Halo gets green light from Abu Dhabi regulator

Halo Investing has received its Financial Services Permission (FSP) from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), effective 19 January 2023. The US firm’s ‘dedicated office and expanded regional presence will help drive the growth of Halo Investing’s international footprint in the protective investing landscape’, stated the firm in an announcement.

The FSP authorized Halo Investing MEA to conduct regulated activities in the ADGM, including arranging deals in investments and dealing in investments pursuant

BMO deploys new leveraged gold ETNs via RexShares

to the Financial Services and Markets Regulations 2015 (FSMR).

The Abu Dhabi team will pursue Halo’s objectives of fundamentally disrupting the structured products industry and creating more efficient markets, according to Jason Barsema, president at Halo Investing.

‘The introduction of Halo’s holistic products and services that serve this very need is a testament to the international companies Abu Dhabi’s economy is attracting and its focus on financial innovation,’ said Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief of Markets at ADGM.

Rex Shares has launched two new MicroSectors Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) issued by Bank of Montreal (BMO), linked to the performance of the SPDR Gold Shares ETF – the MicroSectors Gold 3x Leveraged ETNs and MicroSectors Gold -3x Inverse Leveraged ETNs are available for trading on NYSE Arca.

The demand for hedging and trading tools tailored to specific market sectors, including gold, tech, energy, travel, and financials, is constantly changing, according to Scott Acheychek (pictured), CEO of Rex Shares.

With the launch Rex Shares expands its gold related offerings beyond the pair of gold miner ETNs with a new pair of leveraged and inverse leveraged ETNs linked to an exchange traded fund that invests in physical gold. Rex Shares’ MicroSectors range of ETNs will include 3X leveraged and -3X leveraged inverse exposure to both physical gold, and gold miners, through the Rex Shares GDXU and GDXD ETNs.

‘We hope that sophisticated investors will use these trading products as a way to tactically trade gold,’ said Acheychek.

US broker dealer hit with penalty over structured product sales

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Centaurus Financial Inc., one of its branch managers and a registered representative had reached a US$1 million settlement in connection with unsuitable sales of ‘complex structured products to dozens of clients’.

Centaurus Financial is a large independent broker-dealer based in southern California with 375 branch offices and 615 brokers and financial advisors known in the retail brokerage industry for selling alternative investments.

According to the SEC, from June 2016 to July 2019, a Centaurus broker and seven other registered representatives from the Lexington, South Carolina, branch office ‘made recommendations of [variable interest rate structured products] to ninety-four retail customers for whom the recommendations were unsuitable in light of each of the specific customers’ financial situations and needs.

Centaurus failed to implement and follow customer-specific suitability procedures, and also violated the broker-dealer books-and-records provisions of federal securities laws, the SEC said.

Centaurus Financial agreed to pay a civil penalty of US$750,000 and disgorgement of almost US$5,000; while the branch manager was charged with a civil penalty of US$206,000 and disgorgement of US$105,000, including interest, and to serve a six-month suspension as a supervisor. The sales representative agreed to pay a civil penalty of US$35,000 and serve a six-month suspension.