Latest News
Accounting firm Tunney & Associates (T&A) and owner Michael Tunney are to pay a USD100,000 civil monetary penalty for violating CFTC Regulations when conducting audits for The Linn Group (TLG).
TLG is a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).
The order, entered on 28 April by Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, also permanently prohibits T&A and Tunney from practicing or appearing before the CFTC and from violating the provisions of the CFTC’s Regulations related to independent auditors, as charged.
The order stems from a CFTC complaint filed on 18 April 2013
Global currency overlay and currency alpha manager Millennium Global has appointed Hai Xin as managing director responsible for business development in Asia (ex-Japan) and Australasia.
Previously Xin held a similar position at Overlay Asset Management for seven years (2005-2012) where he was a member of the firm’s executive and research committees.
Before that, he worked for UBS Investment Bank in a variety of positions within its foreign exchange and equity capital markets divisions.
Since 2010, Xin has been an adjunct associate professor lecturing on statistics for risk management and investment banking at Hong Kong University of Science and
Schroders is to launch another externally-managed fund on its GAIA platform, Schroder GAIA Paulson Merger Arbitrage, subject to regulatory approval.
As it’s name suggests, the fund’s strategy is fundamental merger arbitrage, investing mainly in US, Western European and Canadian large cap public equities currently or potentially involved in mergers and other corporate events, including but not limited to exchange offers, bankruptcy reorganisations or liquidations.
The fund will be managed by John Paulson of Paulson & Co, which runs USD7.6bn in the merger strategy. The Schroder GAIA fund will be based (minimum 85% overlap anticipated) on the Paulson International Limited fund (“Paulson hedge
Northern Trust’s hedge fund administration business will provide local market expertise and solutions to hedge fund clients as they participate in the Shanghai Qualified Domestic Limited Partner (QDLP) programme.
This specialist fund administration capability will be offered from Northern Trust’s Beijing office.
The Shanghai QDLP programme allows foreign hedge fund managers to raise funds onshore and invest them abroad. This will contribute to the growing hedge fund industry in China, paving the way for an established alternatives industry in the country.
“Asia is an attractive market for foreign hedge funds which are attracted by the region’s large pools
Singapore-based global macro hedge fund manager Kris Capital has selected Wells Fargo Global Fund Services to provide daily fund administration and an outsourced middle and back office operations solution.
“Wells Fargo Global Fund Services is well known for its hedge fund administration expertise. Engaging the Wells Fargo team provides an extra level of operational security for our investors by offering an independent and transparent service,” says Kris Capital executive director Bhavani Krishnamurthy.
"Kris Capital’s decision to award us this new mandate demonstrates our strength in the global marketplace and our dedication to supporting client requirements with tailored middle and
Algomi, a provider of information-matching solutions for the optimisation of fixed income liquidity, has named Hugh Willis as a strategic advisor.
Willis (pictured), who is also an investor in the firm, is the co-founder of BlueBay Asset Management, a specialist fixed income credit manager with USD62.5 billion of assets under management.
He served as BlueBay’s chief executive from inception in 2001 until the end of 2013, a period which included the sale of the firm to the Royal Bank of Canada for USD1.6 billion in December 2010. He is currently BlueBay’s executive chairman.
“Hugh joins us at a
Euronext has signed a tripartite agreement with grain storage specialist Sénalia and LCH.Clearnet SA.
Euronext’s relationship with storage silos operated by Socomac and Sica Nord-Céréales will be harmonised under the agreement.
With 750,000 tonnes of milling wheat storage capacity in Rouen, Sénalia remains Euronext’s partner of reference, as it has been since the flagship contract was launched in 1998.
Euronext’s technical specification rules for its milling wheat futures contract and options contract now include this contractual agreement with Sénalia as well as its extension to the new silo delivery partners.
While the contract’s qualitative specifications remain the
Global adoption of smart beta strategies among the largest institutional investors is strong and growing, with Europe leading North America.
A new Russell global institutional market survey, entitled Smart Beta: A Deeper Look at Asset Owner Perceptions, confirms that asset owners in North America and Europe are actively using smart beta indices in strategic and tactical ways to pursue a wide range of investment outcomes.
Survey findings show that Europe is leading North America in smart beta adoption, with 40 per cent of European respondents reporting smart beta allocations, compared to 24 per cent in North America.
However,
NASDAQ OMX NLX, the London derivatives market for trading a range of both short-term interest rate (STIRs) and long-term interest rate (LTIRs) euro- and sterling-denominated listed derivative products, has appointed Anthony Belchambers, Rod Banus and Andrew Chart as non-executive directors. 


Belchambers (pictured) is the former chief executive of the Futures and Options Association (now FIA Europe), which he set-up in 1993 with the industry and which now represents 170 members.
He is currently deputy chairman (and co-founder) of the Advisory Group to the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum, and founder and industry deputy chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Wholesale
The testing of technology infrastructure relied upon by financial services firms to carry out their day-to-day operations is insufficient to protect against failure.
That’s according to a survey undertaken by SunGard Consulting Services.
The smooth implementation of upgrades or new technology is crucial in helping ensure that financial services firms can offer new or improved products and services to their customers and retain a competitive advantage. Failure to properly test technology, however, can result in outages and downtime that may lose the firm business and cause reputational damage.
While testing is crucial to maintaining performance, satisfying customers and
