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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has brought and settled charges against ICAP Europe Limited for manipulation and attempted manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for Yen.
LIBOR is a critical benchmark interest rate used throughout the world as the basis for trillions of dollars of transactions. ICAP is a subsidiary of UK-based ICAP plc.
The CFTC’s order finds that for more than four years, from at least October 2006 through at least January 2011, ICAP brokers on its Yen derivatives and cash desks knowingly disseminated false and misleading information concerning Yen borrowing rates to market
New York Life Investments is to acquire full ownership of Dexia Asset Management – an international asset manager with approximately USD100bn in assets under management – for EUR380m.
With management centres in Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg and Sydney, Dexia offers global fixed income, global equities, alternatives and asset allocation products across retail and institutional channels in 11 locations covering 25 countries.
The transaction, which remains subject to the approval of regulatory authorities, is expected to close on or about 31 December 2013.
The addition of Dexia Asset Management is expected to bring New York Life Investments’ total assets under
Intertrust has expanded its fiduciary team with Rob Aspinall joining as director, fiduciary services in the Cayman Islands and Martin O’Regan joining as director, fiduciary services in Singapore.
Both individuals will be primarily focused on the provision of independent directors to hedge fund and other collective investment vehicles.
Aspinall (pictured) joins Intertrust from Deloitte in the Cayman Islands, where he has spent eight of the last eleven years specialising in advising the investment funds industry. After gaining experience in Deloitte’s audit and financial advisory departments, followed by a two year stint with Harmonic Fund Services, a boutique service
Models that aim to predict daily stock returns perform better when they combine text data and financial quantitative data, according to Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC).
A study by Zhendong (Tony) Zhao, Nataliya Sokolovska and Professor Mark Johnson looks at combining quantitative and text data rather than treating them separately reducing errors by almost three per cent compared to results when only quantitative data is examined.
Johnson says: “An almost three per cent improvement doesn’t seem large but it has a significant impact in finance because the new method’s prediction is closer to the real value. This
Palmer Square Capital Management, a provider of structured credit, corporate credit and hedge fund strategies, has closed on its second collateralised loan obligation (CLO) in the last six months.
Palmer Square CLO 2013-2, which closed on 17 September, is a USD464m issuance. On 15 April, Palmer Square closed CLO 2013-1 at USD362m. Both transactions were arranged by JPMorgan Chase. Both vehicles are designed to invest primarily in institutional senior secured bank loans.
Christopher D Long, president of Palmer Square Capital Management, says: "We always believed that the CLO space was a natural extension of our investment platform given
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s division of clearing and Risk (DCR) has issued a time limited no-action letter for LCH.Clearnet and its clearing members.
The letter states that DCR will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action against LCH.Clearnet for clearing certain swaps (DCM/SEF swaps) executed on, or subject to the rules of, designated contract markets or swap execution facilities, and will not recommend enforcement action against LCH’s clearing members for clearing DCM/SEF swaps through LCH.
This relief will be effective until the earlier of (1) 31 March 2014, or (2) the date upon which the Commission
GH Financials Group (GHF), an independent clearing firm for exchange-traded derivatives, has appointed Mark Ibbotson as group chief executive officer, effective 7 October.
Based in the London headquarters, Ibbotson (pictured) will be leading the growth and expansion of the group, which currently has offices in Chicago and Hong Kong.
Peter Lovell has been appointed to the position of chief executive officer of GH Financials (Hong Kong) Ltd and will relocate to Hong Kong to drive the firm’s expansion in Asia.
John Foyle, chairman of the board of GHF, says: “We are delighted to welcome Mark Ibbotson
Houlihan Lokey, the international investment bank, has launched a practice focused on intermediating illiquid financial assets on a global basis.
The illiquid financial asset (IFA) practice will incorporate the firm’s existing secondary advisory (SA) group and will build upon Houlihan Lokey’s transactions with banks, insurance companies and other asset-heavy financial institutions seeking to dispose of loan pools, liquidating hedge funds, stalled private equity funds, limited partnership interests, minority equity positions, life settlements, pharmaceutical royalties, operating leases, and intellectual property among other illiquid asset classes.
The newly configured practice will be led by secondary advisory group co-heads Jeff Hammer
Napier Park Global Capital, an alternative asset management firm, has expanded its business operations into the United Arab Emirates and is opening an office at the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Napier Park will now have offices in New York, London and Dubai.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) office will be headed by managing director Saad Ashraf, an investment professional with more than 17 years of experience in the MENA region. Prior to joining Napier Park, Ashraf held senior roles at Citi Capital Advisors, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Citi Global Markets in fundraising and securities businesses in
Lindeata has strengthened its real-time hedge fund portfolio management offering with new intelligent data visualisation and portfolio monitoring via Linedata Global Hedge.
Hedge funds globally are challenged with navigating global regulations, meeting and managing investor expectations, and their own search for performance across disparate global markets and increasingly complex trading environments. These challenges highlight the need for technology that can deliver the real measurable benefits of a streamlined and efficient trading and operational workflow.
Gary Brackenridge, global head of hedge funds business line for Linedata, says: “Linedata has been working to support our hedge fund clients for 15
