Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Nestle to list only on SWX
Monday, May 30, 2005
LSE in China
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Indian Mutual Funds
Friday, May 27, 2005
GCM
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Corporate Actions data - piece on a City Compass email today by Gary Wright
25/05/2005
A Solution for Cheaper, Cleaner, Market Data is possible!
The cost to the securities industry of gaining accurate and unimpeachable market data for Corporate Events and information that is released by the issuer is huge! Every investor and broker across the industry is paying for this gross market inefficiency and the question needs to be asked, why?
It must be understood first that this industry cost and inefficiency is not the problem of the issuer or PLC! They have no motivation to alter the existing process of issuing market information and will obviously not invest in any technology or service that solves the problem. The position of 99.9% of PLCs will be that they pay their agents significant sums to inform the industry and it is an industry dilemma. This is not an unreasonable position for the PLCs!
The industry as usual group into committees to try and resolve the quandary, but as most of the trade committees are dominated by vendors who clearly have a vested interest, so not much happens in moving the issue to a satisfactory industry conclusion. One only needs to review the memberships of the various Trade Associations to see the proliferation of vendors and consultants. The vendors are now setting the agenda!
The securities firms appear to be happy to plod along in their own direction and increasingly unable or unwilling to enter the debate and implement a solution. Maybe there is a left over of the GSTPA factor here? This was the last time vendors tried to present a market solution. I know this was funded by many market users but all you have to do is to look logically on who would have been the winners financially if it worked and which vendor would have ultimately profited had it succeeded or after it failed? Importantly the Fund Managers were never included in the success equation and no one looked at the question of how to get critical mass from the fund manager without them incurring additional costs or radical changes in practice!
RDUG and ISITC are once again looking at a third party technical solution to standardising market information from the issuer. Not surprisingly the usual vendor suspects on parade with a technical solution that will work, but at a price to them and cost to the industry. This is another version of GSTPA with critical mass once again proving to be the problem. A case of is the cure worse than the illness!
No commercial third party vendor can provide an industry solution! One global vendor is rather astutely trying to use the European consolidation, the many directives and political manoeuvrings to gain industry credibility. However, any successful commercial solution will breed alternatives and competition and leave the securities industry back at square one.
We are all aware that the FSA’s planned schedule for XBRL implementation for regulatory reporting has been held up, but significantly with the European regulators it has not nor has the SEC in neither NY nor most of the other major markets. The importance of XBRL implementation in the UK will return in another guise, probably as part of MiFID or another directive. An interesting aspect of XBRL is the potential for it to be part of a solution for standardising market data?
Should the three major Registrars in the UK decide that they will invest in some cost effective technology they could enter the market data ring? By organising market data from their PLCs into an XBRL type standard they could sell this to the data vendor industry and create a new revenue stream. The data vendors would buy it as a standard and save in-house costs and increase their profit margins. The Registrars could make the data available on their web sites for download under a subscription. The point would be to eliminate the requirement of data cleansing as the information would be clean at the outset.
Internationally the Custodians and similar organisations to Registrars could adopt the same model. Under this solution it is the repositories of the data for their clients that are controlling it and the business will be in safe hands. This would not be the case if a commercial vendor or group tried to achieve the same as the desire for a profitable balance and alternatives replicating will deter market user take up.
By Gary Wright
A Solution for Cheaper, Cleaner, Market Data is possible!
The cost to the securities industry of gaining accurate and unimpeachable market data for Corporate Events and information that is released by the issuer is huge! Every investor and broker across the industry is paying for this gross market inefficiency and the question needs to be asked, why?
It must be understood first that this industry cost and inefficiency is not the problem of the issuer or PLC! They have no motivation to alter the existing process of issuing market information and will obviously not invest in any technology or service that solves the problem. The position of 99.9% of PLCs will be that they pay their agents significant sums to inform the industry and it is an industry dilemma. This is not an unreasonable position for the PLCs!
The industry as usual group into committees to try and resolve the quandary, but as most of the trade committees are dominated by vendors who clearly have a vested interest, so not much happens in moving the issue to a satisfactory industry conclusion. One only needs to review the memberships of the various Trade Associations to see the proliferation of vendors and consultants. The vendors are now setting the agenda!
The securities firms appear to be happy to plod along in their own direction and increasingly unable or unwilling to enter the debate and implement a solution. Maybe there is a left over of the GSTPA factor here? This was the last time vendors tried to present a market solution. I know this was funded by many market users but all you have to do is to look logically on who would have been the winners financially if it worked and which vendor would have ultimately profited had it succeeded or after it failed? Importantly the Fund Managers were never included in the success equation and no one looked at the question of how to get critical mass from the fund manager without them incurring additional costs or radical changes in practice!
RDUG and ISITC are once again looking at a third party technical solution to standardising market information from the issuer. Not surprisingly the usual vendor suspects on parade with a technical solution that will work, but at a price to them and cost to the industry. This is another version of GSTPA with critical mass once again proving to be the problem. A case of is the cure worse than the illness!
No commercial third party vendor can provide an industry solution! One global vendor is rather astutely trying to use the European consolidation, the many directives and political manoeuvrings to gain industry credibility. However, any successful commercial solution will breed alternatives and competition and leave the securities industry back at square one.
We are all aware that the FSA’s planned schedule for XBRL implementation for regulatory reporting has been held up, but significantly with the European regulators it has not nor has the SEC in neither NY nor most of the other major markets. The importance of XBRL implementation in the UK will return in another guise, probably as part of MiFID or another directive. An interesting aspect of XBRL is the potential for it to be part of a solution for standardising market data?
Should the three major Registrars in the UK decide that they will invest in some cost effective technology they could enter the market data ring? By organising market data from their PLCs into an XBRL type standard they could sell this to the data vendor industry and create a new revenue stream. The data vendors would buy it as a standard and save in-house costs and increase their profit margins. The Registrars could make the data available on their web sites for download under a subscription. The point would be to eliminate the requirement of data cleansing as the information would be clean at the outset.
Internationally the Custodians and similar organisations to Registrars could adopt the same model. Under this solution it is the repositories of the data for their clients that are controlling it and the business will be in safe hands. This would not be the case if a commercial vendor or group tried to achieve the same as the desire for a profitable balance and alternatives replicating will deter market user take up.
By Gary Wright
GCM
GCM
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Norilsk merger with Kinross
Monday, May 23, 2005
Italian Banking acquisition speculation
Several foreign banks, including Barclays PLC and BNP Paribas, could be interested in launching a counterbid for Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA, the daily Il Giornale said without giving a source. Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Deutsche Bank AG could be other possible purchasers of the Italian bank, it added. The possibility of an Italian white knight such as Unicredito Italiano SpA or Sanpaolo IMI SpA is less likely, according to the daily. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has already announced a 1-for-5 share swap for BNL. The daily added that a cash offer priced above 2.50 eur per BNL share coordinated with the insurance company Unipol-Compagnia Assicuratrice SpA could be successful. Unipol previously said it has asked for Bank of Italy authorisation to increase its stake in BNL to 10 pct from 1.97 pct currently
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Citigroup on the attack on LSE takeover to Competition Commission
General
Mid Office Outsourcing to grow
Friday, May 20, 2005
Exchange News
Exchange News
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Harmony/Goldfields update
More on LSE
Exchange News
LSE
Russian IPO
18/05/2005 GAZ advancing with IPO preparations - report
Story: GAZ, the arm of the Russian automobile holding, Ruspromavto, is preparing for an IPO, reported the daily Vedomosti.
Ruspromavto holds a 75% stake in GAZ. At the moment, Ruspromavto wants to speed up the process of transferring its main assets on to the GAZ balance sheet, Vedomosti continued. According to the report, the sooner Ruspromavto includes all its assets in GAZ, the earlier GAZ will conduct an IPO. The report also said that the minority shareholders of Ruspromavto's subsidiaries were given an offer according to which they could swap their stakes for GAZ's new share issue.
GAZ (Gorky Automobile Factory) is the main subsidiary of Ruspromavto. GAZ generated revenues of RUR 46.65bn (USD 1.6bn) in 20004.
Vedomosti noted that Ruspromavto belongs to the diversified Russian holding, Basic Element.
Vedomosti mentioned the following Ruspromavto subsidiaries: Pavlovsky Avtobus; Golitsynsky Bus Factory (GolGAZ) Saransky Zavod Avtosamosvalov; Avtoizdel; Avtodizel Yaroslav; Likinsky Avtobus and Kurgansky Bus Factory.
Source: Vedomosti
Story: GAZ, the arm of the Russian automobile holding, Ruspromavto, is preparing for an IPO, reported the daily Vedomosti.
Ruspromavto holds a 75% stake in GAZ. At the moment, Ruspromavto wants to speed up the process of transferring its main assets on to the GAZ balance sheet, Vedomosti continued. According to the report, the sooner Ruspromavto includes all its assets in GAZ, the earlier GAZ will conduct an IPO. The report also said that the minority shareholders of Ruspromavto's subsidiaries were given an offer according to which they could swap their stakes for GAZ's new share issue.
GAZ (Gorky Automobile Factory) is the main subsidiary of Ruspromavto. GAZ generated revenues of RUR 46.65bn (USD 1.6bn) in 20004.
Vedomosti noted that Ruspromavto belongs to the diversified Russian holding, Basic Element.
Vedomosti mentioned the following Ruspromavto subsidiaries: Pavlovsky Avtobus; Golitsynsky Bus Factory (GolGAZ) Saransky Zavod Avtosamosvalov; Avtoizdel; Avtodizel Yaroslav; Likinsky Avtobus and Kurgansky Bus Factory.
Source: Vedomosti
Standard Chartered Bid rumour
Standard Chartered shares up on rumours of GBP 14bn Bank of America bid – market report
Story: Standard Chartered saw its share price rise 19.5p to 996.5p on whispers of a bid of at least GBP 14bn (EUR 20bn) from Bank of America, a Daily Mail market report said. The UK-listed bank held ‘friendly’ discussions with its US-listed rival several months ago, sources cited by the report said. An agreed deal could now be on the horizon, the sources added.
Bank of America has long been associated with Barclays, the UK-listed bank, according to the report. However, BoA is now keen on acquiring Standard, the newspaper said. Traders cited by the report said the US bank has agreed the acquisition of the 4.76% stake in Standard Chartered held by the family of the late Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat. Standard Chartered has a market capitalization of GBP 12.9bn (EUR 18.7bn).
Source: Daily Mail
Story: Standard Chartered saw its share price rise 19.5p to 996.5p on whispers of a bid of at least GBP 14bn (EUR 20bn) from Bank of America, a Daily Mail market report said. The UK-listed bank held ‘friendly’ discussions with its US-listed rival several months ago, sources cited by the report said. An agreed deal could now be on the horizon, the sources added.
Bank of America has long been associated with Barclays, the UK-listed bank, according to the report. However, BoA is now keen on acquiring Standard, the newspaper said. Traders cited by the report said the US bank has agreed the acquisition of the 4.76% stake in Standard Chartered held by the family of the late Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat. Standard Chartered has a market capitalization of GBP 12.9bn (EUR 18.7bn).
Source: Daily Mail
Allied Domecq/Pernod delay in mailing documentation
Pernod Ricard has delayed publication of its Allied Domecq documents by two or three days, a spokesperson confirmed.
He said it would not affect the overall timetable for the takeover, which saw Pernod’s Scheme of Arrangement to acquire the UK drinks company completing in July.
A deal insider said that settlement could occur in late July or early August.
The French drinks company is understood to have asked the UK’s Takeover Panel for special dispensation for the delay so that Allied Domecq and Pernod Ricard shareholder documents could be released together. The spokesperson denied that the delay had any connection with last week’s confirmation that Constellation Brands had submitted an indicative rival offer, thought to be priced at 700p a share.
Pernod’s Scheme document was originally due this week, 28 days after the 21 April deal announcement.
The Panel recently allowed a Scheme of Arrangement document for Terra Firma’s acquisition of East Surrey Holdings to be delayed slightly to allow time for the court dates to be finalised.
A source close to the Allied Domecq deal earlier also said the Scheme document was expected to be issued by Friday but would “be made public over the course of next week”.
Pernod Ricard is reportedly holding its EGM to approve the issue of shares to finance the transaction on 20 June. The Allied Domecq EGM should take place in late June or early July, a deal insider said.
Dates for the two court meetings - one for shareholders to approve the scheme and one for the High Court to sanction the scheme - would be disclosed in the document next week, said the deal source. When asked if the High Court sanction would take place in mid-July, the source said: “There will be no surprise.” Under the normal UK timetable, the merger could become effective the day after this, with settlement taking place over the next 14 days.
He said it would not affect the overall timetable for the takeover, which saw Pernod’s Scheme of Arrangement to acquire the UK drinks company completing in July.
A deal insider said that settlement could occur in late July or early August.
The French drinks company is understood to have asked the UK’s Takeover Panel for special dispensation for the delay so that Allied Domecq and Pernod Ricard shareholder documents could be released together. The spokesperson denied that the delay had any connection with last week’s confirmation that Constellation Brands had submitted an indicative rival offer, thought to be priced at 700p a share.
Pernod’s Scheme document was originally due this week, 28 days after the 21 April deal announcement.
The Panel recently allowed a Scheme of Arrangement document for Terra Firma’s acquisition of East Surrey Holdings to be delayed slightly to allow time for the court dates to be finalised.
A source close to the Allied Domecq deal earlier also said the Scheme document was expected to be issued by Friday but would “be made public over the course of next week”.
Pernod Ricard is reportedly holding its EGM to approve the issue of shares to finance the transaction on 20 June. The Allied Domecq EGM should take place in late June or early July, a deal insider said.
Dates for the two court meetings - one for shareholders to approve the scheme and one for the High Court to sanction the scheme - would be disclosed in the document next week, said the deal source. When asked if the High Court sanction would take place in mid-July, the source said: “There will be no surprise.” Under the normal UK timetable, the merger could become effective the day after this, with settlement taking place over the next 14 days.
CCB
Possible Major Irish IPO - global offering?
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
General
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Telewest & NTL merger
17/05/2005 Telewest/NTL merger closer as Telewest appoints Deutsche Bank as advisor - report
Story: Telewest and NTL, the UK cable-TV operators, are closing in on their expected merger, according to a report in the New York Times. Telewest has appointed Deutsche Bank to negotiate the merger, the report said, citing well-placed executive sources. The deal could be worth around USD 5bn (EUR 3.96bn) and analysts believe the appointment will speed up the negotiation process and bring the deal closer to fruition, the report continues. NTL has already appointed Goldman Sachs but deal terms such as cash or stock are not yet decided, the report concluded.
Source: New York Times
Value: €3,960m (Potential size of merger)
Story: Telewest and NTL, the UK cable-TV operators, are closing in on their expected merger, according to a report in the New York Times. Telewest has appointed Deutsche Bank to negotiate the merger, the report said, citing well-placed executive sources. The deal could be worth around USD 5bn (EUR 3.96bn) and analysts believe the appointment will speed up the negotiation process and bring the deal closer to fruition, the report continues. NTL has already appointed Goldman Sachs but deal terms such as cash or stock are not yet decided, the report concluded.
Source: New York Times
Value: €3,960m (Potential size of merger)
Gulf Stock Markets
Chinese piracy of data feeds
Monday, May 16, 2005
Russian IPO problems
J P Morgan under fire
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Various Corporate actions/IPO news
General
Saturday, May 14, 2005
John Wilcox new appointment
Thursday, May 12, 2005
General
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
BoComm IPO to proceed in Shanghai & Hong Kong
China's BoComm to proceed with dual Hong Kong, Shanghai IPO - report 05.49 11/05/05 close
BEIJING (AFX) - The Bank of Communications, China's fifth-largest lender, will go ahead with plans for a dual Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO, offering 5.86 bln H-shares and 3.91 bln A-shares, the China Business News reported. The newspaper cited offer documents as saying the public offerings of H-shares in Hong Kong and domestic currency A-shares will be made simultaneously. The report contradicted other recent media reports that have said the bank will abandon or delay its Shanghai offer due to poor market conditions and problems with the wide gap between share prices on the two markets. The China Business News said that there will be a 15 pct share overallotment option in the Hong Kong portion of the initial public offer. The report said the Hong Kong offer will represent 12 pct of the bank's expanded share capital while the Shanghai portion will be equal to 8 pct. Of the 5.86 bln H-shares, 1.94 bln shares will be sold to HSBC Holdings to allow the London-based financial group to maintain its 19.9 pct stake in the Bank of Communications, according to the report. The report also said the bank's core capital adequacy ratio was 6.77 pct at the end of 2004 and its 2005 net profit is expected to reach 7.87 bln yuan. (1 usd = 8.3 yuan, 7.8 hkd) derek.jiang@xinhuafinance.com
BEIJING (AFX) - The Bank of Communications, China's fifth-largest lender, will go ahead with plans for a dual Hong Kong and Shanghai IPO, offering 5.86 bln H-shares and 3.91 bln A-shares, the China Business News reported. The newspaper cited offer documents as saying the public offerings of H-shares in Hong Kong and domestic currency A-shares will be made simultaneously. The report contradicted other recent media reports that have said the bank will abandon or delay its Shanghai offer due to poor market conditions and problems with the wide gap between share prices on the two markets. The China Business News said that there will be a 15 pct share overallotment option in the Hong Kong portion of the initial public offer. The report said the Hong Kong offer will represent 12 pct of the bank's expanded share capital while the Shanghai portion will be equal to 8 pct. Of the 5.86 bln H-shares, 1.94 bln shares will be sold to HSBC Holdings to allow the London-based financial group to maintain its 19.9 pct stake in the Bank of Communications, according to the report. The report also said the bank's core capital adequacy ratio was 6.77 pct at the end of 2004 and its 2005 net profit is expected to reach 7.87 bln yuan. (1 usd = 8.3 yuan, 7.8 hkd) derek.jiang@xinhuafinance.com
Cypriot Company lists on LSE
Monday, May 09, 2005
NTL/Telewest Merger
Duetsche Bourse update
Deutsche bourse story
Various articles in FT today
UK Registrars Group
Alfa Group - Russian Group in UK bid talks
Indian IPO for London?
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Barclays bid gets SA Gov't approval
Friday, May 06, 2005
General
IPO from Russia on LSE
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Exchange News
China
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Exchange News
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Europe
Monday, May 02, 2005
General
Israeli issuers
Amex President quits
NZX fee increases
Deutsche Borse results and buy-back
European Market clearing & settlement (from mid April)
Euronext sme
China market structure - different share structures
Emerging market economies
Amex President quits
NZX fee increases
Deutsche Borse results and buy-back
European Market clearing & settlement (from mid April)
Euronext sme
China market structure - different share structures
Emerging market economies
Germans proxy problem
Sunday, May 01, 2005
gcm
London listing for Russian issuer
Chinese Companies - international listing New York v London
TSX
NYSE - Langone possible bid?
Chinese Companies - international listing New York v London
TSX
NYSE - Langone possible bid?
