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New Entrant – ETF Securities – Passes $1 Billion in Assets under Management in the US ETF Market
February 3, 2010--Major milestone for the company proving success of the first full precious metal ETF platform in US:
Gold (SGOL), Silver (SIVR), Platinum (PPLT) and Palladium (PALL) with trading volumes over 50,000 shares a day and assets of over 500m
Strong demand for newly launched ETFS Physical Platinum (PPLT) and ETFS Physical Palladium (PALL) shares
ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL) AUM now stands at $336.28M (as of February 1, 2010)
ETF Securities USA LLC (ETFS) announced today that the total assets under management of its four products; ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL), ETFS Physical Silver Shares (SIVR), ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (PPLT) and ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (PALL) now exceeds $1 Billion as of January 27, 2010 after experiencing elevated trading volumes since launch.
ETF Securities is the first company to provide investors with access to a full suite of precious metal ETFs. Investors can now trade Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium from the same provider. The four precious metal ETFs have the following key features:
Track spot price of underlying metal less associated management fees(1)
100% physically backed by underlying bullion – minimal counterparty risk
Gold vaulted in Switzerland Silver, Platinum & Palladium vaulted in London and Switzerland
Bullion holdings audited by specialist audit firm biannually – audit reports published on the website www.etfsecurities.com
Bullion bar list published on website
Low cost(1)
Commenting on this milestone for ETF Securities in the US, William Rhind, Strategic Director for ETFS Marketing LLC, commented:
“Crossing $1 billion in our 4 US ETFs is a landmark moment. We have been incredibly pleased with the reception our precious metal ETFs have received from the market. Providing a one stop shop for precious metals investing has really resonated with investors. We will endeavor to bring more products to market as we aim to become the leading provider of commodity ETFs in the US market”
For more information please contact the US marketing agent, ETFS Marketing on 212-918-4954 or visit our website: www.etfsecurities.com.
Source: ETF Securities
PIMCO Short-Term Muni Bond ETF Starts Trading on NYSE
February 2, 2010--PIMCO's Term Municipal Bond Strategy Fund (NYSE: SMMU), the third actively managed bond ETF from the fixed income giant, made its trading debut today.
SMMU uses a portfolio of highly rated short duration bonds that provides income that is exempt from federal taxes.
SMMU tracks the the Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Municipal Bond Index.
Source: Online news
Fidelity® Launches Bold ETF Offering for Investors by Providing Suite of 25 iShares® Funds Commission-Free
Industry-First Offering Enables Fidelity Retail Customers to Access Broadest Choice of Commission-Free ETFs Available Today in Brokerage Industry
February 2, 2010--)--Fidelity Investments®, a leading online brokerage firm and the largest mutual fund company, today announced it will offer its retail customers commission-free online trades for a suite of 25 iShares® Funds from the global leader in Exchange Traded Funds. Separately, the firm also announced it has reduced its online U.S. equity trade commissions to $7.95 for all of its customers regardless of trading level.
The program, established in partnership with BlackRock®, includes the popular iShares S&P 500 Index Fund (IVV), iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM), iShares Barclays Aggregate Bond Fund (AGG), iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM).
This broad, commission-free offering is for all online buy and sell orders through Fidelity’s online and wireless channels. It provides investors who use Fidelity’s retail brokerage platform, which currently provides services to more than 12 million brokerage accounts, a wide range of ETF choices in all nine domestic equity style categories from large value to small growth, as well as international equity and fixed-income asset classes. Investors can also trade more than 800 ETFs, available from more than 40 providers, for $7.95 a trade on Fidelity.com. There they will also find new Fidelity viewpoints on ETF investing strategies, as well as research and fund evaluation tools.
read more
Source: Fidelity
New Ernst & Young LLP report examines greenhouse gas reporting practices as the SEC releases new climate change disclosure guidelines
February 2, 2010 — Carbon emissions management is becoming an increasingly important business objective for US companies, but questions about accounting, reporting and tax considerations are far from resolved, leading to inconsistent practices, according to a report released today by Ernst & Young LLP.
The demand to focus on emissions reporting was heightened by the January 27 SEC decision to issue interpretive guidance to require greater consistency for registrant disclosures of the effects of climate change on their businesses.
Ernst & Young’s report reveals that, in a survey of more than 1,000 US public registrants with revenues between $1 billion and $100 billion, just 29 companies disclosed an accounting policy related to emissions credits or allowances in notes to their financial statements. Additionally, far fewer than half of the approximately 1,000 corporate representatives participating in an Ernst & Young webcast on January 12, 2010 –- Climate change and carbon markets: what every business needs to know and why –- claimed to have a strategy in place to deal with carbon emissions regulations or markets.
Following various state and federal reporting frameworks, as well as the evolving accounting standards and tax regulations governing carbon emission management could pose many challenges. To stay ahead of the curve, companies should fully embed carbon-related considerations in their business strategies to address climate change issues effectively. They should review their risk management processes as well as day-to-day business operations, accounting and tax planning.
read more read the Carbon market readiness: accounting, compliance, reporting and tax considerations under state and national carbon emissions programs report CME Group Volume Averaged 11.2 Million Contracts per Day in January 2010, Up 19 Percent from January 2009 In January, CME Group interest rate volume averaged 4.8 million contracts per day, up 33 percent compared with January 2009, and up 23 percent sequentially. Treasury futures volume averaged 1.8 million contracts per day, up 71 percent compared with the same period in 2009, and Treasury options volume averaged 304,000 contracts per day, up 43 percent. Eurodollar futures volume averaged 1.9 million contracts per day, up 23 percent versus January 2009, while Eurodollar options volume averaged 686,000 contracts per day, down 3 percent. CME Group equity index volume averaged 2.9 million contracts per day, down 4 percent from January 2009. CME Group foreign exchange (FX) volume averaged 820,000 contracts per day, up 78 percent compared with the same period a year ago, reflecting average daily notional value of approximately $108 billion, a record for a non-roll month for both daily notional and volume. CME Group energy volume averaged 1.6 million contracts per day in January, up 9 percent compared with the same period last year. CME Group commodities and alternative investments volume averaged 771,000 contracts per day, up 18 percent from January 2009. CME Group metals volume averaged 355,000 contracts per day in January 2010, up 65 percent compared with the prior January.
read more FFCM files for exemptive relief-FQF Trust BNY Mellon to buy back-office arm of PNC read more Fidelity Slashes Commissions in Challenge to Schwab read more
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Written Testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance
This is why we have a lot of work to do together to make sure that as overall economic growth recovers, so does job growth. We must restore confidence in the economy's fundamental resilience, and we are taking the steps to ensure sustainable growth going forward that is more widely shared among the American people. read more
NYSE Took Biggest Share of U.S. Stock, ETF Options read more
Source: Ernst & Young LLP
Interest rate volume up 33 percent
Record non-roll month for foreign exchange, with average notional value traded up 84 percent
Metals volume up 65 percent
February 2, 2010--CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that January volume averaged 11.2 million contracts per day, up 19 percent from January 2009.
Total volume was 213 million contracts for January, of which 82 percent was traded electronically. Electronic volume averaged 9.2 million contracts per day, up 25 percent from the prior January. Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 516,000 contracts for January 2010, down 7 percent compared with January 2009, but up 28 percent compared with December 2009.
Source: CME Group
February 2, 2010--FFCM has filed for exemptive relief -FQF Trust- Actively Managed ETFs.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
February 2, 21010--Bank of New York Mellon on Tuesday announced it would pay $2.31bn to acquire the back-office operations of PNC Financial Services Group, a deal that comes amid expectations that more financial firms will shed businesses to shore up their capital bases and pay off federal aid.
The deal will allow PNC to exit a non-core business, while helping it raise money to repay $7.6bn in government troubled asset relief programme (Tarp) funds. PNC also said it would sell $3bn of common stock and as much as $2bn of senior notes to pay back federal aid.
Source: FT.com
February 2, 2010--Fidelity Investments reduced online commissions for stock transactions in the U.S. by 60 percent and waived trading fees on two dozen exchange-traded funds, in a bid to attract investors and challenge Charles Schwab Corp.
Fidelity, the world’s largest mutual-fund company, will cut commissions to $7.95 from as much as $19.95 and stop levying different charges depending on how often clients trade, the Boston-based company said in a statement today. Trading fees on 25 exchange-traded funds from BlackRock Inc.’s iShares unit will be scrapped.
Source: Business Week
February 2, 2010--Chairman Baucus, Ranking Member Grassley and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the President's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget.
The U.S. economy is still in the midst of one of the most challenging periods in our nation's history. We have pulled back from the brink of financial collapse and a historic recession. The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 4 percent over the last six months of 2009, but millions of Americans remain out of work and the economic pain of the recession can still be felt throughout our nation. This crisis has caused enormous damage to the basic economic security of tens of millions of Americans.
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
February 1, 2010--NYSE Euronext captured the biggest share in U.S. options on stocks and exchange-traded funds for the first time last month, beating the Chicago Board Options Exchange and International Securities Exchange as it benefited from a new technology platform and partnership with banks.
The New York-based company’s two options markets, NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex, executed 27.8 percent of combined volume on the country’s seven exchanges, eclipsing CBOE’s 24.5 percent and the ISE’s 24.4 percent, according to data from the Chicago-based Options Clearing Corp., which settles all U.S. trades of exchange-listed contracts.
Source: Bloomberg