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Geoff Cook (pictured), chief executive of Jersey Finance, argues that international financial centres such as Jersey, which are well regulated and have demonstrated their co-operation in efforts to curb tax evasion, are not part of the problems that led to the global financial crisis, but are an important part of the solution.
The April 2009 G20 Summit in London was a seminal moment when the whole world focused on global financial stability, banking secrecy and tax havens. Almost a year on, these topics continue to feature in the news as the UK tentatively emerges from the longest recession since records
The UK equity market is likely to be tricky for hedge funds during the next 12 months, an expert has predicted.
The widespread use of Ucits by the hedge fund industry is gaining momentum, said fund managers at a seminar hosted by the Irish Funds Industry Association on behalf of the funds industry in Ireland.
Over 400 investment management professionals, influencers and decision makers attended the event to discuss the growing interest among hedge fund managers in Ucits structures.
Ireland’s position as a leading domicile for Ucits products was highlighted throughout the seminar. Ireland is a major centre for the administration of alternative investment funds, with 40 per cent of global hedge funds serviced there. Moreover, 80 per cent of Irish
China has experienced a rise in inflation during February, which could concern hedge funds looking to invest in the country.
Direct Access Partners, an institutional agency-only brokerage firm, is expanding its service offering with the addition of global prime services.
This multi-prime brokerage will provide a single point of contact for both back-office operations and technology.
Global prime services allows clients to opt for either a single- or multi-prime solution with custodians such as Goldman Sachs Execution and Clearing, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and Bank of New York Mellon/Pershing.
Clients will be able to take advantage of Direct Access Partners’ service offering, including multi-asset execution in over 100 markets as well as independent research, securities lending and business consulting.
Direct
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Willie L. Cloud, Jr. and his investment company C & R Financial, both of Houston, Texas, with operating a Ponzi scheme in connection with foreign currency trading.
The CFTC’s complaint, filed on 4 March 2010, alleges that, since at least April 2008 Cloud and C & R Financial solicited at least USD200,000 from individuals for the sole purpose of trading forex.
Allegedly, the defendants promised several customers that they would each have personal accounts at a registered futures commission merchant, through which defendants would trade forex for them.
The defendants allegedly lured
The number of new hedge fund launches increased in the fourth quarter of 2009 even as the pace of liquidations continued to decline, according to data from Hedge Fund Research.
During Q4 2009, an estimated 230 funds launched while 165 liquidated, continuing the momentum from Q3 09 when launches outpaced liquidations for the first time since the start of the financial crisis.
For the FY 2009, liquidations outpaced launches with over 1,000 funds liquidating and nearly 800 new funds launching. 2009 was the second consecutive calendar year in which liquidations exceeded launches; in 2008 a record 1,471 funds liquidated while
Eurex and the Korea Exchange have set the start date of their Eurex/KRX Link, a product cooperation to trade and clear Kospi 200 options, at 30 August 2010.
For the first time, Kospi 200 options will be available worldwide after Korean trading hours.
In-soo Kim, executive director of Korea Exchange, says: “Our agreement with Eurex today is part of our strategy to extend the global reach of KRX markets and furthermore, it is in line with KRX’s vision of becoming a world-class premier exchange. Through this cooperation, we will provide round-the-clock trading opportunities in the Kospi 200 options market, which
Newedge, a provider of multi-asset brokerage and clearing services, is reorganising its global business line structure.
Newedge says the new structure better reflects the new global market environment and allows for a more efficient response to client needs.
This global structure will work in conjunction with its current regional organisation.
The new organisation will consist of four main global business lines: fixed income, currencies and commodities, headed by Pierre Gay; prime brokerage, headed by Philippe Teilhard de Chardin; clearing sales and professional trading group, headed by Chris Topple; and financial futures options and equities execution, headed by John Ruskin
Standard & Poor’s has licensed the National Stock Exchange of India to create and list Indian Rupee-denominated futures contracts on the S&P 500, subject to regulatory approvals.
The licensing agreement, jointly from S&P and S&P-licensee Chicago Mercantile Exchange to NSE, is part of a landmark cross-listing arrangement announced by CME Group and NSE that covers benchmark indices for US and Indian equities.
The Rupee-denominated S&P 500 futures contracts will be made available on NSE via a sublicense from Standard & Poor’s.
“Indian investors, like their counterparts around the world, want index products that provide immediate access to the world’s equity
