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Saxo Capital Markets UK (SCML), the UK subsidiary of Saxo Bank A/S, has appointed Anthony Belchambers, former chief executive of the Futures & Options Association, as a non-executive director.
Belchambers joins from FIA Europe, formerly the Futures & Options Association, which he founded in 1992 and where he was chief executive until March 2014. He remains a special adviser to FIA Europe.
During his time at the association, Belchambers founded and led many cross-industry initiatives and groups, including MiFID Connect, the Joint Association Financial Transaction Tax Group, the Transatlantic Coalition on Financial Regulation and, more recently, the International Cross-Border Regulation
Cash markets average daily volume at Euronext increased 11.6 per cent for the month of August 2014 compared to August 2013, an average daily volume increase of 13 per cent year-to-date.
Exchange-traded fund trading saw a steep rise, with average daily volumes up 40 per cent from August 2013 and assets under management set a new record of EUR187.7 billion.
Euronext reported a strong rise in trading volumes for CAC40 futures and for its milling wheat futures contract, up 11 per cent and seven per cent respectively year-over-year.
The number of orders for transactions in warrants and certificates
iTB Holdings has upgraded the interface for iTBconnect, a platform that connects market participants to the electronic fixed income trading venues of their choice.
The new interface will enable iTBconnect users to display their bids/offers and inventory to electronic fixed income trading venues to improve fill rates, optimise execution prices and maximise distribution, with virtually no fixed costs.
The enhanced interface is designed to meet high volume institutional workflows, offering connectivity to fixed income trading venues and providing users the ability to aggress and contribute to liquidity at these venues. The solution can easily handle a large quantity of
The Bank of England has approved LME Clear’s application as a central counterparty under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).
LME Clear’s authorisation is effective from 3 September 2014.
The bank’s decision followed a positive opinion reached on 28 July 2014 by a college of regulators and central banks from France, Germany and the UK.
“This is exciting news for LME Clear. Authorisation means that our risk management framework, governance, capital, client account structures and operating model all meet the high standards required under EMIR,” says Trevor Spanner, chief executive of LME Clear. “It’s the last significant milestone
August 2014 was the busiest month all-time for average daily volume and total trading volume, both exchange-wide at CFE and for futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX Index).
Average daily volume in VIX futures was a record 216,996 contracts during August, an increase of 37 per cent from August 2013 and an increase of 10 per cent from July 2014. August's record ADV surpassed the previous record ADV of 216,797 contracts in February 2014.
Total volume in VIX futures reached a new all-time high during August with 4.56 million contracts, up 31 per cent from August 2013 and
State Street Corporation has appointed Bob Keogh as head of alternative investment solutions (AIS) for the Asia Pacific region.
Based in Hong Kong, Keogh will assume responsibility for the hedge fund, private equity and real estate businesses in Asia Pacific.
He has more than two decades of experience in financial services, the last 14 of which have been in the hedge fund industry. He was previously senior managing director for State Street’s hedge fund servicing business based in Europe.
Keogh joined State Street in 2012 from Goldman Sachs as part of State Street’s acquisition of Goldman Sachs Administration
The Hedge Fund Association (HFA) has added prime brokerage firm Concept Capital Markets to its Thought Leadership Council.
Concept Capital Markets joins fellow council members McGladrey and KPMG to empower the HFA’s mission to advance transparency, development and trust in alternative investments.
“We are proud to join the HFA’s Thought Leadership Council in support of the organisation’s mission to unite and speak up for all hedge fund industry participants,” says Jack Seibald, managing member of Concept Capital Markets. “As the HFA continues to grow its regional chapters in the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Concept
The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the global hedge fund industry body, has published an updated edition of its flagship due diligence questionnaire (DDQ), the AIMA DDQ for Hedge Fund Managers.
The AIMA DDQ is used by prospective investors when assessing hedge fund managers and is considered to be the industry-standard template. By having a standardised set of questions, the DDQ also helps managers respond efficiently to requests for information from multiple investors.
It was last revised in 2010.
While there are more than 90 new questions, many previous questions have been consolidated. AIMA is providing tools to
AIMA Canada, the national group of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) in Canada, has appointed its board for 2014-2016.
Michael Burns assumes the role of chair, succeeding Gary Ostoich, a founding member of AIMA Canada who has served as chair since 2009.
The following members have been elected to the board for two year terms, effective 1 September 2014:
Chair: Michael Burns, partner, Borden Ladner Gervais
Deputy chair: Paul Patterson, vice president, private investment, Integrated Asset Management (IAM) Group

Legal counsel: Tim Baron, partner, Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg
Treasurer: Derek Hatoum, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Additional board members: Claude Perron,
Risk managers are increasingly viewing risk management as a strategic core competency rather than a regulatory obligation, according to a survey by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) and SunGard.
The survey captured the views of more than 200 banking risk managers across the world about their collateral and exposure management priorities.


Stress testing capabilities ranked as a lower than expected priority, behind collateral consolidation and asset and exposure valuation. This is particularly surprising in light of the impending European Central Bank comprehensive assessment, due to be published in November 2014, which will disclose those under the baseline
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