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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on April 15, 2011, obtained a federal court order imposing more than USD12 million in restitution and civil monetary penalties on defendants Brian Kim and his company, Liquid Capital Management, LLC (LCM), for fraud in connection with the operation of a commodity pool.
The default judgment order requires Kim and LCM jointly and severally to pay restitution of USD3,129,161 to defrauded customers and Kim’s Condominium Association and a USD9,387,483 civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently prohibits them from engaging in any commodity-related activity and from registering with the CFTC.
The order, entered
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), based on an order entered on March 21, 2011, by the US District Court for Southern District of New York (SDNY), the court-appointed Receiver, Robb Evans & Associates, LLC, has begun an initial distribution of approximately USD792 million to investors in a commodity pool operated by CFTC defendants Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh, who, among other defendants, were charged by the CFTC in 2009 with operating a USD1.3 billion investment Ponzi scam. This constitutes a distribution of nearly 85 per cent of approved claims to investors.
The CFTC complaint, filed on February 25,
NYSE Euronext’s Board of Directors, consistent with its fiduciary duties and advised by its financial and legal advisors, has unanimously reaffirmed its combination agreement with Deutsche Boerse AG (XETRA:DB1) and reaffirmed its rejection of the proposal from Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE).
Speaking on behalf of the Board, NYSE Euronext Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels (pictured) says: “Our Board has reviewed the information recently provided by Nasdaq/ICE in connection with their proposal and concluded that this proposal is substantially the same as what was previously rejected. Consequently, our view has not changed. This proposal does
Single-manager hedge funds recovered in 2010 with assets under management (AUM) increasing 11% over 2009 to USD1.6 trillion and 1,184 new funds launching representing a 51% increase over the prior year, according to PerTrac’s latest hedge fund study.
Sizing The 2010 Hedge Fund Universe, also found that total AUM for single-manager hedge funds and fund of funds was USD2.1 trillion in 2010.
The 3,196 fund of funds in the study – approximately the same number as in 2008 – had USD518 billion under management in 2010. This represents a 10.5% decrease from 2009 and a steep 31% decline from
Credit rating agency S&P has downgraded the outlook for US long term debt from stable to negative. They said there was a 1 in 3 chance that this would lead to downgrade of US debt from its current AAA-rating within 2 years. S&P’s Nikola Swann says: "More than two years after the beginning of the recent crisis US policymakers have still not agreed on how to reverse recent fiscal deterioration or address longer-term fiscal pressures."
There is currently an intense debate in Washington over what steps should be taken to reduce the deficit and over what timescale. As well as
James Skeggs, Head of Research for Newedge, takes a look at the potential benefits and costs of portfolio rebalancing.
At the outset of his research, Skeggs expected that regularly rebalancing a portfolio would produce measurably better outcomes when considered in terms of risk-adjusted returns, but he was greatly surprised to find this was not the case. After delving in to the question of why rebalancing frequently has little impact, the results prove that rebalancing should only be done when the portfolio is seriously out of balance, or when it can be done at a minimal cost with new money.
One
The former Attorney General for the Cayman Islands, Richard Coles (pictured), is the new Chairman of Cayman Finance, the voice of Cayman’s financial services industry.
Coles was appointed last week at the organisation’s AGM in Cayman and immediately declared his commitment to further develop Cayman Finance’s relationship with the Cayman Islands Government.
“This organisation has developed an impressive history of working with Government to achieve its mission of promoting Cayman’s financial services industry," says Coles. "It is my intention to build upon this relationship further and to take the activities of Cayman Finance to a new level.”
The new
The international derivatives exchange Eurex has admitted Nanhua Futures (Hong Kong) Co Ltd as a new trading participant based in Hong Kong. Nanhua Futures is the Hong Kong subsidiary of one of the leading futures brokers from the People’s Republic of China.
David Luo, CEO of Nanhua Futures, says: “We are very honoured to become a member of one of the leading derivatives exchanges in the world. Nanhua is committed to providing its clients with high-quality services, high efficiency and expertise. Being a member of Eurex will further leverage our business and our services and could help us to even
In its latest survey on the growing market for New UCITS (NUCITS), ML Capital has seen that the largest growth in investor demand this quarter, has been for Global Macro strategies, with 87 per cent of respondents planning to increase or maintain their exposure to those funds.
ML Capital surveyed a diverse range of active investors in NUCITS, who collectively manage EUR40 billion and today invest upwards of EUR10 billion of those assets into NUCITS Funds. Questions were aimed at discovering their forthcoming strategy allocations and are asked each quarter to the same respondents in order to track asset flows
JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has launched its Repo Trade Matching Engine. This new functionality will enhance the operating model of the US Tri-Party Repo market, in support of the May 2010 recommendations of the Tri-Party Repo Infrastructure Task Force sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s private sector Payments Risk Committee.
The Repo Trade Matching Engine can take trade instructions via a variety of different messaging types from Tri-Party Repo Cash Lenders. These Lenders—including asset managers, pensions, and government institutions—will be able to view the matching status of their trades through JP Morgan’s proprietary Repo Access platform. Tri-Party
