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NASDAQ OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Propose Superior Transaction to Acquire NYSE Euronext for $42.50 Per Share, 19% Premium to Deutsche Boerse Proposal; Market Participants to Benefit from Geographic Footprint, Scale and World-Class Technologies
Creates a leading global exchange in equities, options, listings and exchange related technology to compete in the increasingly competitive global exchange market
Establishes a leading transatlantic derivatives platform that would promote continued competition in Europe and the U.S.
Represents a superior proposal to the Deutsche Boerse takeover proposal
Offers greater long-term value for stockholders by putting existing businesses under managements recognized for integration capabilities and efficiency
Strengthens U.S. and European cash equities competitive position for raising capital and creating jobs
Strengthens ability of regulators to oversee markets and reduces market fragmentation and flash-crash scenarios
April 1, 2011--NASDAQ OMX (NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) today announced that they have made a joint proposal to acquire NYSE Euronext (NYX) for $42.50 in cash and stock per NYSE Euronext share, or approximately $11.3 billion, based on the respective NASDAQ OMX and ICE closing share prices as of March 31, 2011.
The proposal, delivered today in a letter to the Board of Directors of NYSE Euronext, represents a 19 percent premium over the price proposed by Deutsche Boerse, based on Deutsche Boerse's closing share price as of March 31, 2011, and a 27 percent premium over NYSE Euronext's unaffected stock price on February 8, 2011, the day prior to NYSE Euronext's statement that they were in discussions with Deutsche Boerse regarding a transaction.
Under the terms of the proposed acquisition, NYSE Euronext stockholders would receive $14.24 in cash, plus 0.4069 shares of NASDAQ OMX common stock and 0.1436 shares of ICE common stock for each NYSE Euronext share.
As part of the proposal, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext's derivatives businesses, and NASDAQ OMX would retain NYSE Euronext's remaining businesses, including the NYSE Euronext stock exchanges in New York, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Lisbon, as well as the U.S. options business. A combination of NASDAQ OMX and NYSE Euronext would merge the trading, listings, options and market technology businesses of the two companies to create a leading international exchange, headquartered in New York City, with a geographic footprint in sixteen countries and best-in-class technology expertise that is used in over 60 markets internationally. ICE and NASDAQ OMX will continue to operate as separate businesses throughout the proposed transaction, as well as after its completion.
Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of NASDAQ OMX, said: "Our industry is undergoing a period of historic change. During the last five years more than 90 percent of the top 100 global listings chose not to list in the U.S., depriving U.S. investors of the opportunity to easily invest and trade in these companies. The combination of the two leading U.S. exchanges delivers an opportunity to build a global exchange platform that has the scale and growth potential to benefit investors, issuers and other market participants. We believe it would increase transparency and liquidity in U.S. markets and create jobs as new companies raise capital. For Europe, it strengthens the equity markets by creating a new, truly pan-European equity trading platform and solidifies Paris and London as premier financial hubs. Given that our proposal is clearly a superior proposal, we hope that NYSE Euronext's Board will recognize this opportunity as well as the benefits for NYSE Euronext's employees and customers."
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Source: NASDAQ OMX
BMO ETF Business Reaches $2 Billion in Assets in Under Two Years
Company achieves milestone while offering Canadians industry firsts including ETF Portfolios, Junior Gold and Target Maturity ETFs
Announcement comes just six months after reaching $1 billion in assets under management
April 1, 2011-- BMO Financial Group today announced its Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)* business has reached $2 billion in assets under management in fewer than two years – a milestone that surpassed the company's expectations and speaks to the rising demand among Canadian investors for innovative investment options that are transparent and low in cost.
In 2009, Bank of Montreal became the only bank in Canada to offer ETFs, through its affiliate, BMO Asset Management Inc. It has since led the industry in introducing innovative products to meet investor needs and currently offers a total of 40 ETFs in its broad product line-up.
The ETF business has doubled in the last six months within the organization; in September, 2010 BMO Financial Group crossed the $1 billion mark in ETF assets under management.
"We attribute much of our rapid growth to our experienced ETF team who have made it a priority to provide investors with products that cater to a wide range of needs," said Rajiv Silgardo, CEO, BMO Asset Management Inc. "We've built on our initial success and have evolved the ETF landscape not only in Canada but across many global markets."
Mr. Silgardo added that a large part of the success of the ETF business comes from the company's straightforward approach to educating investors on the many benefits of ETFs and making information readily available, whether through client materials, investor seminars, a user-friendly website or access to an experienced team of advisors.
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Source: BMO Financial Group
ISE Reports Business Activity for March 2011
April 1, 2011--Average daily volume in March 2011 up 3.5% over March 2010.
Dividend trades made up 4.5% of industry volume in March 2011.
ISE is third largest equity options exchange in March with market share of 18.9%, excluding dividend trades.
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 3.1 million contracts
in March 2011, an increase of 3.5% over March 2010.
Total options volume for the month was 70.5 million contracts. ISE was the third-largest U.S. equity options exchange in March with market share of
18.9%*. Business highlights for the month of March include:
Aggregate assets under management for the ETFs based on ISE’s proprietary indexes was $1.7 billion as of March 31, 2011.
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Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
Component Changes Made To Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index
April 1, 2011-- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced component changes in the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index.
Riversdale Mining Ltd. (Australia, Basic Resources, RIV.AU) will be deleted from the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index and replaced by Eastern Platinum Ltd. (Canada, Basic Resources, ELR.T). Riversdale Mining Ltd is being removed due to its acquisition by Rio Tinto Ltd. (Australia, Basic Resources, RIO.AU). The changes in the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index will be effective as of the open of trading on Wednesday, April 6, 2011.
The Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index is a pan-African index that measures the performance of 50 companies that are headquartered in or generate the majority of their revenues in Africa. Further information on the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index can be found at www.djindexes.com.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Canadian Securities Regulators Propose Enhanced Oversight of Securitized Products
April 1, 2011--The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today proposed a framework for the regulation of securitized products in Canada that would improve investor protection through enhanced transparency and disclosure requirements for securitized products and modify the current exemptions investors use to access these products in the exempt market.
Under the proposed framework, reporting issuers would be required to provide investors with information on the features and risks of securitized products. This information will be provided to investors at the time of product distribution and on an ongoing basis. These new disclosure requirements have been designed to be consistent with international developments. In addition, non-reporting issuers that distribute securitized products in the exempt market will also be subject to certain initial and ongoing disclosure requirements.
"The proposed rules build on the CSA's efforts to provide increased transparency to investors while taking into account the particular features of the Canadian securitization markets," said Bill Rice, Chair of the CSA and Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission. "We will work toward striking an appropriate balance between strong investor protection and an efficient, open marketplace."
A key element of the proposed rules is the narrowing of the class of investors who can buy securitized products in the exempt market to a smaller, more sophisticated group. This feature is intended to help investors avoid products whose risk profiles and underlying components may be unsuitable for their investment objectives.
The CSA is seeking input from investors and marketplace participants on the proposals. The comment period is open until July 1, 2011.
The Notice is available on the websites of various CSA members. The CSA, the council of the securities regulators of Canada's provinces and territories, coordinates and harmonizes regulation for the Canadian capital markets.
Source: Canadian Securities Administrators
Canadian Securities Regulators Release Oversight Review of IIROC
April 1, 2011--The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today released the report on the first oversight review of the performance of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the self-regulatory body that regulates investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada.
In the review, CSA staff assessed IIROC’s compliance with the relevant terms and conditions of recognition, and examined whether regulatory processes at IIROC were adequate, consistent and fair. The review also evaluated the progress of integration following the creation of IIROC in 2008 from the merger of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada and Market Regulation Services Inc.
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Source: CSA
Trading Volume Tops One Million Contracts for the First Time at CBOE Futures Exchange, March is Third Consecutive Record Month
Average Daily Volume Above 40,000 Contracts for the Second Time
18th Consecutive Month of Year-Over-Year Volume Increases
CFE Launches Security Futures on CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index
April 1, 2011-- The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that March 2011 was the most active trading month in CFE history as volume surpassed the one-million-contracts milestone for the first time ever.
The 1,066,367 contracts that changed hands during March was a new all-time high and the third consecutive record month at CFE, following the previous highs of 789,734 contracts in February and 778,157 contracts in January. When including November 2010's volume of 751,481 contracts, the four busiest months in CFE history have occurred during the last five months.
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Source: CBOE
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
April 1, 2011--Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
The shareholders of Fronteer Gold Inc. (TSX:FRG) have accepted the $C14.00 cash per share takeover offer from Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM). Fronteer Gold will be removed from the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity, Capped Equity,
Equity Completion and Equity SmallCap, the S&P/TSX Completion, the S&P/TSX SmallCap, the S&P/TSX Global Mining, the S&P/TSX Global Gold and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials indices after close on Friday, April 8, 2011.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Source: SEC.gov
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
April 1, 2011--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Monday, April 4, 2011:
Hathor Exploration Limited (TSXVN:HAT) will be removed from the index.
The company will graduate to trade on TSX under the same ticker symbol. Hathor Exploration will remain a constituent of the S&P/TSX Venture 30 Index until the next index rebalancing at the end of July, 2011.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Source: Standard & Poors
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
April 1, 2011--CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports have been updated for the week of March 29, 2011 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
