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Obama Administration Releases February Housing Scorecard
March 2, 2011--The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the February edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard. The latest housing figures show increased existing home sales as home affordability remains high, but officials caution that the market remains fragile, as prices are unsettled.
“In the face of the deepest economic recession and housing crisis in decades, the Obama Administration has taken unprecedented action to promote stability in the market – keeping millions of families in their homes and helping millions more to save money by refinancing. But the data clearly show that the market remains extremely fragile,” said HUD Assistant Secretary Raphael Bostic. “While we cannot stop every foreclosure, we know that many responsible homeowners are still fighting to make ends meet. Through the broad range of programs this Administration has put in place, we can put help in reach to those homeowners as early as possible.”
"Our housing market remains fragile. We know this from data, but homeowners across the country can feel it too. That's why this Administration remains committed to helping eligible homeowners avoid foreclosure where it makes economic sense to do so," said acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. "Every month, HAMP continues to help tens of thousands of additional families in a cost-effective manner. And by setting affordability standards and developing a framework for how mortgage servicers provide assistance to struggling families, HAMP has established critical protections for homeowners and has catalyzed improvements in modifications industry-wide.”
view The Obama Administration’s Efforts To Stabilize the Housing Market and Help American Homeowners
Source: US Department of the Treasury
Morgan Stanley Exchange-Traded Funds Quarterly Report: Over $1 Trillion in 1,000 ETFs
March 2, 2011--Assets under management in US ETFs are slightly over $1 trillion. ETFs generated net cash inflows of $110 billion in 2010, of which $38 billion came in the
fourth quarter. New issuance was strong during the year as 179 ETFs came to market, the most since 2007. For the full year, emerging market equity, fixed
income and gold ETFs exhibited the strongest net inflows.
ETFs provide access to many favored market segments. Morgan Stanley & Co.’s global strategy team maintains a constructive view for risky assets in
2011. The team believes equities stand to benefit from solid global growth supported by ample liquidity,
a continuation in global rebalancing and declining tail risks, while lower-quality fixed income investments
are positioned to outperform over the next six to 12 months. Most of Morgan Stanley & Co.’s favored areas of the market can be accessed via ETFs.
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Source: Morgan Stanley
LSEG-TMX Merger to Deliver Clear and Significant Benefits to Ontario
Exchange CEOs present to Ontario Government Select Committee
March 2, 2011--- The merger of TMX Group Inc. and London Stock Exchange Group plc will create opportunity for Canada's financial services industry and firmly establish Toronto as a world financial center, the companies' CEOs told Ontario legislators today.
In an appearance before the provincial legislature's select committee studying the proposed merger of the two exchange companies, Tom Kloet and Xavier Rolet spoke at length about the transaction details and rationale.
Mr. Kloet, CEO, TMX Group said:
"The merger strengthens our company's future competitiveness and contributes to the growth and competitiveness of the financial sector in which we operate. It does so without in any way diminishing local regulatory authority. And, in our opinion, it opens a world of opportunity for Canadian public companies of all sizes and for the advisory and business community that supports them. The words "Listed on TSX" and "Listed on TSX Venture Exchange" are spoken with pride by Canadian companies across Canada. These brands are here to stay. The agreement we are here to discuss maintains this pride while opening new horizons for growth. It is an arrangement that makes sense."
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Source: Toronto Stock Exchange
NYSE Liffe U.S. To Launch Interest Rate Futures On March 21 And March 28 - Eurodollar Futures Debut On NYSE Liffe U.S. March 21, U.S. Treasury Futures On March 28 - Bringing Innovation, Competition And Unique Value To Global Futures Market Participants
March 2, 2011 – NYSE Liffe U.S., the U.S. futures exchange of NYSE Euronext (NYX), today announced launch dates for U.S. Treasury and Eurodollar futures products to coincide with the launch of New York Portfolio Clearing (NYPC), the innovative new clearing joint venture with The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
NYSE Liffe U.S. will begin trading Eurodollar futures on March 21, 2011, and will launch 2-year, 5-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury futures along with U.S. Bond and Ultra Bond futures products on March 28, 2011, subject to regulatory filings. These products will be cleared through NYPC, which has received all the required approvals from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
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Source: NYSE Euronext
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
March 2, 2011--Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
S&P Canadian Index Services announces that after the close of Friday, March 18, 2011, calculation of the S&P/TSX Capped Energy Trust Index will cease.
Following the conversion of most income trusts to corporate structures at the end of 2010, this index currently has one constituent and no more energy trusts can currently be created.
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
SEC Proposes Rule Amendments to Remove Credit Rating References in Investment Company Act Rules and Forms
March 2, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rule amendments to remove references to credit ratings in certain rules and forms under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including rule 2a-7 governing the operations of money market funds.
Credit ratings are often considered by investors when they evaluate whether to purchase securities. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires every federal agency to review rules that use credit ratings as an assessment of creditworthiness, and replace those credit-rating references with other appropriate standards.
“The focus of these efforts is to eliminate over-reliance on credit ratings by both regulators and investors, and encourage an independent assessment of creditworthiness,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
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Source: SEC.gov
SEC Proposes Clearing Agency Standards for Operations and Governance
March 2, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to propose rules in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 regarding the operation and governance of clearing agencies.
The Commission also voted to reopen the public comment period for rules proposed in October to mitigate conflicts of interest for security-based swap clearing agencies, security-based swap execution facilities, and national securities exchanges that post or make available for trading security-based swaps.
Clearing agencies generally act as a middleman to the parties in a securities transaction. They play a critical role in the securities markets by ensuring that transactions settle on time and on the agreed-upon terms.
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Source: SEC.gov
SEC Proposes Rules on Disclosure of Incentive-Based Compensation Arrangements at Financial Institutions
March 2, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed a rule that would require certain financial institutions to disclose the structure of their incentive-based compensation practices, and prohibit such institutions from maintaining compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks.
The proposed rule stems from Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which requires the SEC and several other agencies to jointly write rules and guidelines in this regard. The SEC-regulated financial institutions affected by the rulemaking include broker-dealers and investment advisers with $1 billion or more in assets.
“Our staff has worked closely with other federal regulators and the proposal reflects a series of carefully considered compromises,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “As with any such undertaking, there’s a challenge in finding common means to appropriately address Congress’s mandate, so we look forward to hearing public comment on the proposed rules.”
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Source: SEC.gov
Fee Rate Advisory #6 for Fiscal Year 2011
March 2, 2011-- Pursuant to Section 31(j)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Commission has determined that a mid-year adjustment to the Section 31 fee rate for fiscal year 2011 is not required.
As a result, the Section 31 fee rate for fiscal 2011 will remain at the current rate of $19.20 per million. The Section 31 assessment on round turn transactions in security futures also will remain at $0.0042 per transaction.
Source: SEC.gov
First ETF for corporate bank loans
March 2, 2011--The first exchange-traded fund for corporate bank loans begins to trade on Thursday amid demand from investors for interest rate hedges.
With official interest rates near zero and the US economy picking up, these loans have been in demand recently because they pay a floating rate based on the London interbank offered rate.
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Source: FT.com
