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By Giorgio Subiotto (pictured) & Shameer Jasani, Ogier – We have witnessed a clear evolution in how the composition of boards of directors on Cayman investment funds has been structured.
The concept of using independent directors is not new. Many US managers have used them on their boards of the feeder fund, in large part driven by US tax rules to do with investment fees and deferral rules. It was a pure tax planning device, where little thought was given to the selection of the directors so long as they weren’t related to the Investment Manager.
But this check the box approach,
By Nicholas Butcher, Maples and Calder – Cayman Islands exempted limited partnerships (“ELPs”) are currently riding the crest of a wave. Consistently a popular form of investment vehicle for hedge and especially private equity funds, 2013 saw a record 2,368 ELPs formed and registered in the Cayman Islands, and with the tally of new registrations in the calendar year to November 2014 already standing at 2,580, that record is set to be eclipsed this year.
In degree this popularity is explained by strong demand for Cayman Islands vehicles for use in offshore transactions as a result of a combination of Cayman’s
On 6 December 2013, after a period of consultation with industry practitioners, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) – the Islands’ financial regulator – released its Statement of Guidance for Regulated Mutual Funds (‘SoG-MF’). In essence, the SoG-MF codifies and sets guidance on the minimum corporate governance standards required by operators of regulated mutual funds (directors, general partners) and gives the operators a clear understanding of their primary duties.
CIMA expects the oversight, direction and management of a regulated mutual fund to be conducted in a fit and proper manner in accordance with the Mutual Funds Law. The Statement
The European Energy Exchange (EEX), in cooperation with Cleartrade Exchange (CLTX), is to launch an extension to its Trade Registration services for fertiliser contracts on 6 January 2015.
The product offering includes six derivatives contracts for fertilisers based on Urea, Diammonium Phospate (DAP) and Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) for different delivery points in the United States, Europe and North Africa. All products are cash-settled agreements settled against market indexes, published by Argus Media Limited, Fertecon Limited and CRU International Limited in “The Fertilizer Index*” report. Due to the small contract sizes of 25 tons compared to the standard size of
Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) and Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) AlphaMetrix is to pay USD5.6 million in restitution and penalties to settle US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges.
A court order requires AlphaMetrix to pay restitution of USD2.8 million and a civil monetary penalty of USD2.8 million and requires parent company AlphaMetrix Group to pay disgorgement of USD2.8 million. The Order also prohibits AlphaMetrix from further violating anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), as charged.
The Order stems from CFTC charges that AlphaMetrix failed to pay at least USD2.8 million in rebates owed to some of its commodity
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) has approved an amendment to and consolidation of LCH.Clearnet Ltd’s (LCH) orders of registration as a derivatives clearing organisation (DCO).
The amendment permits LCH to provide clearing services for “swaps,” as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and Commission regulations, as well as all futures and options on futures, regardless of the underlying asset class.
LCH’s original order of registration, issued by the Commission on October 29, 2001, permitted LCH to clear over-the-counter derivatives contracts, agreements or transactions that were at the time excluded or exempt from the CEA. Due to the
On 16 December, Euronext’s commodities franchise achieved a record daily volume in milling wheat futures for the second time this month, with 92,531 contracts traded.
Milling wheat futures volume represented over 4.6 million tons on 16 December 2014. The previous record was set on 2 December 2014 with 88,194 contracts or 4.4 million tons traded.
This confirms that Euronext’s milling wheat futures contract has become continental Europe’s most liquid cleared benchmark for agricultural commodities, with current open interest standing at 276,628 contracts or 13.8 million tons.
Olivier Raevel, Head of Commodities at Euronext, says: “We are delighted to see
Asset manager Union Investment has successfully added the OTAS platform to its portfolio management process. OTAS Technologies is a decision support partner to the world’s largest global institutions.
OTAS delivers intelligent decision support through a secure provide cloud platform, adding to Union Investment’s trading processes.
Union Investment marks OTAS Technologies’ rapid expansion into Germany, joining the already established UK, Asian and US client base that includes Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Kames Capital and GLG Partners.
The OTAS platform monitors the global stock market in real-time, and alerts traders and portfolio managers of potential opportunities and risks that are relevant
Liquidnet has partnered with Torstone to consolidate its back office technology by replacing multiple systems within one modern, sophisticated, international platform.
By adopting Inferno, Liquidnet will benefit from improved control and efficiency through a flexible and scalable system that easily interfaces with front office applications and external vendors.
The improvements will allow, the more than 770 of the world’s leading asset managers which use Liquidnet, a more efficient way to optimally source diverse liquidity and satisfy best execution objectives.
“The partnership follows another year of record volumes in Japan. This market has long been a key focus for Liquidnet and
BMO Global Asset Management has launched the BMO Alternative Strategies Fund, which seeks to provide investors with an additional source of portfolio diversification and return over varying market environments.
This addition to the BMO Fund lineup reflects the firm's commitment to improving investors' investment outcomes. The addition expands the fund roster of the firm to 48.
"With market conditions that can easily fluctuate, investors should pay closer attention to the sources of risk when choosing investment products," says Craig Rawlins, Chief Investment Officer for BMO Global Asset Management. "The range of strategies employed within the BMO Alternative Strategies Fund
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