Exchanges/Platforms

London could trip on Aramco’s IPO red carpet

4 May 2017

The city’s stock exchange is considering a new kind of governance-lite listing to attract the Saudi oil producer. Innovation is okay, if new rules are clear and existing ones aren’t watered down. Too naked a desire to please the powerful, though, would hurt London’s reputation.

China-Hong Kong “bond connect” has dual benefits

20 Mar 2017

Beijing is firming up plans to let mainland and Hong Kong investors trade in each other's debt markets. The tie-up will make it easier to get Chinese bonds into world indexes. It should also boost trading and push up prices in the territory's fixed income market.

LSE and Deutsche Boerse get a gift neither wants

27 Feb 2017

The exchange merger looks sunk after European regulators demanded a sale of an LSE trading platform. That’s not so bad - especially for LSE, which might find suitors elsewhere once Britain’s future is clearer. Besides, investors had only priced in a sliver of the deal’s benefits.

China’s unicorn shortcut sidelines IPO reform

27 Feb 2017

The securities watchdog is mulling faster listing approvals for big tech firms. Letting Jack Ma's $60 bln Ant Financial jump the queue may convince other entrepreneurs to follow, eschewing New York and Hong Kong. But this would be a poor substitute for meaningful IPO reform.

HK exchange seeks to shed old-economy dependency

20 Jan 2017

The Hong Kong bourse wants to shed its overdependence on real estate and finance. A proposed new board with lower entry barriers and weighted voting rights may lure hot startup tickers. But getting off the ground fast will be tricky given unresolved issues on the main board.

Sterling crash mystery lacks suspect – and victims

13 Jan 2017

There was no single trigger for the sudden 9 percent drop in the value of the pound on Oct. 7, a committee of central bankers has found. Big banks avoided major losses, and other markets were unaffected. Investors will have to learn to live with sharp but short-lived gyrations.

LSE-Deutsche Boerse faces Hessian headache

14 Dec 2016

While Brussels' antitrust watchdogs are narrowing their probe into the exchanges' merger, some German policymakers are increasingly uneasy over the plan to locate the holding company in London. A fuzzy mandate could make politicians in the state of Hesse hard to please.

Clearers’ worst-case scenario requires EU own goal

14 Nov 2016

A London Stock Exchange-commissioned report reckons Brexit could lead to the loss of up to 83,000 market infrastructure jobs in the UK. This most painful outcome might cost banks at least $77 bln, says a UK data provider. It's in European interests to avoid that outcome.

Missed stock connection hurts China’s reform drive

27 Oct 2014

Regulators have delayed a flagship scheme to connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges. Protests, market jitters and tax issues may have been factors. The problem is that investors are in the dark. The uncertainty damages confidence in the plan, and in other Chinese reforms. 

NYSE vs Nasdaq is IPO trading at the margins

30 Jun 2014

Decisions like Alibaba’s about where to list captivate investors even though exchanges no longer compete on vital matters like liquidity. The Facebook debacle did briefly revive a debate over technology. In the end, though, little things like ticker symbols can swing the vote.

Euronext IPO will be a tough sell

10 Jun 2014

The European exchanges group reckons it’s worth up to 1.8 bln euros. The pitch relies on a 5 pct revenue growth target. With turnover declining since 2011, that’s optimistic. Anchor investors have a vested interest in backing the float. For other buyers, it’s a leap of faith.

LSE’s tilt at Russell is a long shot

13 May 2014

London Stock Exchange is in talks to buy the Seattle-based compiler of small-cap stock indexes for a reported $3 bln. Pushing deeper into data makes sense. Yet LSE must face down rival bidders and sceptical shareholders. It also needs a plan for Russell’s asset-management arm.

Virtu IPO blocked by high-frequency trading cloud

2 Apr 2014

The “technology-enabled market maker” may say it’s different, but much of what it does sounds similar to the controversial trading method that’s back in the spotlight. Delaying the float could protect a mooted $3 bln valuation – and anyway, there’s no obvious rush to go public.

Who bails out bitcoin depositors?

25 Feb 2014

The pseudo-currency’s main exchange has disappeared from cyberspace, leaving customers at least temporarily bereft. Bitcoin’s supposed attraction is being government-free. When things go awry, users learn why conventional finance has expensive regulation and political backstops.

Facebook stock is not so different from bitcoin

24 Feb 2014

Both are currencies that can be used for certain purposes, but not everything. They depend on networks of people but are not backed by a government. And their worth reflects demand, which is based on murky fundamentals. The trick is to monetize them while they still have value.

Brazil shares cheap for a reason: Meddling state

14 Jan 2014

The Bovespa’s 16 pct decline last year has left Brazilian stocks relatively undervalued. For one explanation, investors need only look at Brasilia’s efforts to prod a private sugar firm to absorb the nation’s top rail operator. Such statist matchmaking warrants a discount.

ARM’s smartphone buying blip may be shortlived

22 Oct 2013

The UK microchip designer set new records for licences sold and free cashflow in its third quarter. Yet ARM shares fell. That is down to softening demand for smartphones. But with ARM blueprints now in all manner of devices, it has the strength to rebalance its revenue streams.

Foreign exchange offers few trends to befriend

16 Oct 2013

Currency markets have grown in size but the usual strategies for making money in them aren’t working so well. A dearth of clear and persistent trends, low interest rates in developed countries, and declining volatility are to blame. The tough times aren’t yet over for FX funds.

Warehousing rules put LME’s new owner on the spot

16 Sep 2013

Hong Kong’s securities exchange paid a fortune for the metals marketplace last year. It’s been a bumpy start with plans to reform price-distorting warehouse rules proving divisive. Yet China-fuelled expansion will fail if market participants lose faith in LME prices.

Dow Jones average overweights Masters of Universe

10 Sep 2013

New members Goldman Sachs and Visa alone represent 15 percent, and all constituent financial firms almost a quarter, of the stock-weighted U.S benchmark. That’s beyond their share of both GDP and profit. Absent a rapid rise in banking fortunes, the gurus have botched this one.