capital, margin and segregation requirements for security-based swap dealers and major swap market participants. The meeting comes amid a recent focus on coordination with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on swap regulations mandated by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The SEC has jurisdiction over credit default swaps based on individual companies, while the CFTC has jurisdiction over CDS based on indices.
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