Americas ETP News
If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
CME Group Announces the Launch of Clearing Services for Iron Ore Swap Futures
June 21, 2010--CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the launch of trading and clearing services for iron ore 62% Fe, CFR China (TSI) swap futures, reflecting changing dynamics in the global ferrous industry.
Trading will be available on the New York trading floor. Clearing services will be available through CME ClearPort®, a set of flexible clearing services open to over-the-counter (OTC) market participants to substantially mitigate counterparty risk and provide neutral settlement prices across asset classes. Trading and clearing are scheduled to begin on July 11 for trade date July 12. These contracts will be listed by NYMEX and subject to the rules and regulations of NYMEX and CME.
Iron ore is a key raw material used in the production of crude steel. Although abundant and widely extracted, growing global demand, particularly from China, has resulted in growing price volatility.
read more
Source: CME Group
Frank Announces House Offer on Consumer Protection, Risk Retention, Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending
June 21, 2010--Chairman Frank, on behalf of the House conferees, released the House offer on the titles listed below. The issues will be subject to debate when the House-Senate Conference Committee convenes in room SD-106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Title 10 of base text: Consumer financial protection
Title 14 of base text: Mortgage reform and anti-predatory lending
Subtitle D of title 9 of base text: Risk retention
Title 10 of base text: Consumer Financial Protection
The House proposes the following amendments to the Base text:
Recede to Senate on provisions relating to the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau). Amend Senate provision funding the Bureau with funds from the Federal Reserve System. Add House provision providing for authorization of appropriations of the Bureau for 2010-2015 (House Bill § 4111(c), page 869, line 23 through page 870, line 11).
Add House provision directing Consumer Advisory Board to include experts in civil rights (House Bill § 4107, page 856, line 3). Add new provision to subject pay day lenders, money remitters, check cashers and private student loan providers to supervision by the Bureau (Senate Bill § 1024, page 1425, line 7).
Add House provisions authorizing the Bureau to participate in examinations and take enforcement actions against insured depository institutions and credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (House Bill § 4203, page 898, line 25 through page 901, line 19).
read more
Source: House Financial Services Committee
Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues Announces Agenda, List of Participants for June 22 Meeting
June 21, 2010-- The Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues today announced the agenda for its public meeting to be held on June 22, 2010.
The Committee is conducting a review of the unusual market events that occurred on May 6, 2010. The Committee will hear from representatives of exchanges and significant market participants about their views and observations relating to market events of that day.
At the Committee’s next meeting, anticipated to occur in late July, the Committee expects to hear from other market participants, including brokerage houses, issuers, institutional traders and retail investors about the effects of the events of May 6. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro are the co-chairs of the Committee.
“The insights and views of these market participants will provide the Committee and CFTC and SEC staff with valuable information to aid our regulatory efforts going forward,” CFTC Chairman Gensler said.
“These firsthand accounts will further inform our understanding of what happened,” added SEC Chairman Schapiro.
read more
Source: CFTC.gov
Canada’s public pension funds and the tar sands dilemma
June 21, 2010--Canada’s giant public pension funds are facing a dilemma about how to address the potential environmental catastrophe of the tar sands development projects on their doorstep in Alberta.
That’s one of the key take-outs from the recent Canadian Responsible Investment Conference, organised by the Social Investment Organization in Toronto recently.
Their natural reticence has made Canadian public funds conspicuous by their absence in the worldwide investor furore over the Alberta projects, despite a clear leaning to responsible investment principles. Couple this with the weight of resource companies on the Toronto exchange and the sheer economic imperative that the tar sands represent and the funds understandably face a quandary.
read more
Source: Responsible Investor
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
June 18, 2010--The current reports for the week of June 15, 2010 are now available.
view report
Source: CFTC.gov
ELX Futures Launches Eurodollar Futures Contract-Trading Starts Today; Fees Will Be Waived Until July 1, 2010
June 18, 2010--ELX Futures, L.P. (ELX Futures), a fully electronic futures exchange, announced today that it has launched its Eurodollar Futures contract. Fees associated with the new contract will be waived for market participants until July 1, 2010. The Eurodollar Futures contract joins ELX’s suite of U.S. Treasury Futures products already trading on the exchange. ELX offers state-of-the-art technology on the BGC Partners’ eSpeed platform with average turnaround times below five milliseconds.
Neal Wolkoff, Chief Executive Officer of ELX Futures, said, “The launch of our Eurodollar Futures contract is another milestone for ELX Futures. We’re proud to introduce a competing contract with a simple two-tier fee schedule that will provide a cost savings for most market participants as well as a consistently faster execution environment. ELX is continually striving to break new ground in the futures marketplace and to drive competition in a consolidated exchange environment of interest rate futures trading.”
ELX Futures will have a $0.18/contract bundled fee (clearing and exchange fees) for users with Average Daily Volume above 1,200 contracts. For low volume users at or below 1,200 contracts of Average Daily Volume, the bundled fee is $0.35/contract.
To support institutional trading needs and ensure that investors are able to execute large volume trades at a fair and reasonable price without creating undesirable volatility in the marketplace, ELX Futures will allow block trades to be submitted meeting the minimum quantity of 500 contracts.
Source: ELX Futures
Direxion Shares executes reverse share split of four ETFs
June 18, 2010-- Direxion announced today it will execute a 1-for-5 reverse split of the shares of the Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3x Shares (ERY), Direxion Daily Real Estate Bear 3x Shares (DRV), Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3x Shares (TZA) and Direxion Daily Technology Bear 3x Shares (TYP) for shareholders of record after the close of the markets on Wednesday, July 7, 2010.
The CUSIPs for the four ETFs will change as follows:
Regulatory exemption allows AGF funds to invest in ETFs-Relief from OSC subject to certain conditions read more
New Fund Name and New Index Take Effect for First Trust DB Strategic Value Index Fund The New Index is developed, maintained and sponsored by Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Credit Suisse Group AG (collectively, the “Index Provider”). In constructing the Index, the Index Provider utilizes HOLT, a proprietary methodology that offers unique insights into corporate performance and valuation. The HOLT methodology aims to convert accounting data into cash, as measured by Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI®), to closely reflect a company’s true economic performance and enable comparisons across sectors and regions and over time. The New Index is calculated and maintained by Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies. Further information regarding the composition and compilation methodology of the New Index is available at the Fund’s website at www.ftportfolios.com. Jefferies files with the SEC
Source: Direxion
June 18, 2010--AGF Funds Inc. has received regulatory relief allowing its mutual funds to invest up to 10% of their portfolios in a variety of exchange-traded funds.
In a decision reported in Friday’s OSC Bulletin, AGF has been granted exemptive relief to permit its mutual funds to invest up to 10% of net assets in leveraged ETFs, inverse ETFs, gold ETFs and leveraged gold ETFs traded on Canadian or U.S. stock exchanges, subject to certain conditions.
Source: Investment Executive
June 18, 2010--First Trust DB Strategic Value Index Fund (NYSE Arca: FDV) (the “Fund”), an exchange-traded index fund and a series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund (the “Trust”), announces, effective following the close of trading today, that the name of the Fund has changed to First Trust Strategic Value Index Fund and the new index for the Fund is Credit Suisse U.S. Value Index, Powered by HOLT™ (the “New Index”).
The Fund previously announced the approval by the Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”) of the New Index to follow the termination of the license agreement for the Fund’s use of the previous index, the Deutsche Bank CROCI® US+ IndexTM. The Board also approved corresponding changes to the Fund’s following non-fundamental investment policies, which may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders. Effective following the close of trading today, the Fund’s investment objective is to seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before fees and expenses) of an equity index called the Credit Suisse U.S. Value Index, Powered by HOLT™. Additionally, the Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets in common stocks that comprise the New Index.
Source: First Trust DB Strategic Value Index Fund
June 18, 2010--Jefferies has filed a Pre-effective amendment to Form S-1 registration form for
Jefferies S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETF
read more
Source: SEC.gov
