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Following the enactments of the Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (SIBA) and Mutual Funds Regulations, 2010, the BVI Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) has now released the Public Funds Code, 2010.
The code, which will come into force on 31 March 2011 and will from that point apply to all BVI funds registered as public funds, is designed to implement the standards set by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) for the regulation of retail funds, as far as is relevant and applicable to public funds. In addition to considering ISOCO’s Objectives and Principles, the FSC has also
The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) has formed the Securities, Investment Business and Mutual Fund Advisory Committee (SIBA Advisory Committee) to review the Securities and Investment Business Act, 2010 (SIBA) and related relevant legislation and recommend changes to the regulatory regime that governs securities, investment business and mutual funds in the Territory.
Ross Munro, Partner and Head of Investment Funds and Regulatory at the law firm Harneys has been appointed Chairman of the SIBA Advisory Committee, while the other members of the committee are: Robert Briant, Partner, Conyers Dill & Pearman; Ryan Geluk, Director, BDO; Ayana Hull-Brathwaite,
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has obtained more than USD860,000 in restitution and civil monetary penalties in a federal judgment against defendants Paul Abad of Orange County California, and his companies, Thirteen Thirty-Two, and Thirteen Thirty-Two, dba MRTS Asset Management.
The consent order requires the defendants jointly and severally to pay USD485,845 in restitution and a joint and several USD375,000 civil monetary penalty. The order also permanently bans the defendants from engaging in any commodity-related activity, including trading and registering with the CFTC.
The consent order stems from a CFTC complaint filed on December 1, 2008, charging the
Bermuda’s new Investment Funds Amendment Act 2010, which received the assent of the Governor General on 22 December and amends the Investment Funds Act 2006, has introduced several new provisions for the regulation of investment funds in the Caribbean jurisdiction.
The aim of the Amendment Act is to align “the regulatory framework for funds and fund administrators more closely with the requirements that exist in other regulatory legislation in Bermuda, while ensuring that the framework overall remains risk-based and recognises the unique nature of the funds industry [in Bermuda].”
The Amendment Act was introduced following consultation with Bermuda International Business
Robert Koller, an Austrian citizen, who completed law degrees in both Austria and Spain, has been awarded a landmark decision in a dispute lasting several years in relation to the Austrian legal profession.
Having first qualified as a lawyer in Spain, he applied to take the foreign lawyers’ test in Austria and requested exemption based on the fact that he had studied law in Austria and that there was a relevant provision in Austrian law.
However, his request for admittance to the aptitude test was denied in the first instance and also after appeal by the Oberste Berufungs und Disziplinarkommission
Global investor confidence rose 8.0 points in December according to figures released by State Street Global Markets. The State Street Global Investor Confidence Index rose from 94.4 to 104.4 during December, while in North America confidence rose 7.7 points to 103.1.
Investor confidence was not as positive among European investors however, with the index decreasing 10.8 points to 99 from November’s revised level of 109.8. In Asia, like North America, institutional investors were equally optimistic and confidence in that region increased by 7.4 points from a revised November level of 95.5 to 102.9 in December.
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Hedge fund managers have turned extremely upbeat on US equities, according to the TrimTabs/BarclayHedge Survey of Hedge Fund Managers for December.
About 46% of the 92 hedge fund managers the firms surveyed in the past week are bullish on the S&P 500, while only 19% are bearish.
“These bullish and bearish readings are the highest and lowest, respectively, since the inception of our survey in May,” says Sol Waksman (pictured), founder and President of BarclayHedge. “The enthusiasm is not surprising. Our Hedge Fund Index shows consistent gains in 13 of the past 14 years, and hedge funds are firmly on track
Derivatives exchange Eurex intends to intensify its cooperation with the European Energy Exchange.
The objective is to further strengthen Leipzig as a European centre of expertise for energy and emissions products.
In line with this, Eurex and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg have concluded an agreement that will allow Eurex to acquire LBBW’s stake in the EEX.
Eurex currently holds a 35.2 per cent stake in the EEX.
Eurex and the EEX have been cooperating in the trading and clearing of emissions rights and power derivatives since December 2007.
“By expanding our stake we are going to improve EEX’s position in European energy
Hedge funds experienced a mild setback in November, according to the latest data released by Morningstar.
The Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index declined 0.8%, while the currency-hedged Morningstar MSCI Composite Index dropped 0.1%. For the year to date through November, these indexes have risen 6.1% and 7.2%, respectively. Both of these figures handily beat the performance of global stocks through November, but performance for the year to date is less than one-third of the performance over the same period in 2009.
"Hedge fund performance so far in 2010 pales in comparison to 2009," says Nadia Papagiannis (pictured), alternative investment
London hedge fund manager, Sloane Robinson, one of the city’s best-known funds having been around since 1993, announced this week it would be teaming up with Deutsche Bank to la
