Market Volatility Impact On Hedge Funds and Investment Banks In Asia

September is usually a month of higher historical volatility, hedge fund news this month is no exception. News this month includes the legendary hedge fund powerhouse, Tudor Investment Corp, closing its Singapore office. On the flip side, Steve Cohen's Point 72 seems to have found a goldmine of talent in Asia from his earlier 'rant' on the lack of talents in hedge fund industry. (Link: Hedge Funds Under Attack as Steve Cohen Says Talent Is Thin).

There is much news on the investment banking front. Goldman Sachs cutting a quarter of investment banking jobs in Singapore and Hong Kong. Wells Fargo fiasco on opening fake customer accounts, Deutsche Bank being hit by a potential US$14B fine. Another German bank, Commerzbank, announcing job cuts of nearly 10,000 (~20% of their global workforce). Netherland's ING is also rumored to be looking to joining the club with cuts to thousands of jobs soon.

Soros Wagered Deutsche Bank Would Drop in Brexit Turmoil

Comments: Looks like the master speculator is spot on again on his trade. Compounded with the recent headline grabbing US$14B fine handled to Deutsche Bank which is causing a big drop in the share price and financial markets all over the world to tumble in its wake.

DB shares was trading around $17.50 pre Brexit and currently trading around $12.

Soros Fund Management took a short position in Deutsche Bank AG of about 7 million shares as turmoil from the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union sent bank stocks lower.

The position taken on Friday was equivalent to 0.51 percent of Deutsche Bank’s share capital, according to a German filing published on Monday. The document doesn’t show at which price the fund took the position.

Ping test to IB servers

The following is the result of my ping tests to various IB servers from Singapore with a fiber optic connection.

DESTINATION REGION	PRIMARY/BACKUP	DESTINATION SERVER (HOST)	Average Ping Time
AMERICA - EAST	PRIMARY	gdc1.ibllc.com	236ms
AMERICA - EAST	BACKUP	gdc1_hb1.ibllc.com	236ms
AMERICA - CENTRAL	PRIMARY	cdc1.ibllc.com	236ms
AMERICA - CENTRAL	BACKUP	cdc1_hb1.ibllc.com	236ms
EUROPE	PRIMARY	zdc1.ibllc.com	179ms
EUROPE	BACKUP	zdc1_hb1.ibllc.com	236ms
ASIA	PRIMARY	hdc1.ibllc.com	37ms
ASIA	BACKUP	hdc1_hb1.ibllc.com	236ms

Firm where ‘Flash Crash trader’ first worked fails

Comments: Futux website is offline. Prior to this, they have an office address in Singapore.

The firm that taught Navinder Sarao, the alleged Flash Crash trader, how to play the markets has gone bust after one of its largest traders took out an injunction against it, having been told that he was unable to withdraw millions of pounds of his own money from it.

Futex is understood to have called in administrators last month after the action taken by Gabriele Gandini, an algorithmic trader who told the firm that he wanted to leave.

Maker of Po Chai Pills kicks off HK$750 million IPO to fund expansion plans in Asia

Comments: Now for something closer to home. Local Chinese will know this product very well!

Jacobson Pharma Corp, Hong Kong’s largest generic drug firm and maker of the Po Chai Pills used by generations of the city’s residents, is seeking to raise HK$750 million in an initial public offer.

The company will sell 437.5 million shares at a price range of between HK$1.28 to HK$1.72 per share, 10 per cent of which are reserved for retail investors.

High Frequency Traders Elbow Their Way Into the Currency Markets

High-speed electronic market making, already widespread in stocks, is getting a grudging welcome from currency markets. They don’t have much choice.

Algorithmic traders have more than tripled foreign-exchange volumes over the last three years, seizing opportunities as Wall Street banks withdraw from currency dealing, according to Aite Group, a consultant in Boston. The new group of market makers is trading almost $200 billion a day. While that may seem small in the context of the sprawling global currency market, consider this for perspective: Stock trading on all U.S. exchanges totals about $270 billion a day.