Updated Brokers & Services

E*Trade Singapore office have shut down effective 02 Sep 16. Despite several attempts to develop a business here in Singapore, they are unable to find a profitable model. The costs of doing business in Singapore is a big challenge currently, not only in finance, but in various industries.

Goldman Sachs trader made $130m on junk bonds

A junk bond trader at Goldman Sachs Group earned more than $US100 million ($130m) in trading profits for the firm earlier this year, an unusual gain at a time when new regulations have pushed Wall Street to take fewer risks.

The gains were the work of Tom Malafronte, a managing director on the bank’s high-yield bond desk in New York. The 34-year-old trader bought billions of dollars in junk corporate debt on the cheap starting in January, then locked in profits as prices recovered.

Updated Prop Trading

Hyundai Able Investments website is gone. It appears that their trading was not doing well and Hyundai Securities was bought over by KB Financial Group.

Tiny Bank-Beating Trading Firm Doesn’t Use Any Human Traders

One of the world’s fastest-growing trading shops doesn’t have any traders.

XTX Markets Ltd. has emerged as a foreign-exchange powerhouse, relying on programmers and mathematicians to fuel its rise into the global top five earlier this year. Now, after becoming a formidable player in currencies, XTX has its sights set on growing in stocks, commodities and bond markets.

Updated Financial News

Updated links. Added The Edge Markets Singapore.

Comparision of IPO listing fees

A look at the costs of listings on the various leading exchanges around this region. Note the higher costs of listing on SGX. SGX does not offer much attractiveness. The local investor base is much smaller compared to the leading exchanges. Upside maybe potential interest from Temasek and GIC. Listing on HKSE offers visibility and access to potential capital flows from a blooming China. Listing on ASX offers local investors alternatives to the traditional oil, gas, resources and real estate companies.

This is just a simplistic view, do note that there are many other factors not listed here, e.g. reporting and compliance costs; business costs, tax rates and locale; costs of funds, etc.

Global Top Electronic Equity Trading Exchanges In 2015

An interesting list on the global top electronic equity trading venues for 2015. I have highlighted the top and bottom ranked exchanges in green and pink respectively.

The standout has to be Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, recording an outstanding increase of +223% and +172% in electronic equity trading volume. Foreign participation is strictly regulated in these markets, I would surmise the increase are coming from within the country. China regulators were very active in trying to stabilize the volatility of its stock markets.

US Hedge Funds Hold $2.2 Trillion In AUM; 3,170 HFs managers and 3,209 active institutional investors located in US

The US is the dominant component of the global hedge fund community, accounting for 72% of the approximately $3.1tn of global assets under management (AUM), as of 30th June 2016. Although other regions are emerging as regards hedge fund activity, the US is home to 3,170 of the 5,092 (62%) institutional investors active in hedge funds, and 3,209 of the 5,377 (60%) active hedge fund managers tracked by Preqin.

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.