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February 20, 2013

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U.S. antitrust officials sign off on ICE-NYSE Euronext deal
IntercontinentalExchange's proposed takeover of NYSE Euronext has cleared a major regulatory obstacle after getting no objections from the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department. The merger still needs to be approved by other authorities, including in Europe. Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (2/19), MarketWatch (2/19)

CFTC looks at CME's swap-futures products
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission says it's looking into interest-rate swap-future contracts offered by CME Group. "CFTC is currently reviewing this product, and we have not yet taken a view on whether the resulting swap counts toward a market participant's status as a dealer or major-swap participant," CFTC spokesman Steve Adamske wrote in an e-mail. Bloomberg Businessweek (2/20)

Hearing is set on MF Global Holdings' payment plan
The outline of MF Global Holdings' proposed payment plan has been approved by a bankruptcy judge. A hearing was set for April 5, and those who have claims against the failed firm have until March 25 to have their say on the settlement plan. Bloomberg Businessweek (2/19)

Staying Ahead of the Network Technology Curve
Pico Quantitative Trading, a multi-asset trading services provider, partnered with CDW to improve its internal infrastructure by enhancing its virtual machine cluster and backup system, and boosted its trading infrastructure by implementing the latest server and network technologies. Read our FREE CASE STUDY to get the rest of the story.

Regulatory Roundup

SEC considers tougher tech rules for trading platforms
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Elisse Walter is looking into rules that would force exchanges and other trading platforms to undergo a technological review to test how they respond to disruption. The proposal would convert voluntary "automation review policies" into mandatory testing. Reuters (2/19), Bloomberg (2/19), The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (2/19)

Interdealer-brokers gear up to register as SEFs
Tradition and ICAP are getting ready to register as swap-execution facilities by adding U.S.-denominated interest-rate swaps to their derivatives platforms. The Trade News (U.K.) (2/19)

Industry Developments

Turkey aims to become a financial hub with Bourse Istanbul
Istanbul Stock Exchange and local gold and derivatives exchanges will form Bourse Istanbul, ISE's Mustafa Kemal Yilmaz says. Combined trading of stocks, derivatives and gold will begin in April. Reuters (2/19)

MCX aims for more liquidity for derivatives, equities
India's MCX Stock Exchange says it will seek to improve liquidity in derivatives and equities by offering incentives to intermediaries and brokers. The program, which is to begin March 6, would reward market participants for drumming up investor interest in securities that get limited trading. The Hindu (India)/Press Trust of India (2/19)

Commentary: Futurization could cause a financial meltdown
Market participants are warning that the beginning of another financial crisis may be in the works, Melanie Rodier writes. "Due to a loophole called the 'futurization of swaps' as a result of a change in the way derivatives are packaged and sold, traders are bypassing regulations aimed at containing risk and instead, are investing more money in riskier trades," Rodier writes. Wall Street & Technology (2/19)

Eurex deal contributed to 2012 loss at Deutsche Boerse
Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (2/19)

Financial-services veteran Duke Chapman dies
Bloomberg (2/19)

Electronic Trading News

Analysis: HFT moves into currencies, derivatives, bonds
High-frequency trading is quickly expanding beyond equity markets into bonds, derivatives and currencies, prompting opportunities as well as concerns, according to this analysis. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (2/19)

Commodities and Managed Futures

LME sale turned things around for FCStone unit
INTL FCStone Europe was heading toward a loss of more than $7 million for 2012 but turned around abruptly by selling shares in the London Metal Exchange that it had picked up from MF Global. The London-based unit of INTL FCStone ended the year with a profit of $792,000. Financial News Online (U.K.) (subscription required) (2/19)

LME says Credit Agricole has resigned as a Category 2 member
Reuters (2/19)

Natixis looks to bolster its commodity-derivatives business
Metal Bulletin (subscription required) (2/19)

FIA News

Registration is now open for NY Expo 2013
The Futures Industry Association will hold its second annual NY Expo on April 10 and 11 at the Hilton New York in cooperation with FIA Chicago, Futures Services and Information Technology Divisions. Last year's event attracted more than 600 industry professionals and more than 20 vendors. This year's topics will include mandatory clearing, LSOC with excess, Basel capital requirements, as well as product-specific panels on interest-rate swaps, and more. Register here.

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We must travel in the direction of our fear."

--John Berryman,
American poet and scholar

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