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SEC Proposes First in Series of Rule Amendments to Remove References to Credit Ratings
February 9, 2011-- The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose amendments to its rules that would remove credit ratings as one of the conditions for companies seeking to use short-form registration when registering securities for public sale.
Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires federal agencies to review how existing regulations rely on credit ratings and remove such references from their rules as appropriate.
This marks the first in a series of upcoming SEC proposals in accordance with Dodd-Frank to remove references to credit ratings contained within existing Commission rules and replace them with alternative criteria.
“Over-reliance on credit ratings has been one of the factors cited as contributing to the financial crisis,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “I look forward to hearing from companies that are currently eligible for short-form registration as to whether there are alternative criteria that would preserve their eligibility.”
The SEC’s proposal focuses on the use of credit ratings as a condition of so-called “short-form” eligibility. Companies that are “short-form eligible” also are allowed to register securities “on the shelf.” Shelf registration provides companies considerable flexibility in deciding when to access the public securities markets.
The SEC’s proposed rule amendments would remove the NRSRO investment grade ratings condition included in SEC forms S-3 and F-3 for offerings of non-convertible securities, such as debt securities. And instead of ratings, the new short-form test for shelf-offering eligibility of companies would be tied to the amount of debt and other non-convertible securities they have sold in the past three years
Public comments on the SEC’s proposal should be submitted by March 28, 2011.
view proposed rule-SECURITY RATINGS
Source: SEC.gov
Claymore files with the SEC
February 9, 2011--Claymore has filed a post effective amendment, registration statement with th SEC for the Guggenheim China Yuan Bond ETF.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
DBX Trust files with the SEC
February 9, 2011--DBX ETF Trust has filed a pre-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for
DBX MSCI EMERGING MARKETS CURRENCY-HEDGED EQUITY FUND-NYSE Arca, Inc.: DBEM
DBX MSCI EAFE CURRENCY-HEDGED EQUITY FUND -NYSE Arca, Inc.: DBEF
DBX MSCI BRAZIL CURRENCY-HEDGED EQUITY FUND -NYSE Arca, Inc.: DBBR
DBX MSCI CANADA CURRENCY-HEDGED EQUITY FUND -NYSE Arca, Inc.: DBCN
DBX MSCI JAPAN CURRENCY-HEDGED EQUITY FUND -NYSE Arca, Inc.: DBJP
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
SEC investigates ETF use in insider trading
February 9, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Wall Street traders are using exchange-traded funds as a means of disguising insider trading.
ETFs have emerged as a possible mechanism for maximising gains in one stock while potentially masking trading patterns, people familiar with the matter say.
read more
Source: FT.com
State Street Global Advisors-ETF SNAPSHOT: January 2010
February 9, 2011--STATE STREET HIGHLIGHTS, JANUARY 2011
As of January 31, 2011, 972 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)—with assets totaling approximately $1.0TN—were managed by 33 ETF managers.
ETF industry assets rose $8.8BN for the month—up 0.9%
State Street announces three new additions to its industry ETF family:
SPDR® S&P® Transportation ETF [XTN] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 32 transportation companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
SPDR S&P Telecom ETF [XTL] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 27 telecom companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
SPDR S&P Healthcare Equipment ETF [XHE] – an equal-weighted fund that includes 30 healthcare equipment companies with market capitalizations of at least $400MM.
ETF Industry Detail
ASSET CLASSES ? OVERALL
Both the S&P 500® Index and MSCI EAFE® Index rose 2.7%. US bonds were relatively unchanged with the Barclays U.S. Treasury Index falling 0.02% and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index rising 0.1%. Gold fell 5.6%, to $1,327 per ounce.
Large Cap gains were driven mainly by inflows to the SPDR S&P 500. Losses in Emerging Markets were driven by a combination of negative performance and outflows. Commodity losses were mostly attributed to negitive performance in the gold market.
FLOWS
ETF flows topped $9BN—the fifth consecutive month of positive flows. Large Cap and Fixed Income have the most inflows with $6.6 and $2.9BN, respectively. International-Emerging and Commodities had the most outflows, losing $4.5BN and $2.7BN, respectively. Small Caps had more than $1.4BN in outflows.
For more detail , please visit www.spdrs.com.
Source: State Street Global Advisors
Horizons BetaPro Launches North America's First Single Copper ETF
February 9, 2011--BetaPro Management Inc. ("BetaPro"), the manager of the Horizons BetaPro exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), is pleased to announce the listing of North America's first non-leveraged ETF that offers exposure to the daily price performance of copper futures contracts. The Horizons BetaPro COMEX® Copper ETF will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol HUK.
HUK is BetaPro's third offering that offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to market changes in copper futures contracts.
"Back in June of 2010, we launched the first leveraged copper futures ETFs in North America, listed on the TSX as HKU and HKD. Since then, copper prices have reached record highs and global interest in this important metal has increased. With HUK we are expanding our ETF line up to give investors more choice to gain exposure to copper prices," said Howard Atkinson, President of BetaPro.
Mr. Atkinson pointed out that, outside of going directly to the futures markets, the only way investors can get access to copper through an ETF structure is indirectly through ETFs that track base metal equities.
"In our view, using an ETF linked to the return of copper futures is the most direct and efficient way to invest in copper," Mr. Atkinson said. "While past performance is not indicative of future performance, investors who have bought copper over the last six months have been well-rewarded, as it is generally viewed that the economic recovery in the emerging markets such as China has led to increases in demand for this metal, which is an essential commodity for industrialization and electronics manufacturing."
The Copper ETF seeks investment results, before fees, expenses, distributions, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, that endeavour to correspond to the performance of the COMEX® copper futures contract for a subsequent delivery month. The Copper ETF is denominated in Canadian dollars. Any U.S. dollar gains or losses as a result of the Copper ETF's investment will be hedged back to the Canadian dollar to the best of its ability.
HUK has closed the initial offering of its units and will begin trading on the TSX today, when the market opens this morning.
Source: BetaPro Management Inc
Russell Launches "Stability" Indexes - Innovative Investment Style Indexes Complement Growth And Value Set
February 9, 2011--Russell Investments, creator of the most widely used equity benchmarks for institutional investment products, announced today the launch of the Russell Stability Indexes – offering a third dimension to its multi-factor style indexes.
These new indexes are designed to represent certain stock characteristics not taken into account by existing style indexes, offering benchmark clients another means of tracking investments than traditional growth and value indexes.
Source: Mondovisione
MSCI To Consult On A Proposal To Construct - MSCI Global Socially Responsible Indices
February 9, 2011--MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, including indices, portfolio risk and performance analytics and corporate governance services , announced today that it will consult with the investment community on a proposal to construct MSCI Global Socially Responsible Indices.
The proposed indices aim to support the benchmarking and other index related needs of investors who seek to invest in accordance with their values such as religious beliefs, moral standards or ethical views. The proposed indices will exclude companies that are inconsistent with specific values based criteria and will target companies with high ESG ratings relative to their sector peers.
Source: Mondovisione
Institutional investors have leading share among ETFs traded on the Exchange in January
February 9, 2011--The participation of institutional investors in the total volume of Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Exchange reached 50.7% in January. The participation of foreign investors 23.1% and of financial institutions was at 14.2%. Individual investors had a 10.8% market share of total market volume. Public and private sector companies had 1.2%.
ETFs are a simple alternative for the diversification of investment in variable income. In a single transaction the investor can buy a stock portfolio without having to individually manage each of its shares.
Source: BM&FBOVESPA
U.S. Corporate Bond Market: A Review of Fourth-Quarter and 2010 Rating and Issuance Activity.
January 8, 2011--Summary
In the span of three years, the U.S. corporate bond market has undergone some
significant changes. The share of outstanding bonds rated speculative grade ballooned to 23.9% of market volume by year-end 2010 from 17.5% as recently as 2007.
Investment-grade downgrades ? a product of the financial crisis and severe 2008/2009 recession ? and exceptionally strong high yield bond issuance contributed to the rapidly expanding speculative grade universe. In addition, the share of the U.S.
corporate bond market consisting of industrial bonds now stands at $2.5 trillion (66% of market volume) up from $1.9 trillion in 2007, while financial issues total $1.3 trillion
(34% of market volume), down from $1.9 trillion in 2007.
Rating activity in 2010 was far more moderate and balanced than in 2009. Par downgrades plunged 84% year over year, affecting 3.9% of market volume versus 2009’s grim 23% downgrade rate, while upgrades affected a slightly higher 4% of outstanding bonds.
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Source: Fitch Ratings
