Finance Watch -- WSJ
December 21 2016 - 3:03AM
Dow Jones News
JEFFERIES GROUP
Earnings Increase On Fee, Trading Bump
Jefferies Group LLC posted profit and revenue increases in its
fiscal fourth quarter, as advisory fees and trading boosted
results. The investment-bank unit of Leucadia National Corp.
reported a profit of $87.2 million, up from $20 million in the year
ago period. Net revenue, which factors out interest expenses, rose
13%, to $741.8 million.
The company said record advisory fees and an "increasingly
active" environment for new stock and bond issuance helped results
in the quarter. Investment-banking revenue rose 11%.
The company also cited solid performance in equities and
significant improvement in fixed income. Trading revenue more than
doubled to $325.4 million.
--Austen Hufford
CFTC
Trader Settles 'Spoofing' Claims
WASHINGTON -- A Chicago futures trader and his firm agreed to
pay $2.5 million to settle claims that he manipulated prices
through a bluffing tactic known as "spoofing."
Igor Oystacher, head of proprietary trading firm 3Red Trading
LLC, consented to having his trading monitored by an independent
party for three years, according to the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission. He didn't admit or deny the conduct.
The CFTC accused Mr. Oystacher of spoofing markets on 51 trading
days between December 2011 and January 2014 in a bid to
artificially move the prices of futures contracts for copper, crude
oil, natural gas, the CBOE Volatility Index and the e-mini S&P
500.
"We are pleased to have reached a consensual settlement," said a
spokesman for 3Red.
Aitan Goelman, the CFTC's director of enforcement, said the
order "sends a strong message to the financial markets."
--Dave Michaels
SEALAND SECURITIES
Regulator Probes Bond Businesses
China's securities regulator has opened an inspection of the
bond-related businesses of Sealand Securities Co., whose woes have
combined with broader worries about the country's surging debt
levels to help fuel a rout in the bond market.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission initiated the
inspection at the brokerage firm's offices last Thursday, Sealand
said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The
company said it would cooperate with the probe.
At issue is whether two former Sealand employees engaged in bond
transactions using a forged version of the company's official seal
and whether the brokerage will be responsible for covering any
losses incurred from such deals.
The transactions in question are suspected to have been
entrusted agreements, a prevalent practice among Chinese securities
firms in which a third party, such as another brokerage or a bank,
temporarily holds bond assets, according to traders and analysts.
The deals allow brokerages to circumvent existing rules to obtain
higher leverage, a driver of rising bond prices in the past two
years, the traders and analysts said.
The brokerage said last week that it didn't authorize the two
former employees to conduct the transactions. Phone calls to the
brokerage went unanswered Tuesday.
--Chao Deng
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 21, 2016 02:48 ET (07:48 GMT)
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