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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued an order to Bursa Malaysia Derivatives permitting designated Bursa Malaysia members to solicit and accept orders and customer funds directly from US customers for trading on that exchange without having to register with the CFTC as futures commission merchants.
This exemption follows similar exemptions granted to other foreign exchanges or foreign regulators pursuant to Regulation 30.10.
Orders issued by the commission pursuant to Regulation 30.10 allow firms located in certain foreign jurisdictions to deal directly with US customers on non-US markets without having to comply with certain requirements set forth in the
The International Securities Lending Association is urging consistent and proportionate regulation for short selling, in response to a current European Commission consultation exercise.
The European Commission is consulting on measures that enable authorities to restrict or ban short selling temporarily in emergency situations, increase transparency to regulators and the market about short selling positions and reduce settlement risks of uncovered or naked short selling.
Isla believes short selling is a legitimate and important investment activity, which enhances price discovery, counteracts supply/demand imbalances and also provides liquidity to the market.
While in agreement with the European Commission’s desire to see consistent
The Guernsey Government’s publication of a consultation document on its future corporate tax regime has been welcomed by the promotional agency for the island’s finance industry.
Peter Niven, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, believes that it is a major step towards identifying a corporate tax regime which is both internationally compliant and remains competitive.
“Publication of the consultation document is positive news for the iland’s finance industry,” says Niven.
“It is important that we adopt a corporate tax package which maintains and indeed enhances the business flows into the Island and I am confident that this demonstrates we are making
Polar Capital’s assets under management rose by 71 per cent during the 12 months ended 31 March 2010, totalling USD2.5bn.
The recovery in AUM levels occurred during the second half of the financial year.
Polar’s core operating profit, excluding performance fees, was GBP0.02m at 31 March 2010, down from GBP1.3m the previous year.
Pre-tax profits were GBP3.1m, down from GBP12.1m in 2009.
The basic earnings per share were 3.1p at 31 March 2010, down from 12.1p in 2009.
Dividends for the year have been maintained at 4.5p per share.
Tim Woolley, chief executive, says: “Our strong reputation, increasing assets under
George Osborne, the youngest Chancellor of the UK Exchequer in over a century, has had to produce a budget in some of the toughest times in recent years. Kinetic Partners outlines the key headlines from the budget, including an increase in the rate of capital gains tax to 28% for high rate taxpayers.
Income tax: The personal allowance which provides an amount of tax free income will be increased by £1,000 from £6,475 to £7,475 from 6 April 2011 to benefit lower rate tax payers. There will be a reduction in the basic rate limit above which the
Prisma Capital Partners, an alternative investment manager providing multi-manager hedge fund solutions, has appointed Anne Wynne as general counsel and James Welch as managing director and member of the firm’s portfolio management group.
Wynne will assume the role of in-house counsel at Prisma and coordinate all legal activities on behalf of the firm.
Welch will focus on product development and coordinate the response of the firm to enquiries from institutional clients who seek a variety of hedged equity and credit strategies.
“Consistent with our business model, we continue to add senior team members with significant track records and expertise in
The world’s population of high net worth individuals is growing at 17.1 per cent, according to Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management’s 14th annual World Wealth Report.
The report indicates that emerging wealth recovery has nearly recouped 2008 losses, returning to levels last seen in 2007.
High net worth wealth has increased by 18.9 per cent to USD39trn.
The BRIC countries are continuing to drive regional growth, with Asia Pacific leading emerging wealth recovery.
High net worth individuals are favouring predictable returns and cash flow, as evidenced by a rise in allocations to fixed income instruments.
High net worth
Law firm Bingham McCutchen has expanded its investment management group to Hong Kong with the addition of Anne-Marie Godfrey as partner.
Godfrey has experience advising investment managers in Asia on the establishment and regulation of hedge funds, mutual funds and private equity funds.
She advises investment advisers, fund administrators, trustees and other fund service providers on investment fund-related issues.
"Anne-Marie will add significant value to our US fund clients with ties to Asia," says Roger Joseph, head of Bingham’s investment management group and co-leader of the financial services area. "Her arrival underscores the critical role Asia plays in Bingham’s growth
Prologue Capital, an alternative investment firm that manages a discretionary fixed income strategy, has hired Manny Mifsud as a portfolio manager focusing on foreign exchange trading.
Mifsud works in the firm’s London office and reports to founding partners David Lofthouse and Graham Walsh.
“Manny’s knowledge and experience in FX will be a significant addition to the firm,” says Lofthouse. “FX is an important asset class both in its own right and also in its impact on the fixed income markets.”
Mifsud was most recently head of trading at Nylon Capital and focused on FX strategies. Prior to joining
ING’s global securities finance team has hired Colin Bugler to head its new synthetic portfolio solutions team, reporting to Richard Pryce, head of equity lending and repo.
The creation of the synthetic portfolio solutions team, which incorporates the contracts for difference offering, is part of ING’s growth plan for its global securities finance business.
Bugler’s remit will be to enhance ING’s position as a provider of securities financing products to hedge funds, as well as expanding the range of products offered.
“Hedge funds are seeking greater credit diversification among their providers of both traditional prime brokerage and synthetic products. In
