LA Times (June 14, 2010) -- "Box- office futures have passed a final regulatory hurdle, clearing the way for the first bets to be placed in the near future, and overcoming objections by Hollywood that sought to block it. In a 3-2 vote, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday afternoon approved a contract created by the company Media Derivatives that would allow traders to bet on the gross receipts that a movie pulls in during its opening weekend.
The idea of betting on future box-office receipts has faced vociferous opposition from the movie industry, led by the Motion Picture Assn. of America, which has said that the contracts would be vulnerable to manipulation and could even hurt how movies perform in theaters.
The decision Monday could still be counteracted by legislation that seeks to ban any trading in box-office futures. The Senate has approved such legislation, but it would need to be approved by the House of Representatives to make it into the final financial reform bill."
The Wrap (July 1, 2010) -- "Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX.com) laid off the majority of its staff on Thursday, TheWrap has learned. The move comes as HSX's parent company Cantor Fitzgerald's long-gestating plans to sell shares of box-office earnings hit a legislative roadblock last week.
Bowing to pressure from big studios, the House of Representatives and Senate have included a ban on movie box-office futures trading in their proposed financial reform legislation. On Monday, shortly after getting federal approval for Cantor's trading plan, exchange president Richard Jaycobs admitted that congressional action will prevent the company from moving forward."
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