J.P. Morgan announced that it will establish an electronic FX trading and pricing engine in Singapore, with support from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).  The new trading platform is designed to speed up trade executions for clients. Scheduled to launch in early 2020 according to a story in MarketsMedia, the new trading engine will be J.P. Morgan’s fourth electronic FX trading infrastructure globally that allows clients to conduct FX transactions effectively according to their geographical locations, adding to its existing platforms in New York, London and Tokyo. The...

FIF CAT Committee - FDID Focus - FIF held two working group meetings the week of 8/26 with the intent of gathering industry feedback questions, suggestions, and additional use cases pertaining to remaining gaps in FDID guidance.  As part of these discussions, FIF sought to provide members an opportunity to ask and discuss common questions related to the implementation of FDIDs.  FIF completed the feedback cycle and submitted our questions and recommendations to FINRA CAT on Thursday, August 29.  FIF believes much of our feedback will be discussed on the September 10...

FIF CAT Tech Spec Working Group - FIF reviewed the recently published CAT Connectivity Guidance and recently added scenarios. During the second meeting of the week, we opened the floor to questions pertaining to the tech spec and scenerios document, we then continued with review of the scenarios document beginning with section 2.11 (child orders) through clearing firm scenarios. FIF SEC Rule 606 Working Group - FIF reviewed the 606 FAQs with members and discussed next steps in formally requesting an extension to 606(a) and 606(b) reporting requirements to allow firms...

On Wednesday, August 28th @ 4:15pm, CAT NMS will hold an industry-wide webinar on the security of CAT data. Please find dial-in information here.

Given the volume of current and anticipated CAT-related workstreams, FIF is slightly changing the structure of the CAT Working Group.  Going forward, the CAT Working Group will be managed as a Committee.  Separate workstreams (i.e. FDID, CAT Operations) will be run through the CAT Committee, allowing all members of the CAT Working Group access to meeting invites/work product of each separate workstream.  The CAT Tech Spec Working Group will remain unchanged, and fall under the Committee’s umbrella.  As needed, FIF will form separate subgroups to address specific...

FIF will be holding its Front Office Committee meeting at a new time tomorrow at 11am ET (rather than the normal 4pm ET meeting time).  Our spotlight topic for this call will focus on the SEC Rule 606 FAQs.  Please update your profile here to subscribe to the Front Office calls and email the program office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.

Nasdaq’s commodities exchange plans to launch its day-ahead auction market for electricity in Germany, France and the Nordics around April 2020, according to its head of European Commodities. Currently Nord Pool is alone in the Nordics in offering day-ahead electricity trading but will be joined by EPEX SPOT at the end of the year. Georg Aasen said a new European Union regulation, called Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM), which calculates how much space can be used on cross-border power lines and allows more competition, facilitated Nasdaq’s decision. The...

Goldman Sachs has applied for majority control of its Chinese joint venture, according to a story in Reuters news, the latest international bank to do so ahead of Chinese plans to eventually allow foreigners full control. The bank submitted an application with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to take its stake in Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities to 51% - the maximum permitted - from its current 33% holding. Management control would allow foreign banks to offer more services through their JVs and potentially leverage their global networks to win China market share. ...

Consistent with its commitment to developing a thriving derivatives market in Nigeria, the Nigerian Stock Exchange is collaborating with JP Morgan Chase to facilitate an in-depth capacity building program on the derivatives market. The collaboration with JP Morgan is expected to promote the development of derivatives in Nigeria by helping to bridge the knowledge gap on derivatives investments and trading strategies through knowledge transfer. The NSE believes that the introduction of derivatives will deepen the market, enhance liquidity and help mitigate against price, duration and other...