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ESMA has published its final report on guidelines on systems and controls in an automated trading environment for trading platforms, investment firms and competent authorities (ESMA/2011/456).
In issuing these guidelines, ESMA rolls out a comprehensive regime governing the operation of electronic trading systems by a regulated market, a multilateral trading facility (MTF) or investment firms. The guidelines cover trading in an automated environment of any financial instruments, as defined in the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).
In accordance with Article 16(3) of the ESMA Regulation, national competent authorities and financial market participants must make every effort to comply with
The Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA) has issued a voluntary corporate governance code for Irish authorised collective investment schemes (CIS) and Irish authorised management companies.
This follows an invitation by the Central Bank for the funds industry to develop and apply its own corporate governance code in place of the statutory code developed for banks and insurance companies. While the IFIA code is voluntary in nature, the Central Bank considers it “essential” that all Irish authorised CIS adopt the code, albeit on a voluntary basis. 

The IFIA code draws on the existing corporate governance practices as outlined in the Central
Commodities have recovered this week along with equities, led by agriculture and energy prices. 2011 will be remembered by the dichotomy between energy and non-energy commodities, says Mike McGlone, Senior Director, Commodity Indexing, S&P Indices…
It was a bad year for dictators, terrorists, bankers and global equities but the S&P GSCI fared relatively well in 2011, ending 22 December with a YTD decline of 1.16% on the back of a 2.09% decline in December.
Along with equities, commodity prices bounced back from declines earlier in the month led by a recovery in agriculture and energy prices. In 2011, one of
The Securities and Exchange Commission has amended its rules to exclude the value of a person’s home from net worth calculations used to determine whether an individual may invest in certain unregistered securities offerings. The changes were made to conform the SEC’s definition of an “accredited investor” to the requirements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Under the amended rule, the value of an individual’s primary residence will not count as an asset when calculating net worth to determine “accredited investor” status. The amendments also clarify the treatment of borrowing secured by a primary residence
The Dow Jones Credit Suisse Hedge Fund Index finished down 0.79% in November. On a year-to-date basis through November, six out of 10 strategies were in positive territory. In total, the industry saw estimated outflows of approximately USD4 billion in November, bringing overall assets under management for the industry to approximately USD1.7 trillion.
Directional strategies, such as Long/Short Equity, experienced intra-month volatility related primarily to macroeconomic factors. The rally during the last week of November benefitted broader markets more than many Long/Short equity funds which continued to maintain a defensive bias.
Tactical trading managers showed generally flat performance. Global Macro
Boyer Allan Investment Management has decided to call time on two of its he
Asia’s hedge fund industry is about to have a new player as South Korea this week prepares to launch its first 13 local hedge fund vehicl
Hong Kong is the place to be if you’re an investment banker or hedge fund professional.
Hedgeweek reported last week how well Hugh Hendry’s China Short fund had performed this year, returning over 50 per cent to investors by buying CDS of Japa
Last month’s popular Hedgeweek-PerTrac webinar – Fund allocation challenges in turbulent times: Are alternatives the answer? – which was hosted by Hedgeweek managing editor Simon Gray and examined some of the issues currently facing fund allocators and the options open to them, is now available to download in full.
Issues covered include whether it is time to rethink allocation approaches in order to gain more exposure to alternative strategies, whether through traditional offshore funds and managed accounts, or through more highly-regulated retail investment vehicles structured as Ucits in Europe and mutual funds in the US? And whether the moment has
