- The Miami Options Exchange (MIAX) will launch on Dec. 7 if it receives regulatory approval. MIAX would be the 11th U.S. options exchange.
- The International Securities Exchange (ISE) will launch trading in Mini Options on March 18, 2013. ISE is the first exchange to confirm a launch date for the options, which will represent a deliverable of 10 shares of an underlying security. Mini Options will initially be listed on APPL, AMZN, GLD, GOOG and SPY.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved a determination requiring swap dealers to guarantee trades involving six classes of credit default and interest rate at registered clearinghouses.
- CME Group Inc. dropped a lawsuit challenging CFTC trade-data reporting rules after the agency withdrew certain requirements governing the routing of trade price and volume information.
- The CFTC approved CME’s application to establish its CME Repository Service, a swap data repository. The exchange will waive reporting fees for the service through Set. 30, 2013, including back-loaded trades.
- CME Group Inc. and the National Futures Association chose AlphaMetrix360 as their electronic data aggregation services provider. The new partnership is designed to create a system to collect bank balances for depositories holding customer-segregated, secured amount and sequestered funds for futures commission merchants.
- The U.S. Treasury Department exempted forex swaps and forwards from Dodd-Frank regulations that will apply to other derivatives. The agency explained the decision by saying that “unlike other derivatives, FX swaps and forwards already trade in a highly-transparent, liquid and efficient market.”
- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved CME’s bid to acquire the Kansas City Board of Trade for $126 million in cash.
- Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) will launch two new cash-settled forex futures contacts for the Indian rupee (INR)/U.S. dollar and Brazil real/U.S. dollar beginning Jan. 28, 2013. ICE is the first U.S. exchange to launch an INR futures contract.
- Bloomberg introduced a new feature allowing clients to trade foreign exchange options using the company’s multi-bank trading platform, FXGO. With the request-for-quote system, users can request and consolidate pricing for any currency option simultaneously.
- On Dec. 10, ICE Futures Europe will reopen the daily futures market for the carbon credit Phase II EU Allowances and Certified Emission Reductions, and launch a new daily futures contract for Phase III EU Allowances.
- The European Energy Exchange (EEX) will launch trading in spot contracts for United Nations carbon offsets beginning on Dec. 5.
- Altegris Clearing solutions announced the creation of the Altegris CTA Challenge, a year-long competition that will recognize the industry’s best commodity trading advisors. All qualified CTAs are eligible. Registration closes on Dec. 10, and the winner will be announced in early 2014.
- CME Group will pay a total of $2 million to almost 200 Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) clients who traded on CME exchanges. The cash comes from a CME fund established earlier this year to protect farmers, ranchers and agricultural coops that use the company’s market to hedge their products.
- StoneCastle Cash Management, a provider of cash management products for institutional investors, has entered into a definitive agreement with eCD Market to acquire its assets and exclusively license its online CD marketplace. The eCD deposit portal is designed to allow users to easily obtain a large amount of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance for cash balances.
- Omgeo updated its automated collateral management solution, Omgeo ProtoColl, to meet new Commodity Futures Trading Commission reporting requirements for swap dealers and major swap participants.
- ABN AMRO Clearing implemented NASDAQ OMX’s SMARTS Broker automated trade monitoring solution to better identify suspicious trading behavior and ensure compliance across multiple markets.
- Technology provider RTS Realtime Systems Group will open new data centers in Shanghai and Tokyo by year-end. As part of the expansion, the firm’s CEO, Steffan Gemuenden, will relocated from Chicago to Singapore in January.
- CME Group Inc. increased the credit line to its credit house by two-thirds, to a total of $5 billion, in advance of new regulations that will transfer trades in interest rate swaps and credit default swaps from over-the-counter venues to regulated clearinghouses.
- Shareholders approved a proposed $1.6 billion merger between Osaka Securities Exchange Co. (OSE) and Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. (TSE). TSE bought 66.7% of OSE after a tender offer that ended in August.
- Moscow Exchange and Deutsche Börse signed a Letter of Intent agreeing to cooperate on exchange infrastructure, product development and IT, and on regulations governing trading, clearing, settlement and custody, collateral management and market data.
- The Spanish Stock Exchange announced the launch of its 70thexchange-traded fund. The ETF, issued by Lyxor, is called the Lyxor ETF Euro Stoxx50 Daily Short and will begin trading on Nov. 21.
