Financial System Archives - Page 76 of 79

The End of QE – What Ben Bernanke Is Really Saying

July 22, 2013 GIHAdmin158Leave a Comment

Jul 22, 2013 – 06:27 PM GMT By: Raul_I_Meijer Ever wonder what Bernanke is saying? Well, it boils down to this: at the same time that Jimmy Carter says the US doesn’t have a functioning democracy, Ben Bernanke says the US doesn’t have a functioning economy. Unfortunately, people understand what Carter says, though they may not agree […]

Barclays Warns End-Of-QE.. Would Make 2000 Bubble Look Like A Day At The Beach

July 22, 2013 Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis36

“It’s hard to make the case that [US stocks are up 17% on a 2.5% earnings rise] based on fundamentals alone – it’s money in motion,” is how BofA’s CIO Hans Olsen describes the unreality occurring in US asset markets currently. He noted in last wee…

CFTC Fines Algorithmic Trader $2.8 Million For Spoofing In The First Market Abuse Case Brought By Dodd-Frank Act, And Imposes Ban

July 22, 2013 Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis92

There has been some degree of concern among regulators during the course of this year with regard tohigh speed algorithmic trading and what certain authorities consider to be the disruptive behavior in which certain traders engage by using algorithms to outpace other market participants.

Today, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has brought a successful case against two parties, citing them for engaging in what the CFTC considers to be the disruptive process of spoofing. This is a milestone case, as it represents the first time that a trading firm has been prosecuted under the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition of spoofing, which is defined under the act as the illegal practice of bidding or offering with intent to cancel before execution.

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) collaborated with the CFTC on this matter, and has also issued a penalty to the same parties.

One of the reasons that algorithmic trading is on the agenda of regulators is that it facilitates positions to be opened and closed at extremely high speeds, using extremely high technology, therefore giving certain traders a distinct advantage over others.

In this particular case, Panther Energy Trading LLC and its Principal Michael J. Coscia utilized a computer algorithm that was designed to illegally place and quickly cancel bids and offers in futures contracts.

The resultant toxic order flow of firms that use algorithms without contravening any laws has resulted in German regulator BaFIN proposing a mandatory delay in trade execution times to prevent disruptions, and go against latency arbitrage by those with quicker systems and complex automated algorithms.

Certain firms, without any encouragement from regulators, are also considering imposing a latency floor in order to absolve them of any such business. EBS recently embarked on such a consideration.

The CFTC’s order against Mr. Coscia and his firm finds that this unlawful activity took place across a broad spectrum of commodities from August 8, 2011 through October 18, 2011 on CME Group’s Globex trading platform.

The CFTC Order requires Panther and Coscia to pay a $1.4 million civil monetary penalty, disgorge $1.4 million in trading profits, and bans Panther and Coscia from trading on any CFTC-registered entity for one year.

According to the Order, Coscia and Panther made money by employing a computer algorithm that was designed to unlawfully place and quickly cancel orders in exchange-traded futures contracts.

For example, Coscia and Panther would place a relatively small order to sell futures that they did want to execute, which they quickly followed with several large buy orders at successively higher prices that they intended to cancel.

By placing the large buy orders, Mr. Coscia and Panther sought to give the market the impression that there was significant buying interest, which suggested that prices would soon rise, raising the likelihood that other market participants would buy from the small order Coscia and Panther were then offering to sell.

http://forexmagnates.com/cftc-fines-algorithmic-trader-2-8-million-for-spoofing-in-the-first-market-abuse-case-brought-by-dodd-frank-act/

Financial Reforms Drove the Soviet Union Into the Grave

July 22, 2013 GIHAdmin94Leave a Comment

Who of the famous people in Russia’s modern history said the phrase: “I wanted the best, but it turned out as always”? There is quite a list of names that comes up in this connection, although it is associated with only one man – the Minister of Finance of the USSR, Valentin Pavlov, who once […]

G20 backs plan to stop global tax avoidance and evasion

July 22, 2013 Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis77

Finance ministers from the G20 group of leading nations have formally backed plans to tackle international tax avoidance and evasion.

A statement issued earlier supports the automatic exchange of tax information between countries.

It also backs plans by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to stop firms moving their profits across borders to avoid taxes.

The OECD said some firms “abuse” current rules to avoid tax.

UK Chancellor George Osborne said the announcement, which came after a two-day G20 meeting in Moscow, was an “important step towards a global tax system that is fair and fit for purpose for the modern economy”.

‘Aggressive tax avoidance’

Last month, the G8 group of leading economies agreed a deal to “fight the scourge of tax evasion”, and nations including the UK, France, Germany, the USA and Australia are taking part in a pilot information exchange scheme.

British Prime Minister David Cameron made the issue a priority for the UK’s presidency of the G8 this year, and Australia has agreed to do the same during its G20 presidency next year.

The OECD said current tax rules, some dating to the 1920s, were created to avoid “double taxation” of companies working in more than one country – but it said they were being abused to allow “double non-taxation”.

BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said the “bandwagon of clamping down on aggressive tax avoidance” was moving on from developed economies to emerging ones like Brazil and India.

The rules should mean bigger bills for companies which could previously “pit one country off against another in terms of tax”, our correspondent added.

The G20 asked the OECD to come up with a plan to improve tax cooperation, and the finance ministers said they “fully endorse the OECD proposal for a truly global model” of information sharing.

Their statement called on all countries to make automatic information sharing a reality “without further delay”, adding that “capacity-building support” would be provided for poorer nations.

Closing loopholes

The G20 said the changes should be in place within two years, but our correspondent called that “very ambitious” because hundreds of tax treaties exist between countries and “thousands of amendments” might be needed.

Many multinational firms currently avoid tax – legally – by means including loopholes and tax havens, but the new rules could require them to pay more in the countries where they do business.

Firms including Google, Starbucks, Amazon and Apple have been criticised for the amount of tax they pay.

Earlier this year, MPs attacked Google for routing £3.2bn of UK sales through Dublin and paying little tax as a result.

Starbucks has been questioned for transferring money to a Dutch sister company in royalty payments, though the firm agreed to pay more tax after strong public criticism.

The companies point out that these schemes are legal and they have a duty to shareholders to minimise their tax bills.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23389695?print=true

Did A Raging Fire Burn Down JPMorgan’s Gold Vault?

July 21, 2013 Elite Forex Blog - Market Research & Analysis158

Overnight there has been a flood of viral reports that ‘there was a fire at JPM’s gold vault’ based on a self-made video showing a barrage of fire trucks located on Broad Street between Wall Street and Exchange Place, further substantiated additio…

IMF Economists Say The Economic Recovery Is A Fake

July 20, 2013July 20, 2013 GIHAdmin87Leave a Comment

WE ALWAYS BELIEVE THE IMF Yet another ‘leaked report’ this time tells us something we have suspected for a long time – not only concerning the IMF’s underhand “plausible denial” way of communicating bad news. The story starts with an internal IMF report called ‘confidential’ which was ‘leaked to a Wall St Journal contributor’. This […]

Post Scarcity Economics

July 19, 2013 GIHAdmin279Leave a Comment

We live like gods, and we don’t even know it. We fly across oceans in airplanes, we eat tropical fruit in December, we have machines that sing us songs, clean our house, take pictures of Mars. Much the total accumulated knowledge of our species can fit on a hard drive that fits in our pocket. […]

Global Tax Chaos coming

July 19, 2013 GIHAdmin161Leave a Comment

The OECD has stated in a report commissioned by the G20 that there will be “global tax chaos” in the next few years due to falling tax revenues from multinational companies around the world. Perhaps we could have saved a few thousand dollars by not commissioning the OECD report, since we could have all told them that was going […]

40 Stats That Show The U.S. Economy’s Real Collapse Over The Past Decade

July 19, 2013 GIHAdmin277Leave a Comment

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog [17], The “coming economic collapse” has already been happening. You see, the truth is that the economic collapse is not a single event. It has already started, it is happening right now, and it will accelerate during the years ahead. The statistics in this article show very clearly that the […]