Investing

Will unite margining of cash positions with natural hedges for the first time

NEW YORK, NY – June 18, 2009 – NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today agreed to create a joint venture for clearing U.S. fixed income derivatives.

The new clearing house, New York Portfolio Clearing , “NYPC”, will combine the industry-leading capabilities of NYSE Euronext’s U.S. futures exchange (NYSE Liffe U.S.) and DTCC’s Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) to offer innovative risk management, clearing and settlement efficiencies for U.S. fixed income securities and derivatives.    » read more »

CHICAGO, June 17 -- CME Group released the following statement in response to the proposed U.S. financial regulatory reform proposals announced today by the Obama Administration:

"CME Group believes that the proposal to enhance regulation of systemic risk is an important effort to limit the potential for a recurrence of the recent financial crisis.

"Overall, we support many of the concepts and believe this is a significant step towards restoring confidence in the integrity of financial markets.

"We look forward to working with the administration and regulators to assure that the implementation of the details of the proposal are consistent with effective regulation of our markets and of the economy."

Source: CME Group

June 17, 2009 -- THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.

Since taking office, my administration has mounted what I think has to be acknowledged as an extraordinary response to a historic economic crisis. But even as we take decisive action to repair the damage to our economy, we're working hard to build a new foundation for sustained economic growth. This will not be easy. We know that this recession is not the result of one failure, but of many. And many of the toughest challenges we face are the product of a cascade of mistakes and missed opportunities which took place over the course of decades.    » read more »

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – President Obama will lay out a comprehensive regulatory reform plan this afternoon to modernize and protect the integrity of our financial system. While this crisis has had many causes, it is clear now that the government could have done more to prevent these problems from growing out of control and threatening our overall economy.

The President will be joined by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, representatives from the regulatory community, consumer groups, the financial industry and members of Congress for an event in the East Room later this afternoon.

The President’s plan will:

* Require that all financial firms that pose a significant risk to the financial system at large are subjected to strong consolidated supervision and regulation    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two Oklahoma City residents with securities fraud and other violations for a scheme in which they misappropriated to themselves millions of dollars from Quest Resource Corporation, Quest Energy Partners, L.P. and their affiliates while they were executives at the company.    » read more »

June 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after attending President Barack Obama’s speech at the White House on financial regulatory reform, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman of the Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment, issued the following statement:

“The financial crisis exposed serious pitfalls and cracks in our financial regulatory system. Today, the President offered a solid plan to begin to fill in those gaps, reform the system, and strengthen our economy.

“We need comprehensive regulation of financial institutions and robust supervision and rules that give regulators “teeth” to hold firms accountable. The Administration’s proposal offers stronger protection and increased transparency for consumers, investors, and businesses.    » read more »

June 16, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC -- In an effort to strengthen financial oversight of hedge funds and other private investment funds, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), today introduced the Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009, which will help protect investors, identify and mitigate systemic risk, and prevent fraud. This legislation amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to require advisers to hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, and other private investment pools to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).    » read more »

Duncan Niederauer Statement on Obama Administration's Proposal to Overhaul the U.S. Financial Regulatory Structure

NEW YORK, 17 June 2009 -- "We applaud the Obama Administration's proposal to overhaul the financial regulatory structure as a critical step toward restoring trust in capital markets.

"Regulatory reform must protect investors, close regulatory gaps and enhance market transparency, while at the same time continuing to encourage the spirit of innovation that has fueled decades of economic growth, produced new products and services and created jobs.

"Our regulatory system is vastly outdated, and we are encouraged by the Administration's enthusiasm for reform and welcome the opportunity to contribute to this truly important initiative."    » read more »

June 16 2009 -- New York -- Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today declared a regular quarterly dividend on the outstanding shares of each of the following preferred stock issues:

* Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series A - $252.78 per share (equivalent to $0.25278 per Depositary Share)
* 10 percent Non-Cumulative Non-Voting Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock, Series B - $25.00 per share
* 10 percent Non-Cumulative Non-Voting Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C - $25.00 per share

The dividends for the Preferred Stock Series A, B and C are payable on July 15, 2009 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 30, 2009.

Source: Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)

CHICAGO, June 16 -- CME Group today announced the launch of four new In Delivery Month European Union Allowance (EUA) and Certified Emission Reduction (CER) futures and options contracts that will be available through CME ClearPort® and the New York trading floor. Clearing services will be available through CME ClearPort, a set of flexible clearing services open to over the counter (OTC) market participants to substantially mitigate counterparty risk and provide capital efficiencies across asset classes.

The futures contracts will be available beginning on June 21 for trade date June 22 and the options contracts on June 22 for trade date June 23. These contracts are listed for trading by NYMEX through CME ClearPort, and are subject to NYMEX rules and regulations.    » read more »

New York, June 16, 2009 - The Board of Directors of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) declared a quarterly dividend on the outstanding shares of each of the following preferred stock issues:

* 6.15% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series E - $3.075 per share (equivalent to $0.76875 per Depositary Share)
* 5.72% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series F - $2.86 per share (equivalent to $0.715 per Depositary Share)
* 5.49% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series G - $2.745 per share (equivalent to $0.68625 per Depositary Share)

The dividends for the Preferred Stock Series E, F and G are payable on July 15, 2009, to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 30, 2009.

Source: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM)

Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey Finds Economic Recovery Remains on Track Despite Bond Market Sell-Off; Investors ruling out “double-dip” recession as they embrace equities

NEW YORK AND LONDON – The upturn in global investor sentiment has withstood the recent large sell-off in bonds, according to the Merrill Lynch Survey of Fund Managers for June. Investors have expressed confidence in global economic recovery and, broadly, in the equity markets, in spite of their fears the sell-off would damage sentiment. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose to 3.85 percent from 3.09 percent between the May and June surveys.    » read more »

3Global Economic Crisis to Trigger Consolidation of the Asset Management Industry in 2009, Finds Frost & Sullivan

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - June 9, 2009 - The asset management industry is witnessing interesting developments in the current global crisis, as new investment avenues and a revitalized focus on investment areas and policies are set to energize the industry.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.financialservices.frost.com), Impact of Global Crisis on the Asset Management Industry, reveals that safer and defensive instruments are likely to be favored by investors. The markets covered in this research are the financial sector, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions.    » read more »

NEW YORK -- Jun. 10, 2009 -- American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced today that it has closed the previously announced public offering of 29.9 million shares of Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRH) common stock owned by AIG and its indirect subsidiary, American Home Assurance Company (AHAC) for aggregate gross proceeds of $1.136 billion. TRH will not receive any of the proceeds from the secondary offering.

This transaction enabled AHAC, a subsidiary of AIU Holdings, Inc. (together with AIU Holdings LLC, “AIU Holdings”), to monetize part of its investment in TRH to improve the quality of its capital and help position AIU Holdings for continued success.    » read more »

GM Statement re: recent changes in GM stock price and volume

009-06-10 -- GM management has noticed a recent elevation in the volume and price of its common stock.

While GM does not control the market or its stock price, GM management strongly believes that any recovery for the common stockholders in the chapter 11 bankruptcy process is highly unlikely, even under the most optimistic of scenarios.

Stockholders of a company in chapter 11 generally receive value only if all claims of the secured and unsecured creditors are fully satisfied.

Source: GM