Category Archives: Business

Business

Event agency’s online site is just the ticket thanks to SecureTrading

Ticketline UK, a Cardiff based independent ticket agency and tour operator has chosen SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to process its online payments, and provide its customers with first rate customer service especially during peaks in demand.

Ticketline UK’s website is designed by Imaginet which has over fifteen years’ experience in web design and development, specialising in the delivery of custom-built eCommerce websites and other digital services. By combining its expertise with SecureTrading’s online payments solutions, merchants are able to sell online quickly and securely, taking funds safely via a variety of methods including Visa credit and debit, MasterCard, American Express and Maestro cards.

Paula Dauncey, Sales and Marketing Manager at Imaginet, said: “We liked the fact that SecureTrading was UK based, they have very competitive rates we can offer our customers and an excellent website integration system – it is a ‘win win’ situation for us. SecureTrading has always stayed ahead of the game, developing a partner scheme, improving services and integration processes and being flexible to our changing needs. We need our partners to be responsive, technically advanced and supportive, and SecureTrading ticks all the boxes.”

Ticketline UK is well regarded in the event and ticketing industry providing packages for major events across the UK including Take That’s recent nationwide tour.

Tim Rich, Director at Ticketline UK, says: “We have been working with Imaginet for nearly five years on our website and their partnership with SecureTrading provided the smoothest, cost efficient route to a new sales channel. Their online dashboard, customer service and support has been excellent.”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing at SecureTrading, says, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Imaginet on Ticketline UK’s website by ensuring they offer a safe and secure online payment process and hope to work with them on future projects.”

Via EPR Network
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Finding the Best Place to Sell Your Precious Gold Jewelry

If you are observant enough about financial markets, like most people who sell gold in Oakland Gardens, NY, you would probably be aware now that prices of gold have been skyrocketing the past few years. In 2003 alone, gold went for $400 per ounce. Most recently, it went above $1,400 per ounce. While the country and the rest of the world were reeling from the economic crisis, gold rose rapidly due to some factors. One of these factors is that gold is a secure haven, Investors in this precious gem ran after its tangible value in the wake of an uncertain economy that is based on fiat currency.

Aside from that, gold is also considered as hedge against staggering inflation. Gold proved to be a good choice while central banks all over the world engaged in practices aimed at kick-starting inflation. And there’s also the widespread fear of what would happen to countries with huge debt problems. Countries with existing debt before the crisis happened plus the new debt incurred during the crisis look to gold for hope.

The hope placed on gold is also felt by the individual consumer. Many people who have been hit really hard by the crisis are now thinking of selling their gold jewelry. After all, that’s $1,400 per ounce, isn’t it? Not really. If you plan to sell gold in Oakland Gardens, NY, the reality is that you may not get that amount per ounce.

Reality Check: What to Expect When You Sell Your Gold

It is important to determine the reasonable amount to expect from your gold. Get somebody to inspect your gold. An independent jewelry store can evaluate your gold’s worth. Have an estimate of how much pure gold content your jewelry has. Pure gold is 24K. You only have a partial gold if what you have is a 10K, 14K, or 18K. The rest of it is less valuable metals added in. Ask the jeweller how much he is willing to pay for your jewelry item. Don’t forget the exact weight of your jewelry’s gold. Then take your jewelry item to another independent jeweller to compare the different estimates.

Also visit a pawnshop before you decide to sell gold in Oakland Gardens, NY to know what prices are reasonable in your area. The basic rule would be not to get less than 70 percent of your gold’s market price. So that’s about $980 for every ounce of pure gold.

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BMAC Finance Releases Their List of the Top 5 Most Dependable Cars on the Road Today

BMAC Finance, known world-wide for financing quality vehicles for drivers with bad credit, also gives valuable advice in an ongoing blog. In their latest blog post, the customer service team gives their opinion for the top 5 most dependable car brands on the road today.

“Even with a new car, you can’t be 100 percent certain that you won’t have trouble as soon as you drive it off the lot”, said Jose Felix, Finance Manager for BMAC Financing. Felix also added, “With more people feeling the pinch of government cutbacks, finding the funds to afford auto finance is tougher than ever. So when making the purchase of a car, you need to make sure it will turn out to be a dependable vehicle that won’t cause you any unnecessary future expense”.

According to a recent survey by J. D. Power and Associates, the Ford – Lincoln brand drives in at the top of the list. This manufacturer has now been crowned the winner for four years in a row. The four remaining places in the top 5 rankings were won by Lexus, Jaguar, Porsche and Toyota .

However, many cars failed to make the grade and found themselves at the bottom of the list of dependency. Mini, Jeep, Land Rover, Dodge and Chrysler were named as the five least most dependable vehicle brands in the survey.

According to the blog post, “One of the main reasons vehicles are more dependable now is because manufacturers have began engineering vehicles and parts to last longer. Fuel, water pumps and engines are now developed to last well over 100,000 miles”. Some of the top brands in this survey have made vehicles that have been known to keep running after 200,000 miles or more.

BMAC Finance leads the way in auto loans for bad credit as well as car loans for bad credit. To read their blog for more great tips and to find out more about their services, please visit: http://www.bmacfinance.com/.

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Masterseek Estimated IPO Soars to 18-20 USD Per Share, Could Reach 35

With the success of business search engines and business profile sites, startups have become like rabbits out of a magician’s hat. How many of these companies have the database and programming acuity to really make an impact though? The answer is few and the reasons are varied from poor functionality to vague address names, bad marketing and a basic lack of interest from those who would post a profile. The truth is, as we’ve seen with the dominance of sites liked LinkedIn, it only takes a couple of good ones to corner the market and all others more or less fall by the wayside.

There is one site to keep your eyes on when it comes to giving LinkedIn some real competition, and some stock analysts are already starting to pay attention.

Masterseek.com is an extensively successful B2B search engine already, the largest online with over 100 million business profiles and growing much faster than any of the competition. Recently financial experts have valued it at 18-20 USD per share and this could easily reach 35 very soon according to most forecasts. This new evaluation is coming on the coattails of rumors that Masterseek.com will be joining the likes of LinkedIn, Xing, Google+ and Facebook with a professional profiles section added to their already massive database.

How much truth is there to the rumor? It’s been confirmed that they’ve already compiled a database of 150 million professional profiles. That puts them right on par with LinkedIn and ahead of LinkedIn in sheer numbers when you include international profiles. Recently in another interview Masterseek President Rasmus Refer would not comment on the timing of this release; “We are working on many new activities with the objective to become the largest global provider of business information, but cannot tell you more about our plans right now.” They may be playing their cards close to the vest for now, but it appears the new release of a professional profile site is immanent.

You’re probably asking, what would make this different than the dozens of other professional profile sites that tried to go up against LinkedIn and failed miserably? There is a lot that sets Masterseek apart, even when compared to big time LinkedIn competitors like Google+. Here are just a few of the reasons Masterseek’s professional profile section will give LinkedIn a run for its money:

Masterseek already has a larger database than LinkedIn. LinkedIn is estimated to have around 125M profiles where Masterseek has 150M. A deeper look at these numbers shows that LinkedIn still has more U.S. profiles, but as we’ll show you that is likely to change fairly quickly after release. Add to that the growing number of business professionals actively seeking expertise from around the globe and being majority U.S. based is not necessarily a good thing anymore.

Masterseek uses an entirely different platform. Anyone familiar with their business listings already knows it is probably the most functional platform on the internet. It is easier to use, offers more customization and gives individuals and businesses full control over their own profile.

Masterseek has search capabilities far superior to any B2B search engine, and when compared apples to apples to the search functionality of the most popular consumer-based search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, even these juggernauts could learn a thing or two about relevant, fast and customized search results.

It’s free. While the big ones always are, it’s one of the sure signs of a professional profile site’s impending failure that they believe people will actually pay to be listed or that companies will pay for the information contained therein. Masterseek keeps their service free, which online is almost always the smart financial choice in the long run.

Perhaps most important of all, Masterseek is not going to be strictly a professional profiles website. Google+ attempted in its release to bridge the chasm between email, social network and professional business profile. It appears the gap is too great. After all, how many want to mix their business profile with pictures they send family and friends or their personal email? The same is true for Facebook’s professional profiles. Many a job has been lost because an employer found out what employees were up to on their social network. People don’t like to mix business and personal. LinkedIn on the other hand has had more success concentrating on one thing and one thing only, professional profiles. Masterseek by contrast is attempting a far more symbiotic relationship; a massive business search engine combined with professional profiles. Presumably this will be in large part employees and decision makers within those businesses already listed, contractors seeking work, freelancers and more. It will be a virtual hub of business activity. This just makes more sense. The more pressing question is why on earth has it not been attempted prior to this?

Via EPR Network
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De Vere Group cuts costs and enhances customer service with online payment solution from SecureTrading

De Vere Group, operator of hotels, conference & training venues, golf clubs, luxury lodges and many other facilities across the UK, has implemented a solution from SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to enable fast and secure online card payment services across its booking engines and websites.

Since the implementation, customers can now complete bookings faster and easier than before, enhancing the overall customer experience. De Vere Group staff no longer have to manually download bookings, take the payments or encrypt the credit card numbers, as this process is now automated via the SecureTrading solution – a benefit that has drastically reduced administration costs. Another plus is that customer payments also reach De Vere Group’s bank accounts quicker.

Joanne Stanford, Group IT Director at De Vere Group, comments: “We were looking to introduce an online payments system and wanted a partner that could work well with our web agency in terms of build as well as providing full PCI compliance and 3-D Secure validation. Having worked with SecureTrading on other projects for three years and recognised its customer-centric approach, we quickly realised it was the perfect partner. SecureTrading has provided an excellent level of service throughout the process, from the initial account set-up to the launch, and the support team is among the best I have ever worked with”.

De Vere Group’s partnership with SecureTrading first started three years ago with the launch of ‘Instant Meetings’, an online booking tool with which De Vere Group customers can arrange day meetings. The relationship was extended via the creation of De Vere Club – the fastest growing golf membership in the UK – which enables members to sign-up and manage their account online, including initial payments. Now, the online payments solution for bedroom bookings offers further capabilities and serves to further enhance the relationship.

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales and Marketing at SecureTrading, comments: “De Vere Group is continuously improving and expanding its online booking processes, and with online bookings for events, Golf Tee-Times, dining and lodges all due for launch shortly, SecureTrading will guarantee successful operations by providing payment solutions that enable fast and secure payment at all times”.

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UC Group moves online security to a new level with acquisition of information security specialists, Cognosec GmbH

UC Group has acquired Cognosec GmbH in a bid to extend its global information security services for the online business community. UC Group and Cognosec GmbH will jointly focus on assisting businesses to trade more securely, by providing integrated security, risk management and payment services, in response to the growing number and sophistication of cybercrimes.

Cognosec GmbH will become part of UC Group’s payment business, reporting to the SecureTrading Group. SecureTrading and Cognosec GmbH together will help merchants to secure the whole payment processing value chain – data, devices and networks – as cybercrime threats become more complex and harder to manage using existing safeguards. Critically, the two companies will also help online retailers and operators to meet their PCI DSS obligations as compliance becomes increasingly complex and expensive.

UC Group is a trusted advisor to US, UK, Asia Pacific and EU lawmakers and regulators and has extensively led the call for improved consumer and business protection to identify and minimise the growing risks to online businesses. In Europe alone, cyber-attacks are growing by 60 per cent a year, while 85 per cent of credit card record thefts are stolen by means of organised crime. The US currently accounts for 47 per cent of the global credit and debit card fraud, while generating only 27 per cent of the global total volume of purchases and cash, according to a recent Nilson Report.

The Cognosec GmbH acquisition enables UC Group to combat payment processing value chain and information security risks through the assessment and application of appropriate security for businesses in any part of the globe.

Oliver Eckel, CEO at Cognosec GmbH, says, “There are strong mutual benefits to both UC Group and Cognosec GmbH; through our specialisms in assurance, governance, enterprise risk and information security management, coupled with UC Group’s understanding of the online market and selected exclusive worldwide partnerships, we will be able to further extend our global reach. As more and more business goes online, the volume and type of threats to security are growing; we have the skills and track record to ensure that key business assets are safeguarded, whilst ensuring that businesses can trade uninterrupted. And with the advent of mobile business, our clients will be looking for even greater support, which we are better placed to offer as part of UC Group.”

Kobus Paulsen, CEO of UC Group, says, “UC Group leads the way in improving the quality and efficiency of internet business for online product and service providers. Recently UC Group has spearheaded the drive to regulate online gaming in Spain and the US to apply appropriate controls and safeguards for improved consumer protection. The acquisition of Cognosec GmbH strengthens our core proposition: to offer our clients safe and secure e-solutions for global trading.”

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Lefroy Hudson Forms Team for Institutional Client Services and Sales

Lefroy Hudson today announced the formation of a team dedicated to institutional client services and sales. Lefroy Hudson has recruited this team for the initial part of the expansion: Michael Huff, most recently the Executive Director and Analyst in charge of the Research sector of Lefroy Hudson; Violet Yao Chia, currently the Executive Director of Sales at Lefroy Hudson; Colin Johnston who was most recently a Management Director with one of Singapore most successful advisory; and Karl Erikson who joined Lefroy Hudson 16 months ago to consolidate the company’s presence in the market landscape. He is responsible for rounding out the team as well.

“Michael Huff has established himself as one of the market’s top analysts, and Lefroy Hudson is committed to affording him an environment to oversee his sector independently, objectively, and without conflict,” said Robert Milberg, Lefroy Hudson’s co-founder and CEO. “Violet and Colin have extensive experience of markets from both ends of the spectrum, and bring to us a degree of excitement, the proposition of them joining Lferoy Hudson to apply their skill sets and trade acumen to generate doable, feasible ideas, identify movers and shakers and provide top-notch service to their customers. Michael is already integrated in Lefroy Hudson’s culture of peerless customer service, and dedication to excellence.”

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Lefroy Hudson Forecast Crude Oil Price 2012

Lefroy Hudson revised higher its forecast for U.S. crude oil prices by $3 to $104 a barrel, citing the possibility of strong demand in the northern hemisphere winter, and left its Brent crude forecast unchanged at $116 a barrel.

“Global fundamentals and further monetary easing suggest upward pressure on oil prices. Given tightness in the distillate complex ahead of winter, gasoil-led rallies in crude are equally possible in the event of colder-than-average temperatures,” Lefroy Hudson’s analyst said in a note to their clients.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to stay well above $100 a barrel, despite widespread expectations of an economic slowdown, a company poll said in late October.

U.S. crude was expected to average $92 a barrel next year and Brent was set to average $106.80 a barrel, the poll showed.

Brent crude was up $1.52 at $109.74 a barrel by 12:42 GMT on Friday after closing down $3.66 in the previous session.

Lefroy Hudson’s forecasts for 2012 implied the WTI-Brent spread would be $12 a barrel, slightly higher than the current level of around $9-$10.

“We believe that the extent of the Brent/WTI spread correction is overdone,” the Lefroy Hudson note said, citing the bullish impact for Brent of limited supplies of light, sweet oil.

lefroy Hudson’s analysts said it expects U.S. crude at around $105 a barrel in the first quarter of next year and $119 a barrel for Brent.

A modest start to the forecast period before oil prices regain strength.

We expect a somewhat weaker oil price trend in the first quarter of 2012. The Euro-area debt turmoil will continue to dampen risk appetite, while an improvement is expected in the supply/demand balance. Libyan oil will gradually return to the market, so other OPEC countries will have to scale back production to balance the market. This will improve OPEC’s reserve capacity.

From the second quarter of 2012 the balance in the oil market is likely to tighten again. Activity in the large oil-consuming countries will again accelerate. Growth in oil demand will again outstrip capacity expansion on the supply side. This will reduce OPEC’s capacity buffer. Tighter market conditions will lift oil prices and this trend is expected to strengthen towards the end of the forecast period. We have cut our oil price forecast to USD 130/barrel in 2012 from USD 135/barrel, but kept our forecast for 2013 unchanged at USD 140/barrel.

The risk of a sharp drop or abrupt upswing in oil prices has increased The risk is still high that we may experience a major downturn in the world economy or we see a new wave political unrest in vital oil producing countries. In our low price scenario we assume that a liquidity crisis and economic turmoil in Europe pushes the world into a new recession. In turn a sharp decline in economic activity will cut global oil demand significantly. Internal conflicts within OPEC hinder the cartel from imposing a coordinated cut in oil production and thereby trigger a drop in oil prices. In our high oil price scenario we assume that the political uprising spreads to Saudi Arabia and a significant share of the country’s oil production is locked in for a long period.

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Lefroy Hudson Announces Timothy Daniels Election to the Company’s Board of Directors

Mr. Daniels served as President and CEO of Beijing Asset Management (BAM) for seven years and is serving as its Chair through this term. In his three decades of service at BAM, he has held numerous offices including Finance Head, Vice President, and President of Market Research. He lived in Europe, Asia and Australia during his extensive career. He has seen memberships with key government councils, most notably in areas of economic stimulus and planning.

Simon Lee Ngieu, President and CEO of Lefroy Hudson, said, “Timothy is a noteworthy and excellent addition to the Board as our pursuit of excellence in all our lines of business within a sustainable landscape continues. His management, planning acumen and economic expertise will be beneficial to the entire Lefroy Hudson family and clients.”

Julian Chaperon, Chairperson of the Board’s Committee on Nominations, said that they are “enchanted to welcome Mr. Daniels to the Board,” and that they “look forward to his contribution to the focus of keeping Lefroy Hudson on the forefront of continued success.”

Mr. Daniels, in his keynote speech, welcomes the opportunity to work with Lefroy Hudson, adding that “he is glad to be part of the winning team,” and that he hopes that his expertise would “be productive and harmonic with the tradition of leadership and excellence Lefroy Hudson.” Furthermore, he said that it is his aim to “keep Lefroy Hudson relevant in the larger business picture in the coming years,” and will “be hard at work to see that goal through fruition.”

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Mobile workforce solution provider ensures its services are on TAAP thanks to SecureTrading

TAAP, which helps organisations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors save money and improve service through the latest mobile technology has chosen SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to enable its clients to take payments using mobile devices. The solutions are used by a range of customers including charities such as Shelter to allow credit and debit card payments to be made via smartphones.

TAAP (The Agile Application Platform) is a sophisticated workflow system, which provides mobile workforce solutions and applications to organisations operating ‘in the field’. Using mobile devices pre-loaded with TAAP software, clients can receive, collect and transfer rich data from a PDA, smartphone or tablet to a secure web portal or back-office system in seconds. The systems are also scalable and flexible, making it easy to adapt to the most demanding environments from charities involved in face-to-face to fundraising to automotive clients delivering replacement vehicles and parts.

As with any transaction, data integrity is paramount and the solution’s software doesn’t save any of the credit card details so the transaction is fully secure and PCI compliant.

Angela Walker, Marketing Manager at TAAP, says: “SecureTrading’s products meet our business requirements and by offering an alternative payment method to cash, our clients have the opportunity to generate more income through cards and also improve cash flow as invoices do not need to be chased.”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing at SecureTrading, says, “Providing our clients with the facility to take payments via smartphones and PDAs is part of our ongoing mobile payment strategy. Indeed, the importance of mobile payments will become increasingly clear over the coming months and SecureTrading’s focus is on ensuring our gateway is accessible via whatever technology online retailers, merchants and partners want to employ.”

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Anthony Citrolo Elected Executive Vice President & Director of The Long Island Chapter Of The Accountant/Attorney Networking Group Inc. (AANG)

It has been announced today that, Anthony Citrolo, CPA, CVA, CMAA, CBI has been elected as the 2012 Executive Vice President and Director of the Long Island Chapter of the Accountant/Attorneys Networking Group Inc. (AANG)

The Accountant/Attorney Networking Group is comprised solely of practicing accountants and practicing attorneys who service multiple clients. The purpose of the group is to facilitate networking between and among attorneys and accountants – two professions that have enormous synergy and potential for cross referrals. AANG offers 12 monthly networking breakfast meetings exclusively for accountants and attorneys. AANG also hosts two major networking cocktail receptions open to all professionals. The organizations’ web site is www.aangny.org

According to Mr. Citrolo a Managing Partner of M&A firm NYBB/Reliance Strategies, “the AANG creates a great platform for Accountants and Attorneys to meet and share information and ideas that can be used to bring cutting edge financial and legal solution to business owners or entrepreneurs engaged in a business sale or acquisition. Further Mr. Citrolo adds, “since Accountants and Attorneys are key players of the deal team that representbusiness buyers and sellers, the coordination of their efforts can result in lowering the fees incurred in the transaction and giving the deal the best chance of being consummated.”

About NYBB/Reliance

NYBB/Reliance Strategies is a full-service Merger & Acquisition firm in Melville, New York assisting companies with up to $50M in revenue to develop an exit strategy or make a targeted acquisition. In addition to M&A and consulting services, NYBB/Reliance offers valuation services in determining both Business and Transaction Values. Anthony can be reached at 631.390.9650 or anthony@nybbinc.com.

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APT Publish New Whitepaper on Risk Management

The technology firm APT have just published a new whitepaper. The paper discusses the issues associated with analysing risk in multi-asset class investments.

APT work to offer risk management solutions to investors, and have much experience behind them in doing so. They work with many different groups involved in investment, such as private wealth managers, hedge fund managers, brokers and others. They provide them with the kind of quality, evidence-based risk management they need. It is against this background that APT publishes this whitepaper, which looks at how investors working across multiple asset classes can best mitigate their risks. The paper is called ‘Building a Multi-Asset Class Model: the Commodities Example – Correlation is the Key’.

APT’s solution to the specific risks involved in multi-asset class investments is scenario-based risk management. Such products can help investors by offering them a solution based on thorough research, which responds clearly to events, and is flexible, to meet changing needs. APT recognise that markets will always undergo shocks and dislocations, and that this means that good risk management is important. Analysis of how and why these shocks happen helps to contribute to this risk management. This is APT’s approach: real research that looks at real research to help investors manage risks well. When looking at mulit-asset class investment, risk management needs to look at how the different asset classes may correlate, and also how to recognise that the management of risk is only really effective if separated from the attribution of risk.

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2012 Could be the Year for Umbrella Companies, Say Umbrella Company Tarpon

The recent news of an extra boost for the umbrella company industry, in the form of a £1 billion grant, could support half a million jobs.

The new year could be the year for umbrella companies as the industry is boosted by an extra £1 billion injection in the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), assigned to help 500,000 people find jobs in 2012. The decision to award the RGF with an extra £1 billion is not only going to be beneficial for workers, but also those in the umbrella company industry.

A spokesperson for Tarpon explains:

“The news that the RGF is going to benefit from extra money really is fantastic because it’ll help give the employment market a really great boost in time for 2012. The RGF is a two year fund that’s designed to support a number of projects and programmes that create economic growth and sustainable employment. So getting this extra money means that half a million people could potentially get a new job that could last them a very long time.”

The news of the extra money, which was delivered by the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, during a visit to the north-west of England earlier this month, has been welcomed by a number of industry insiders and job seekers alike. The focus of the fund will not only help get people into work, but also encourage private investment in the public sector. This is the second piece of good news for the umbrella company industry in as many months, as new figures from last month show that the demand for contractors has continued to rise.

A spokesperson for Tarpon continues:

“For every £1 of public money put into the RGF, the private sector will put in £5, which will help jump start growth across the UK. This, coupled with the news that the number of employers that have taken on contractors has grown for the 28th consecutive month in November, means that we anticipate that 2012 is the year for the umbrella company.”

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TOMEX Launches New and Direct Spread Contract

TOMEX, one of the world’s leading trading companies has recently launched a new direct spread contract that will allow its members to manage the difference between spot contracts. This new contract will give members of Tokyo Mercantile Exchange more options when it comes to trading, which is also in direct response to their unified requests.

This gives both industrial and financial institutions another method to hedge the liquidity in the spot markets. Doing a direct spread contract is simple as you make one singular trade which is then automatically divided into a singular trade and a single delivery. On the other hand, even if two separate trades are physically created a trader or member will only be paying for the difference between the two contracts.

Jefferson Harold, CEO of Tokyo Mercantile TOMEX recently said, “This new and improved contract was created as a direct answer to the requests of our clients and members for more financial products. On the plus side, it also serves as an additional way to help other companies make full use of their asset management.” This will further expand its suite of investor relations and intelligence services for advisory companies and their individual and institutional clients.

The new contracts will offer for companies trading on behalf of institutional clients on Tokyo Mercantile Exchange access to an bundle of individually-packaged intelligence services powered websites and other sophisticated tools. The recent announcement is a branch of the TOMEX’s access centres for the market’s most comprehensive investor relations, as well as market intelligence service for companies trading on TOMEX.

These arrangements are an indication of our client focus and dedication to give top services for our trading companies,” said Tokubey Ito, Vice President of Tokyo Mercantile Exchane.“We are pleased that TOMEX, one of the world’s leading TOMEX groups, has decided to work with us in its continued support of TOMEX-listed companies,” said Mark Kevins, the President and COO of INTELLIGENCE SERVICES COMPANY. “We are very confident that through this partnership, in addition to the TOMEX access centre, TOMEX-listed firms will receive a level of market insight never before available.”

“Especially in this current state of the economy, professionals need intelligent information, strong analytics and advanced tools that provide greater transparency into the evolving markets. We are more than happy to give TOMEX trading companies with the answers they need to effectively manage investors”, completed Mr. Ito.

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TOMEX Announces Changes in Credit Brokerage Management Team

TOMEX, a leading operator of regulated futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter markets, announced changes to the management team within its Credit Tomex dervivatives sector. Wholy owned by TOMEX, Credit Tomex is one of the most promising platforms for default swaps and derivatives credit.

TOMEX appointed Arata Haruka as President. Mr. Haruka was previously the Managing Director at Credit Tomex where he was in charge for several years. Mr. Arata Haruka will replace Umetaro Hakaru, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Tomex, who is now pursuing other opportunities. Mr. Umetaro Hakaru played a key role in building Credit Tomex and in facilitating its integration into Tokyo Mercantile Exchange Trading Platforms. TOMEX has also appointed Jefferson Harold as Chief Operating Officer of Credit Tomex. Mr. Jefferson Harold joined Credit Tomex a few years back as the Financial Officer and played an instrumental role in creating synergies between Credit Tomex and TOMEX Trading Platforms.

Hisao Yamada, the Senior Vice President who co-created Credit Tomex a decade and served as its C.O.O to TOMEX last year will also be in charge of the Marketing Department of Credit Tomex and also will remain as an advisor to TOMEX Board of Directors. Since the inception of Credit Tomex recently, he has been instrumental in the integration of Credit Tomex into the organization and in the execution of TOMEX strategies.

TOMEX CEO, Jefferson Harold, said: “We are more than happy to elevate the new management as key contributors in our business. Based on our successful partnership in supporting the evolution the credit default swap space, I want to thank the whole management team for their help with our achievements over the past years. This industry insights have been extremely important as TOMEX has established its leadership position in the credit default swap markets. On behalf of the entire TOMEX team, I want to explicitly state our appreciation to the whole of the management team for their efforts in integrating Credit TOMEX business.”

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TOMEX Announces the Launch of Long-Term Bond Futures for Clients

Tokyo Mercantile Exchange, one of the industry’s biggest and most diverse futures marketplace recently announced the launch of long-term futures beginning this year. These contracts will be part of and subject to the regulations and laws of the industry authorities. It will also be approved pending the board’s ruling.

“The long-term futures has now become part of TOMEX’s product listing as part of our response to overwhelming customer demands and requests for a contract that is similar to this one that we have launched,” said Tokubey Ito, TOMEX Director and Vice President of Consumer Affairs. “This new contract will complement our remaining products and allow us to grow the range of services as well as trading opportunities for industry participants and our clientele.”

Derivatives that are redeemable for the new long-term futures contracts will consist of cash bonds with at least 25 years of remaining term to maturity. By comparing them, redeemable derivatives for the existing bonds contract are bonds with remaining terms to maturity of 15 years or more. There is a rather vast difference between the two that clients will be able to choose depending on what they prefer. The recent policy shift towards greater issuance of long-term bonds has enabled Tokyo Mercantile Exchange to launch this contract targeted at this important part of the yield curve.

In all other aspects the specifications for the bond futures have seen close resemblance with those that are in the existing treasury bond contract. They are similar in terms of their value, low tick size, contract critical dates, and coupon. Initially, TOMEX will list three delivery months in the bond futures, beginning with mid 2012. There will be no notable differences or adjustments to the currently listed treasury bond futures contract specifications and requirements. Additional information about futures, other trading products and TOMEX’s other interests can be found at www.tomex.jp.

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Emeraldstone Investments Has Completed Purchase Of Colombian Emerald Mining Enterprise

The Cyprus based Emeraldstone Investments Limited has bought a company in Colombia that operates with emerald mining. The merger deal that has been preparing for several months was finally finished.

The contract that is considered to become the new step for Emeraldstone Investments Limited and draw the company to a new level of business that would include global market of precious stones.

The Colombian enterprise CEO, Leo Gransesa comments on the situation: “This deal was a great success for both companies. Our enterprise has been preparing for the merge before. However, the proposition made by Emeraldstone Investments Limited was better than we could ever hope. I’m glad that the business is in the right hands now. One of the most important results of this deal was the fact that Emeraldstone is going to keep the job for all our employees”.

Marvin Tillman, the Head of Emeraldstone Investments board also comments on the deal: “All primary conditions of the contract were followed. We have purchased the majority stake which makes 75% of the total number of shares. The enterprise keeps its management and working staff though the top management would be transferred from the head office of Emeraldstone”.

As a result this turned out to be one of the deals that makes both parties benefit from it tremendously. The representatives of both US and Colombia sides celebrate the biggest deal of the year in the field of gemstone investment.

Regarding this fact Emeraldstone is going to introduce new investment plans for its most regular investors and special offer for brand-new clients. New introductions are to be presented within a month from the date of signing the contract and should make a great contribution to world economy recovering.

Via EPR Network
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Saxo Bank And ICAP Shipping Involved In World’s First Electronic Container Freight Swap Settled In USD

Saxo Bank, the trading and investment specialist, and ICAP Shipping, the shipping arm of ICAP plc, announced on Thursday that they were involved in the execution of the world’s first electronic, voice-assisted trade of a container freight swap agreement settled in US dollars.

The counterparties to the trade were Saxo Bank in Denmark as the buyer and a Netherlands-based trading house as the seller. ICAP Shipping was the broker of the trade. The container freight swap agreement was executed on ICAP’s Webtrader platform, with manual input from ICAP Shipping brokers and cleared by LCH.Clearnet.

The trade was executed by rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio during ICAP’s 19th annual Charity Day. On ICAP Charity, all ICAP revenues are donated to a selection of 200 charities and celebrity patrons are invited to help close deals. Mr. Dallaglio attended ICAP Charity Day in support of Cancer Research and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Container freight swap agreements lock in the freight exposure for standard containers transported from Asia to Europe, Mediterranean countries and the United States. Cash flow for this sort of freight exposure has been unpredictable for retailers, importers and logistic companies in the past and the concept of pricing container freight against indices and using swap agreements to manage the risk has attracted many industry participants over the last year. Screen execution with the added surety of voice broker assistance was a key requirement of customers.

Henry Liddell, CEO ICAP Shipping said: “The execution of the world’s first electronic container freight swap agreement is an important milestone in the on-going development of the container swaps market. This youngest segment in the shipping industry has seen a rapid growth over the last decade and will become an even more important risk management tool in the current economic environment. Container swaps are a hedging tool for the container industry to manage the price volatility of the physical market.”

Johan Gade, Freight & OTC Derivatives, Saxo Bank said: “We fully support electronic freight derivatives trading and believe that going forward container swaps will be a valuable addition to the electronic dry bulk and tanker freight derivatives offering we are about to launch.”

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Saxo Bank Comments On Eurozone Sitation Ahead Of EU Leaders Summit

Saxo Bank has released a new macro view video with Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist, commenting on the situation for the Eurozone ahead of the EU leaders’ summit and in light of the major global central banks’ intervention to boost liquidity. The concerted central bank action has effectively resulted in the US printing money for Europe seeing as the European Central Bank will not, says Steen, adding that it’s like flying in a jet with one engine only – hardly a safe scenario.

The surprising joint intervention by the world’s largest central banks to make it cheaper for financial institutions outside America to borrow dollars has had a positive effect on risk sentiment, but is not expected to last long. For an extended rally or to just sustain gains something more needs to be put on the table, like better fundamentals, plus structural changes and real commitments to toing the line in Eurozone nations, says Steen. The reason being that the severe solvency issues in Europe and deep rooted growth problems are still very much plaguing outlooks.

One could argue that with the central banks having joined forces the pressure is now more so on European politicians to implement lasting austerity and commit to cleaning up their backyards and follow standard rules. The question is whether EU leaders will be able to set things straight once and for all when they meet for the seventeenth time to solve the issues. Steen remains doubtful.

In the meantime, the central bank action has resulted in the cost of emergency dollar funding being cheaper for European banks than US banks. Therefore there is increased expectation now that the Federal Reserve will lower its discount rate by at least 25 basis points before the new dollar swap rate kicks in on December 5. A deeper cut is also possible, he says but that would mean the Federal Reserve is virtually letting go and committing to printing money forever.

Steen also commented on the global macro situation, in particular China, following the Reserve Requirement Ratio cut amid a slowing growth scenario and in terms of timing in a global context. Meanwhile US data continues to please for now at least but he warns that the better numbers may be petering out.

The full video can be viewed at http://www.tradingfloor.com/blogs/macro-ad-hoc/global-central-bank-action-puts-heat-on-eu-summit-to-deliver-886705704.

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Saxo Bank Releases New Asia Focus Video

Saxo Bank, the online trading specialist, has released a new Asia Focus Video which features Andrew Robinson, Forex Analyst for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, analysing the People’s Bank of China’s decision to lower its reserve requirement ratio, whether it’s a taste of more cuts to come and how much it is a clear signal that the world’s second-largest economy is really slowing after all.

The unexpected People’s Bank of China’s announcement that it will lower its reserve requirement ratio on December 5, representing the first cut in three years, initially surprised markets and started a risk-on sentiment, particularly in equities and incited market hunger for more monetary easing.

As such, reserve requirement ratio cuts rarely come in isolation and more are likely soon, probably as early as next month, confirmed Andrew Robinson, FX Analyst, Saxo Capital Markets. He said the timing of this easing has to do with the flow of data of late which has pointed to a slowing in the economy and that it was acknowledgement of this situation. Furthermore it pre-empted the latest purchasing manager index data which confirmed a contraction scenario for the economy.

Commenting on the recent data from China, Andrew said: “Last month’s data was looking particularly soft and the expectations for this month are not particularly encouraging. If we look at the data that’s been coming out recently, it’s certainly suggesting that the market is slowing down.

“I think this is a pre-emptive move by the PBOC and they’re looking to continue it and build the economy.”

The focus in the coming days will now shift to inflation data with more declines in the consumer price index and an even greater drop in the purchasing prices index seen. Combined, this confirmation of a softening in price pressure effectively removes a hurdle the People’s Bank of China was facing in terms of the freedom to continue to ease monetary policy.

The video can be viewed at http://www.tradingfloor.com/blogs/macro-ad-hoc/more-chinese-easing-as-price-pressure-abates-removing-pboc-hurdle-1126984016, with many other forex videos available on the Saxo Bank site.

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