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July
The US Senate opened a new chapter in financial markets history yesterday afternoon by passing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by 60 votes to 39.
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It’s lucky the cavalry happened to be passing. Deputies O’Malia and Dunn were sound asleep when Cantor and Veriana’s Knockabout Hollywood Carnival rolled into town and tried to pitch its tents in the main square.
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The Dodd-Frank Act still includes watered-down versions of the Volcker Rule and the Lincoln Amendment, both of which seek to limit deposit-taking banks’ engagement in riskier activities, often involving derivatives.
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June
There was muted celebration on Wall Street on Friday as amendments backed by Blanche Lincoln and Paul Volcker to the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act were weakened by compromise clauses.
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The CFTC has approved Media Derivatives' application for derivatives on box office revenues. However, two CFTC commissioners, Bart Chilton and Jill Sommers, disagreed with the decision and issued dissenting opinions.
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Promoters of film futures exchanges no doubt have the best of motives. But they have not managed to make the case that box office futures are workable – or desirable.
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Two proposed exchanges that would allow investors to hedge the risk of the profitability of Hollywood movies have polarised the US film industry. Wyn Jenkins reports on box office futures.
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May
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission initiated a public hearing yesterday (May 19) into the feasibility of futures and binary options linked to movie box office receipts.
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Eurex has shaken up its customer and sales strategies, creating two new clearing teams and a new product management and services team to sit between its product development and sales teams, FOi has learned.
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The Bahrain Financial Exchange has confirmed that it will be formally launched in October. It will list cash instruments, derivatives, structured products and Sharia-compliant financial instruments.
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April
Deutsche Bank has obtained an international Islamic banking licence from Malaysia’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, which will allow it to offer Sharia-compliant derivatives in Asia in currencies other than ringgit.
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Islamic finance specialists gave a cautious welcome to the new ISDA/IIFM Tahawwut (Hedging) Master Agreement for Islamic derivatives, announced on March 1 by the two bodies that prepared it: the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the International Islamic Financial Market.
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Mercado Mexicano de Derivados, the Mexican derivatives exchange, is planning to expand its suite of volatility products, as well as launching derivatives on exchange-traded funds.
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved the set-up of Trend Exchange, a market for trading futures on US film box office receipts.
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March
Mercado Mexicano de Derivados’s order routing deal with CME Group will aim to match that of its neighbour BM&F Bovespa’s, MexDer CEO Jorge Alegría has told FOW.
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Bursa Malaysia and Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) have signed a commercial agreement to provide financial products to Islamic market participants and strengthen bilateral ties between the two.
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CME Group has agreed a seven year licensing deal with the Chicago Board Options Exchange, under which CBOE will create new volatility indices for commodities traded at CME.
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February
The Futures and Options Association formed a new advocacy body in January, the FOA European Industry Council, to lobby regulators and politicians.
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The Hong Kong Exchange is working with index companies to develop a volatility index for its securities market. It will be based on stock index options prices, with the aim of providing a benchmark of volatility for the marketplace. The project is at an early stage, HKEx said.
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Every year, people live longer. That may sound nice, but it’s a big problem for the financial industry, especially pensions providers. Firms would love to be able to trade and hedge longevity risk, but there have been few practical solutions – until now.