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Saxo Bank Announces New Shareholder

Saxo Bank is pleased to announce that TPG Capital, one of the world’s leading investment firms, will become a major shareholder in Saxo Bank. Following the signing of a purchase agreement, a TPG Capital affiliate will acquire a 30% stake in the Company (along with an option to increase its stake to 40%) from existing investors, including General Atlantic, a global growth investor and Banco Espirito Santo, a leading Portuguese bank, amongst others. The founders, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen will retain majority ownership and continue in their roles as CEOs, also in the event that TPG Capital exercises its option to acquire 40%. TPG Capital’s investment is subject to customary regulatory and competition authority approvals.

General Atlantic invested in Saxo Bank in 2005 and both Espirito Santo Financial Group and Banco Espirito Santo invested in Saxo Bank in 2008. Banco Espirito Santo will continue to build the commercial cooperation that the bank has had with Saxo Bank since 2008, namely through Banco BEST that is owned by both entities.

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, founders, CEOs and majority shareholders in Saxo Bank said in a joint statement: “We are delighted to welcome one of the world’s leading investment firms as a major shareholder and business partner. This new phase in Saxo Bank’s growth stems from the strong foundation built with the support from our selling shareholders, who have shared in our success to date. We remain enthusiastic about Saxo Bank’s future and look forward to working with TPG Capital to capitalise on the many opportunities ahead.”

Asiff Hirji, Partner at TPG Capital said: “Saxo Bank has achieved impressive growth and we look forward to supporting the future diversification strategy. TPG Capital has a strong track record of investing in and growing financial services businesses, particularly those seeking further expansion in emerging markets, where we see tremendous opportunities for Saxo Bank. We look forward to working with its two founders and CEOs.”

Bill Ford, CEO of General Atlantic and Ricardo Salgado, CEO of Banco Espirito said in a joint statement: “We have been pleased with our partnership with Saxo Bank over the last several years and consider this a very successful investment.”

Via EPR Network
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Business Monitor International Releases The Latest Analysis Of China’s Mining Industry

Business Monitor International (BMI) has published its latest China Mining Report, which forecasts annual average industry growth of 9.1% in real terms from 2011 to 2015, with production of bauxite, copper, tin and gold set to rise fastest. By the end of this period, the value of China’s mining industry will reach US$606bn. Industry-wide energy efficiency and consolidation measures introduced by the government as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) will be the key drivers of growth.

BMI expects the industry to see further consolidation as government involvement increases, resulting in the closure of underperforming smaller mines and pressure on the country’s largest operations to improve efficiency and boost productivity.

The Report provides key forecasts and in-depth analysis of China’s mining industry, covering mining reserves, supply, demand and prices, plus analysis of landmark company developments, expansion plans and significant changes in the regulatory environment. Moreover, it features BMI’s mining and commodity forecasts to end-2015 for metals, minerals and gems.

China, India and Australia have become global leaders in gold, lead, zinc, bauxite and iron ore production over the last decade, strengthening Asia’s position as a dominant global mining player. That said, BMI forecasts Indonesia to become increasingly important a regional hub for mining production as domestic companies develop the country’s mining reserves. Indonesia’s mining industry is set for rapid growth as the country continues to attract investment in coal, nickel and tin sectors.

BMI’s portfolio of products and services provides comprehensive analysis of the global mining industry and enables industry professionals, strategists, sector analysts, investors and commodity traders to identify key market opportunities and avoid market risks wherever they operate.

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TradingFloor.com Releases Video on Meeting of Global Central Bankers

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank’s trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has released a video discussing the important meeting of a number of global central bankers at Jackson Hole in the U.S.

The state of the economy and the more active role of central banks to help rectify this means that investors are keenly interested in the fact that a number of global central bankers are meeting in Jackson Hole. There is also a lot of interest in what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will or won’t say when he addresses the meeting in a press conference.

Steen Jakobsen, chief economist, Saxo Bank, discusses his views on the market expectations and what the likely outcome of this meeting will be in TradingFloor.com’s latest video ‘Constructive Jackson Hole solution or more of the same?’

Last year, during the same meeting in a mountainside retreat, Ben Bernanke surprised everyone by announcing a second round of Quantitative Easing. With concerns about a double dip recession rising, people are expecting a big announcement this time around too. Steen Jakobsen believes that the main objective of Bernanke’s press conference will be to avoid “Japanisation”, which is a deflationary environment with low growth and low interest rates through more of the same monetary policy.

Recent data also suggests that the U.S. economy is going to need some sort of help in the form on intervention in the fourth quarter. Steen believes that even though quarter two was a failure, Bernanke will continue to defend the easing concept, despite his reputation is on the line. Bernanke is expected to claim that without the easing concept, the situation would have probably ended up being much worse.

A press conference by Jean-Claude Trichet the European Central Bank President, will follow that of Bernanke. He is also expected to defend the bank’s previous actions in raising rates, despite receiving heavy criticism that this was out of sync with the rest of Europe.

Steen states that the hope is that Trichet will now come up with some real solutions for the Eurozone’s economic problems. This should hopefully mean the Eurozone will lean more towards solidarity and consolidation, thus getting rid of the pointless political battles which have been making the problems worse.

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Create.net, The Web Site Creator, Clicks with SecureTrading

Create.net, a webhost which empowers businesses to produce their own bespoke sites, has chosen SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to manage its online payments processing.

Create.net has a range of customers from low to high-end retailers, independent to wholesale firms. Create.net’s platforms allows users to adapt their websites over time as their business models develop. SecureTrading was selected for its ability to manage payments in one place. Thanks to SecureTrading’s flexibility, Create.net’s customers now have the option of using up to three payments processors for their integrated shopping cart, depending on the nature of their business.

Rebecca Kimber, Business Development Manager at Create.net says: “SecureTrading offers excellent customer service, something we are passionate about. We were pleased with their ability to meet our specific needs.”

This sentiment is shared by Create.net’s customer SJC Hair & Beauty whose owner Sarah Riley says: “I was impressed by the way SecureTrading talked me through the process and my requirements as well as offering extremely competitive fees. Thanks to SecureTrading, my website is now able to support credit and debit card payments, something I couldn’t do before, which has resulted in noticeably increased sales.” Established in 2009, SJC Hair & Beauty is a wholesale company of professional hair & beauty products.

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing, SecureTrading, said, “We’re delighted to provide Create.net and its network of customers with a secure platform to process payments. We look forward to working with them in the future and helping them adapt to changing business needs.”

About Create.net
Create.net was founded in Brighton in 1999 by Simon Kimber and empowers anyone, regardless of digital ability, to build compelling and engaging business websites using an innovative template system to harness their own creativity and designs. Create.net currently hosts nearly 8,000 business websites and has helped thousands more get their businesses online in the last decade.

While a freelance developer, Simon came to realise the potential of a system that could enable anyone, regardless of their technical skills or experience, to quickly build the website they want. He set about creating the business model that thousands of startups and entrepreneurs have since used to drive sales, traffic and engagement.

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Business Monitor International report highlights the risks of a double-dip recession

Business Monitor International (BMI) has released its latest special report, “Market Meltdown: Global Economy On The Edge” evaluating the major risks to the world economy arising from the recent slump in global stock prices and rise in vulnerable government bond yields.

With the Eurozone affected by the on-going sovereign debt crises, the US faced with debt concerns after losing its AAA credit rating, and Japan still suffering from the consequences of March’s earthquake, the global economy is threatened by a risk of another recession.

On August 5 2011, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating for the United States to AA+ from AAA, while maintaining a negative outlook. Prior to S&P’s announcement, poor Q211 GDP data and revisions to the GDP series going back to 2010 had a significant impact on the US economic outlook. The report focuses on the recent market developments, outlines revisions to BMI’s US growth forecasts and provides insight into the US ratings downgrade. Furthermore it examines a possibility of a double-dip recession in the US.

BMI also analyses the implications of the Eurozone debt crisis for European politics, financial market strategies and the European banking sector. Considering market scepticism over the sustainability of the Eurozone, the current crises represent the biggest test for European institutions since the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and one with far graver economic implications.

Moreover, “Market Meltdown: Global Economy On The Edge” assesses the contagion risks of the eurozone and US crises for Asia; from banking sector exposure, the stress on states with weak fiscal positions, and the impact on China’s economy and the rest of the region should global trade flows be disrupted by a weakening US dollar, or lower import demand from the US and Europe.

BMI’s unique combination of global macro-economic forecasting, industry knowledge and long track-record of emerging markets forecasting enables global investors, strategists and decision-makers across the corporate spectrum to identify key market opportunities and avoid market risks wherever they operate.

Via EPR Network
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TradingFloor.com Releases Video On The Swiss Franc Dilemma

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank’s trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has released a video discussing the current dilemma involving the Swiss Franc.

The Swiss Franc has appreciated of late, and therefore so has the focus of what the Swiss Bank and the Swiss government will do to curb this strength, as it is hurting businesses and therefore the Swiss economy.

One of the steps which have been discussed the most is a peg to the Euro; however this is yet to happen, despite much speculation. With the attempts to weaken the currency’s strength possibly only providing temporary relief, it is seen as only a matter of time before more extreme measures, such as a peg to the Euro, are taken.

Ken Veksler, senior manager, Trading Advisory at Saxo Bank discusses his opinions on the likelihood of a peg to the Euro and the effect the Swiss Franc dilemma is having on the Swiss economy.

Veksler believes that a peg to the Euro is an extreme measure, and the likelihood of that happening is fairly minimal. There was a successful attempt made in 1978, where the Swiss Franc was pegged to the German Deutschmark for around 18 months, however, Veksler thinks it will be unlikely that this extreme measure will be taken again, even though the scare in the market in recent days and weeks has made it more of a serious topic than previously thought.

The Swiss government would be unhappy to put a peg to the Euro in place because it would mean a loss of its position as an independent state within a wider UN zone, which they have prided themselves on for quite some time.

Veksler believes that if the peg did come into place the Swiss Bank would have to revert to printing money to allow themselves adequate reserves to put this sort of action into place. However, this is more of a band aid for the problem rather than a full term solution.

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Saxo Bank Announces Half Year Results

Saxo Bank reported a net profit of DKK 346 million for the first six months of 2011. The result which is in line with expectations represents an increase of 375% over the second half of 2010, and a decrease of 37% compared with the first six months of 2010, where market activity and volatility were unusually high.

– Operating income DKK 1,772 million (DKK 1,992 million)
– Profit before tax DKK 474 million (DKK 729 million)
– Net profit DKK 346 million (DKK 551 million)
– Solvency ratio 12.3% (19.2%)
– Clients’ collateral deposits DKK 32,855 million (DKK 26,590 million)
– Assets under management DKK 32,357 million (DKK 24,606 million)

Saxo Bank saw a significant increase in average monthly volumes traded in CFD stock indices, single stocks and commodities, cash stocks, FX options and futures compared to the same period last year. Monthly FX volumes averaged approximately DKK 1.2 trillion in the first half of 2011, with lower trading volumes in the first quarter and a pick up in the second.

While the overall trader and investor activity level was moderate in the first half of 2011, the Bank saw continued growth in clients’ collateral deposits and assets under management, which are the foundation for future business and profits. Total assets under management in Saxo Bank’s trading business increased from DKK 31.2 billion as of 31 December 2010 to DKK 32.4 billion as of 30 June 2011. Clients’ collateral deposits in Saxo Bank’s asset management business increased from DKK 31.3 billion as of 31 December 2010 to DKK 32.9 billion as of 30 June 2011.

Operating income for the first six months of 2011 reached DKK 1,772 million for the Group. This is lower compared to the same period in 2010, but represents an increase in trading-related income following on from the second half of 2010.

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, co-founders and CEOs of Saxo Bank, said in a joint statement: “Saxo Bank achieved a satisfactory half-year net profit fully in line with expectations, despite general market conditions which reduced risk appetite in the economy and dampened capital market activities. While keeping a close eye on overall cost developments, Saxo Bank will keep its focus on expanding our products and services as well as optimising the efficiency and profitability of our operations. Overall, we believe the Group has a solid foundation for current and future operations and we expect to continue to create value for our stakeholders.”

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Saxo Properties and Resolution Property Form a €250 Million Joint Venture

Saxo Properties, the property investment arm of Saxo Bank, the Copenhagen-based trading and investment specialist, has entered into a joint venture with Resolution Real Estate Advisers LLP “Resolution Property”, the pan European real estate fund, whose investors include some of the major US universities such as Harvard and Yale and foundations, currently has €1.5 billion of assets under management.

The Joint Venture will focus on co-investing up to approximately €250 million in the central business district of Copenhagen, targeting residential and mixed use, residential and commercial buildings which will benefit from the application of intensive asset management, including refurbishment and the repositioning of occupiers. With an in-house team of 15 highly skilled property professionals and a facilities management arm, Saxo Properties is well positioned to identify off market opportunities, and implement an asset management programme of improvements resulting in significantly enhanced returns for investors.

The new venture, which is already targeting its first purchases, will have a life of three to five years with the emphasis on income growth and capital gains.

Jesper Damborg, Chief Executive of Saxo Properties said: “We are delighted to have teamed up with Resolution Property, one of the leading pan European real estate investors, with assets across Continental Europe. The Joint Venture will seek to take advantage of carefully selected opportunities which have the potential to produce above average returns in the medium term.”

Robert Laurence, Chief Executive of Resolution Property said: “The stability of the underlying economy in Copenhagen, coupled with the opportunity to acquire good quality assets at levels representing a significant discount to their peak values, is of great appeal to us. Our Joint Venture with Saxo Properties provides a highly experienced property team at local level with an established track record of achieving good returns and an exciting opportunity for us to develop our value add real estate strategy in a new market place.”

Saxo Properties is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank and was launched in March 2010 to provide closed end funds for both high net worth clients and institutional investors, focusing on residential, office and retail property in Central Copenhagen.

Originally founded in 1998, Resolution Property, backed by a shareholder base including international private equity investors, pension funds and major US universities and foundations, is invested across continental Europe including France, Poland, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland. With a €808 million capital raising completed in 2007, Resolution Property is targeting a portfolio size over €2.6 billion.

de Morgan & Company of London, acted on behalf of Saxo Properties in the negotiations and Resolution Property was represented by Whitmarsh Holt Young along with local advisers including Plesner and Sadolin & Albæk.

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Business Monitor International Releases the Latest Analysis of Japan’s Post-Crisis Economy

Business Monitor International (BMI) has released its latest special report, “Japan After The Quake: Resurgence Or Another Lost Decade?” examining the state of Japan’s economy and exploring the risks and potential areas of outperformance across six industries covering retail, agribusiness, IT, automotives, commercial banking and power.

The report outlines BMI’s views on Japan’s recovery and the future prospects of the Japanese economy, focusing on the longer-term implications of the disaster.

While it has been encouraging how quickly the economic downturn has stabilised, Japanese consumers are unlikely to start spending again soon. BMI expects that the Japanese consumer to place a greater emphasis on price over quality. The reconstruction efforts will divert capital resources away from other sectors of the economy, and a slowdown in China will impact the export sector.

Further, the March earthquake and tsunami has had a major impact on Japan’s ICT and retail industries, with the ICT sector struggling especially to resume full operations on the back of supply chain disruptions and power shortages. Faced with a precarious domestic outlook, ICT firms will, instead, turn to growing emerging market demand to boost their revenues, a strategy that is also being pursued by the Japan autos sector with varying success.

That said, other sectors are better poised to capitalise on the “back-to-basics” spending of consumers with major convenience store retailers outperforming in this challenging environment. While March’s retail sales growth fell to its worst level since 1998, retail sales in recent months have bounced back, underlining a recovering demand outlook for Japanese retailers.

More broadly, the longer-term economic outlook remains fraught with risk, with Japan staring at another lost decade of economic stagnation. Indeed, BMI predicts that consensus expectations for Japan’s GDP growth of 2.9% in 2012 are too optimistic.

BMI’s portfolio of products provides comprehensive analysis across Japan’s industries and enables global investors, strategists and decision-makers across the corporate spectrum to assess and evaluate how far Japan has come since the crisis in terms of economic stabilisation and industry consolidation.

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Business Monitor International Predicts Slower Growth In The Angola Construction Industry

Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts an annual average growth of 8.3% y-o-y between 2011 and 2015 in the construction sector, which will be slightly reduced from the previous high rate.

Angola has experienced a post-civil war reconstruction boom, aided by the spending of oil revenues and large credit lines. The infrastructure sector benefited from the rapid pace of growth in the construction industry. Although sky-high property prices and vast oil wealth have seen the Angolan capital Luanda dubbed the “new Dubai”, new data for Angola’s construction industry illustrates downside risks that expect to slow the future growth of the infrastructure market.

The Angola Infrastructure Report provides an overview of all the major areas of the infrastructure sector including building materials, transport infrastructure, construction industry and utilities. It also features BMI’s market assessment and 5-year forecasts to end-2015 covering public procurement and spending on all major infrastructure and construction projects, including transportation and logistics by land, sea and air; power plants and utilities, and commercial construction and property development.

BMI previously highlighted the pertinent threats posed by political risk across a number of African nations. The violent unrest and political instability seen in Libya and Cote d’Ivoire has underlined the importance of policy continuity for investment into the Africa infrastructure markets.

BMI’s portfolio of products and services provides comprehensive analysis of the global infrastructure industry and enables industry professionals, strategists, sector analysts and investors to evaluate and manage the risks arising in the infrastructure markets.

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Saxo Bank Acquires 25% Stake In Broker Solutions Provider Leverate

Saxo Bank and Leverate announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership in which Saxo Bank has acquired 25% of Leverate. The broker solutions provider offers a full turn-key solution for brokerage companies looking to offer trading capabilities based on the online automated trading application MetaTrader or to complement their existing trading solutions.

Through this acquisition, Saxo Bank and Leverate will continue to enhance their offerings towards institutional segments and retail brokers by adding new trading functionalities. Leverate’s complete solution provides brokers with the services needed to increase their conversions, trading volume and risk management capabilities by offering products integrated to the MT4 and other proprietary platforms. Since its release in 2005, MetaTrader has established itself as one of the most popular non-proprietary Forextrading platforms. Offering advanced functionality, the system is regarded as one of the preferred auto-dealing systems on the market and it is widely used by FX traders.

Stig Pastwa, Chief Commercial Officer of Saxo Bank, commented on the acquisition: “We have seen an increased demand among our institutional and retail clients for automated trading solutions, including MetaTrader. Leverate’s track record and ability to deliver a comprehensive and reliable trading environment has made them an obvious choice as a provider of technology supporting the MT4 universe, which lives up to Saxo Bank’s award winning standard of execution. As an extension to our important business for white-label and institutional clients, we wish to support Leverate with technology and liquidity. While keeping their independence, we hope to assist Leverate in their already impressive growth from which their customers will further benefit.”

In a joint statement, the co-CEOs of Leverate, Ran Strauss and Doron Cohen commented: “Leverate had been approached on multiple occasions by other private equity funds eager to enter into a business relationship, but when we met Saxo Bank, we felt we had encountered the perfect partner. Leverate will continue to provide innovative and comprehensive proprietary solutions for the FX market, and we are proud to be working together with Saxo Bank. Time and time again, Saxo Bank has been recognised as a leading force in the FX industry, and together we plan to continue Leverate’s R&D efforts in the area of technology solutions and related services for brokers and financial institutions. This mutually beneficial partnership will allow our clients to benefit from enhanced top-tier liquidity sources, while Saxo Bank’s clients can have access to our Complete Broker Solution: MT4, Live Feed, Web & Mobile Traders, CRM and Risk Management, powered by Leverate, and fully integrated with Saxo Bank’s core liquidity and execution engine. This partnership will in no way change the management or operations of Leverate and our clients can only benefit from it.”

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Saxo Bank Launches FX Binary Touch Options

Saxo Bank, the specialist in online trading and investment, today announced the launch of six Binary Touch Options on its trading platform. The Binary Touch options will initially be offered in six currency pairs; EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, EURJPY, EURGBP, and AUDUSD. They will be tradable from Saxo Bank’s award winning FX Options Board, where clients are already able to trade regular FX Vanilla Options.

The launch will further extend Saxo Bank’s FX offering and allow clients to trade in the world’s most liquid financial market in a simple and convenient way. A Binary Touch Option differs from a plain Vanilla Option in that the potential gains and losses of a Binary Touch Option position is known upfront, thus greatly simplifying the transaction. Clients may invest not only in which direction the price will move, but at the same time express their views on how far and over what time period.

Unlike other trading platforms that offer similar products, Saxo Bank will offer its clients the ability to close-out their long or short positions at the current market price prior to expiry.

Gustave Rieunier, Global Head of FX Options & Forward Trading at Saxo Bank, said: “Adding Binary Touch Options trading to our platform bridges the gap between FX Spot and FX Vanilla Options and meets the recent demand in the market for wanting to trade in the global currency market in a simple, straight forward manner. Whether you are a seasoned FX trader or new to investing in currencies, this is an excellent way to add FX exposure to your portfolio.

“Saxo Bank has developed into one of the top market makers in the global FX Options space. Adding such a simple and straight forward product to our strong liquidity and award winning pricing capabilities is another significant improvement to our FX offering.”

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MLDEX Market Development Training Program

The Market Development Training Program hosted by the Headquarters of the MLDEX, was held in Melbourne, Australia in the week of 12-19 June 2011.

This program was designed as a forum for the exchange of best practices in the development and regulation of capital markets presented through a series of lectures, roundtables and case studies. Senior experts from different International Regulatory Agencies and the Capital Markets Board (CMB), as well as speakers from the region shared their insights on capital market development, enforcement, and examination of market participants. The Program also explored responses to crises and market abuses, provided observations comparing and contrasting approaches by regulatory systems around the world, and highlighted international best practices.

The presenters used real-world examples of market abuse and inefficiencies to explore the regulatory, statutory, and other tools that capital market regulators need to address.

Besides CMB representatives, many international exchange representatives and market professionals attended the event that was also sponsored by MLDEX.

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Saxo Bank Wins Best Liquidity Distribution Service at the eFX Awards 2011

Saxo Bank, the specialist in online trading and investment, has won the “Best Liquidity Distribution Service” award at the annual eFX Awards 2011 hosted by FX Week in New York.

At the core of Saxo Bank’s offering is its White Label solution for banks that require a market leading on-line trading platform for their clients. The key benefits of the solution are:

– It facilitates ownership and control of banks’ relationships with their clients whilst maintaining full client anonymity from Saxo Bank.
– Access to a fully branded and customised trading solution.
– A facility for banks to distribute their own FX liquidity to their clients via the white-label platform.
– A multi-asset offering with more than 20,000 financial products, including FX, Stocks,CFDs and commodities.
– Flexibility and control allows banks to distribute liquidity from the asset classes with tailored commission pricing to their own clients, based on their own local and regional requirements.

For institutional clients, such as hedge funds and retail aggregators with sophisticated high trading volumes, Saxo Bank’s trading API compliments their needs by making its multi-asset product range available in the client’s own systems via a low latency VPN, standard FIX protocol API. The trading API extends Saxo Bank’s distribution services and makes available its range of FX crosses and order routing for CFDs, Stocks and Futures in the client’s proprietary systems.

The founders and co-CEOs of Saxo Bank, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christens said in a joint statement: “Saxo Bank acts as a facilitator linking liquidity from Tier-1-banks and access to over 20 exchanges across the globe to our institutional and retail clients via our integrated platforms. The award acknowledges this business model. It makes us very proud and we are honored to accept the award.”

Saxo Bank was also nominated for the “Best Retail Platform” award. The award was won by Citi. The CitiFX Pro platform is powered by Saxo Bank.

This year the awards were judged by industry experts, Joel Clark, Editor, FX Week, Justyn Trenner, Chief Executive, Client Knowledge, Sang Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Aite Group and Rob Daly, Editor, Sell-Side Technology.

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New Management Board Members of Melbourne Derivatives Exchange(MLDEX) Want to Establish Investment Culture in Australia

Australia does not have a traditional investment culture – neither for capital management, or financing nor for building retirement provisions by investing. More intense information activities, additional services and stepped up efforts to improve the tax framework will help to bring about a change in the coming years, was the message of the management team of Melbourne Derivatives Exchange, underlined by Henry Petterson, the President of MLDEX.

“In the future, we want to provide more trading services. To establish a culture of saving and investing more firmly in Australia – only a small percentage of monetary assets are invested in derivatives and investment funds, while the Asia Pacific Rim average is almost twice as the Australian one. Melbourne Derivatives Exchange would like to see more of an attractive framework for the tax advantages of investment participation schemes. A survey conducted by MLDEX among the leading 20 funds listed on the prime market in Australia revealed the need of individual investors and self-traders to participate with a bigger share in the market flow. The fund directors interviewed spoke out in favor of doubling the tax-exempt amount and a shortening of the holding period.

The goal of establishing an investment culture in Australia also requires the efforts of domestic investment banks. “At present, only one-sixth of the entire Australian fund volume is invested in close ended funds. We therefore appeal to Australian investment management companies to invest more in close ended funds,” said Petterson.

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Melbourne Derivatives Exchange launches new index: CDEX

Melbourne Derivatives Exchange launched the CDEX. The index is weighted according to certain fundamental ratios and made up derivatives in the Australian Trading Index, the leading index of Melbourne Derivatives Exchange.

In contrast to the Australian Trading Index, the weighting of the commodities in the CDEX is not based on market fluctuation, but rather on a factors computed by the Melbourne Derivatives Exchange taking into account fundamental ratios: supply and demand on the medium to long term, net growth and market exposure to other factors. The CDEX is calculated and published in AUD in real time. It has been designed as a tradable index that can be used as an underlying for structured products and standardized derivatives. The calculation parameters are reviewed on a quarterly basis and the index composition is checked, and if necessary adjusted, analogously to the Australian Trading Index in January and June of each year.

With the launch of the CDEX, the Melbourne Derivatives Exchange has once again shown its internationally recognized competence in the area of indices and its skill in responding to market demands. With the CDEX, the range of index products now comprises a total of 36 indices, with 12 of them tracking national, regional or sector-related developments in the Asia Pacific region. Meanwhile, the majority of all structured products with a reference to Asia Pacific are based on the indices produced by the Melbourne Derivatives Exchange.

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Saxo Bank Launches New TradingFloor.com

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist, has announced the re-launch of TradingFloor.com, its trading commentary, news and analysis web site. It represents the first upgrade since the site was originally launched mid-2009.

The new site still provides a wealth of information about financial markets to help users make informed decisions when investing. Specifically it covers forex, equities, commodities and macroeconomic data, but it now also reflects the overall goal of building a closer rapport with users to allow for greater engagement and more interaction.

“The new release signifies Saxo Bank’s ongoing commitment to improving the site’s value to clients, prospects and the Bank,” said Hugh Taggart, the head of Saxo Bank’s Content & Strategy Team. “The upgrade also represents the start of an ambitious roadmap to include closer integration with social media channels.”

Some of the improvements include:
– User accounts, a unique user log-in function allowing users to create their own customised dashboards, set and save their interests (including following individual blogs and authors and linking their Twitter accounts) and comment on and ‘like’ content
– Refreshing new branding and overall design
– More analysis from a wider range of sources, including qualified guest contributors
-Educational content on forex, forex options and (CFDs) from Saxo Bank and its trading staff
– Improved content RSS/Atom feed capabilities

The new TradingFloor.com still contains an economic calendar, stock screener and basic free forex charting package.

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Business Monitor International Release Latest Report On The Greek Infrastructure

Business Monitor International has announced the release of its newest report, which examines the state of the industry infrastructure in Greece.

This is currently a turbulent time for Greece’s economy, as there have been protests about tax rises, job losses and a number of strikes at power plants. The impact of fluctuations in the infrastructure market is likely to be felt in Greece’s construction industry which is currently struggling to cope with reduced demand for its services.

Business Monitor International’s report covers all the major areas of the infrastructure sector including transportation, energy and utilities; analysis of the latest industry trends and prospects; and competitive intelligence on leading construction companies. It also features BMI’s market assessment and 5-year forecasts to end-2015 covering public procurement and spending on all major infrastructure and construction projects, including transportation and logistics by land, sea and air; power plants and utilities, and commercial construction and property development. The report also analyses the impact of regulatory changes and the macroeconomic outlook and features competitive intelligence on multinational and national contractors and suppliers.

BMI’s previous outlook for the Greek energy and utilities market predicted that the market was in decline and would continue to decline. The Greek parliament is due to vote on the government’s latest round of spending cuts and tax rises. Spending cuts are likely to hit the infrastructure industry hard as the industry is reliant on growth and investment which is likely to be reduced as part of the proposed spending cuts.

The Infrastructure report enables industry professionals, strategists, sector analysts, investors, trade associations and regulatory bodies to evaluate and better manage the risks, and exploit business opportunities, in global infrastructure markets. BMI’s analysis of the situation and forecasts for the future offer insight for those looking to manage risks or considering investment.

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Business Monitor International Releases Report On Russian Food And Drink Market

Business Monitor International has released its latest report examining the state of the food and drink market in Russia.

BMI provides reports covering various sectors and geographic locations, and key food and beverage trends. This report is its latest signification product release for Q3 2011.

The BMI reports on food industry trends are designed to enable manufacturers and suppliers, grocery retailers, consultants, policy makers and regulatory organisations to identify international growth opportunities, evaluate risks and opportunities in global food, drink and retail markets.

According to this latest report, Russian food prices which have seen some easing in recent months, may be about to start rising as the recent ban on grain exports, which was put in place to keep domestic food prices down following droughts, gets lifted.

The report concentrates on industry-specific regulatory environment and highlights recent issues with fruit and vegetable imports from the EU, which have also provided a temporary boost for the Russian domestic fruit and vegetables industry.

The Russia Food and Drink Report also analyses the implications of the latest industry and macroeconomic developments like the effect of the import ban imposed by the Russian government following the E.coli outbreak in Germany which resulted in 38 deaths and affected thousands of people. Russia’s food safety watchdog is currently analysing the issue to determine what additional measures it should take to guarantee the safety of products imported to Russia from the EU.

As the key to ensuring effective business management is to be able to manage risk and exploit the available business opportunities, BMI believes that the information in this report will prove to be an invaluable aid to a wide range of global industry professionals working in the Russian food and drink market.

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Rugged Ways Climbs New Heights With Web Site Launch

Bangor – Rugged Ways, an outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, is working with SecureTrading, a top payment gateway services provider and the UK’s leading independent payment processor, to manage its global payments processing through its new web site.

Rugged Ways new site was designed and built by Ascensor, who work closely with SecureTrading for the payment processing, based on the company’s reputation of excellent customer service and a secure payment platform.

Sam Spence, Director at Rugged Ways, said, “We wanted a website to support our Skipton store in North Yorkshire. It was important that we found not only a company who understood what we wanted from a web site but that our payments system was robust and could properly support trading at all times.”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales & Marketing, SecureTrading, said, “We’re delighted to be able to support the payments of a business like Rugged Ways which is venturing online for the first time. It’s crucial that when a business moves its products online that it is confident that its customers payments will be processed quickly and without issue so they receive a great experience regardless of the channel they choose to shop via.”

Ascensor built a filter system for Rugged Ways so that its customers can search for products via colours, sizes etc. Andrew Firth, Director, Ascensor, said, “It took us approximately four months to get the website operational. It needed to be built from scratch and we have worked hard on the search engine optimisation strategy. This is a big step for Rugged Ways and we’re delighted to be helping them on their journey.”

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