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Chairman Ben S. Bernanke- Regulatory reform-Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
October 1, 2009--Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and other members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss ways of improving the financial regulatory framework to better protect against systemic risks.
In my view, a broad-based agenda for reform should include at least five key elements. First, legislative change is needed to ensure that systemically important financial firms are subject to effective consolidated supervision, whether or not the firm owns a bank.
Second, an oversight council made up of the agencies involved in financial supervision and regulation should be established, with a mandate to monitor and identify emerging risks to financial stability across the entire financial system, to identify regulatory gaps, and to coordinate the agencies' responses to potential systemic risks. To further encourage a more comprehensive and holistic approach to financial oversight, all federal financial supervisors and regulators--not just the Federal Reserve--should be directed and empowered to take account of risks to the broader financial system as part of their normal oversight responsibilities.
Third, a new special resolution process should be created that would allow the government to wind down a failing systemically important financial institution whose disorderly collapse would pose substantial risks to the financial system and the broader economy. Importantly, this regime should allow the government to impose losses on shareholders and creditors of the firm.
Fourth, all systemically important payment, clearing, and settlement arrangements should be subject to consistent and robust oversight and prudential standards.
And fifth, policymakers should ensure that consumers are protected from unfair and deceptive practices in their financial dealings.
Taken together, these changes should significantly improve both the regulatory system's ability to constrain the buildup of systemic risks as well as the financial system's resiliency when serious adverse shocks occur.
Consolidated Supervision of Systemically Important Financial Institutions
The current financial crisis has clearly demonstrated that risks to the financial system can arise not only in the banking sector, but also from the activities of other financial firms--such as investment banks or insurance companies--that traditionally have not been subject to the type of regulation and consolidated supervision applicable to bank holding companies. To close this important gap in our regulatory structure, legislative action is needed that would subject all systemically important financial institutions to the same framework for consolidated prudential supervision that currently applies to bank holding companies. Such action would prevent financial firms that do not own a bank, but that nonetheless pose risks to the overall financial system because of the size, risks, or interconnectedness of their financial activities, from avoiding comprehensive supervisory oversight.
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Source: Federal Reserve System
ISE Reports Monthly Volume For September 2009
October 1, 2009--The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported
average daily volume of 3.7 million contracts in September 2009.
Average daily trading volume for all options contracts decreased 22.9% to 3.7 million contracts in
September as compared to 4.8 million contracts during the same period in 2008.
Total options volume for the month decreased 22.9% to 78.3 million contracts from 101.5 million contracts in the same year-ago period.
On a year-to-date basis, average daily trading volume of all options decreased 3.3% to 4.0 million contracts traded. Total year-to-date options volume through September 2009 decreased.
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Source: The International Securities Exchange (ISE)
The Options Industry Council Announces September Options Trading Volume Decreased 16 Percent
October 1, 2009--The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that total options trading volume in September was 314,809,865 contracts, down 15.95 percent compared to September 2008 volume of 374,531,673 contracts—the second highest monthly total on record.
Daily trading volume for September 2009 averaged 14,990,946 contracts compared to 17,834,842 contracts each day in September 2008, which equals a 15.95 percent decrease. September 17 was the fourth highest daily volume on record when 27,728,681 contracts changed hands.
Year-to-date trading volume for September stood at 2,722,167,856 contracts compared to the same point last year when 2,740,387,966 contracts were traded, representing a 0.66 percent decrease. Year-to-date trading volume averaged 14,479,616 contracts each day through September, 0.14 percent lower than the 14,499,407 contracts averaged each day for the same period last year.
OIC also reported that equity options volume in September came in at 293,862,512 contracts, a decrease of 13.90 percent over the 341,301,652 contracts traded during the same period last year. Daily equity options volume had an average of 13,993,453 contracts per day in September, which is 13.90 percent less than the same period last year when 16,252,460 contracts were averaged each day. Year-to-date equity options stood at 2,543,553,491 contracts, representing an increase of .89 percent compared to the same point last year when 2,521,133,714 contracts were traded.
Source: The Options Industry Council (OIC)
FINRA Proposes Expanding TRACE Reporting to Asset-Backed Securities
Proposal Seeks Collection of Market Data for ABS, CDO, MBS Instruments
October 1, 2009--The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today is proposing the expansion of FINRA's Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine TM (TRACE TM) to include all asset-backed securities (ABSs), including mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). As with the original implementation of TRACE in 2002, FINRA would initially only collect ABS transaction data. After detailed analysis and observation of the market, FINRA would determine whether dissemination of ABS data is appropriate.
"For regulators, there is a demonstrated need for ABS market information," said Richard G. Ketchum, FINRA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Greater disclosure around these securities directly linked to the credit crisis will allow for more effective oversight with a deeper understanding of market dynamics."
TRACE reporting of ABS transactions would provide to FINRA trade prices, volume and other information. FINRA's ability to supervise the market would be enhanced through a better-informed surveillance program designed to detect fraud, manipulation, unfair pricing and other misconduct that violates federal securities laws and FINRA rules.
Generally, FINRA favors transparency in the debt securities markets. Indeed, real-time dissemination of transaction information is provided for nearly all TRACE-eligible securities. FINRA also believes that the transparency in corporate bonds provided by TRACE today has contributed to better pricing, more precise valuations and reduced investor costs.
However, the characteristics of the ABS market differ sufficiently from the corporate debt market, to the extent that FINRA believes close study of ABS information and the broader market is required to determine if dissemination of ABS market data is beneficial.
The plan for ABS disclosure to FINRA, filed as a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, follows the SEC's approval earlier this week of TRACE reporting for debt issued by federal government agencies, government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), as well as primary market transactions in new issues. The reporting for the government agencies and the primary market goes into effect March 1, 2010.
View Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Expansion of TRACE to Include Asset-Backed Securities, Mortgage-Backed Securities and Other Similar Securities
Source: FINRA.org
CBOE SEPTEMBER DAILY VOLUME AVERAGES 4.7 MILLION CONTRACTS:MONTHLY TRADING VOLUME UP FROM AUGUST 2009, DOWN FROM RECORD SEPTEMBER 2008
October 1, 2009-- The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) today reported that trading volume during September 2009 averaged 4.7 million contracts per day, a rise of six percent from August 2009 average daily volume (ADV) of 4.4 million contracts.CBOE September ADV experienced a 22-percent decline from ADV of 6.1 million contracts in September 2008, the most active September and second-highest volume month ever at CBOE. Trading volume in September 2009 totaled 98.9 million contracts versus 127.2 million contracts in September 2008.
Year to date, CBOE ADV was 4.6 million contracts compared to 4.8 million contracts ADV during the first nine months of 2008, a four-percent decrease. Year-to-date 2009 volume totaled 856.9 million contracts, five percent behind the record 899.6 million contracts traded during the same period in 2008.
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Source: CBOE Group
PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio (PVI) Surpasses $1 Billion in AUM
October 1, 2009--Invesco PowerShares, a leading provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today that on Friday, September 25, the PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio (PVI) surpassed $1 billion in assets under management (AUM).
Launched in November of 2007, the PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio was the first ETF to provide investors access to the variable rate demand obligation (VRDO) market. VRDOs are floating-rate municipal bonds that offer investors tax-exempt income in a short-term time frame.
Historically, the VRDO market has generally been accessible only by institutional investors. Large trading denominations (generally starting at $100,000) created a barrier between VRDOs and the average investor. Invesco PowerShares took strides to eliminate that barrier by launching PVI.
“Invesco PowerShares has strived to provide investors access to markets that have traditionally been difficult to invest in, and we are very pleased with the success of PVI,” said Bruce Bond, president and CEO of Invesco PowerShares. “The PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio epitomizes our commitment to providing innovative investment products that feature the tax efficiency*, transparency**, and liquidity*** benefits inherent to the ETF structure.”
The PowerShares VRDO Tax-Free Weekly Portfolio is based on the Thomson Municipal Market Data VRDO Index. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Index. The Index is designed to track the performance of a pool of tax-exempt VRDOs issued by municipalities in the United States on which the yields generally reset on a weekly basis. For additional information on PVI please visit http://www.invescopowershares.com/vrdo/.
Source: PowerShares Invesco
Legg Mason Mulls Active ETFs
October 1, 2009--Legg Mason is considering offering actively managed ETFs, according to Matt Schiffman, head of retail at the Baltimore fund firm.
"The active ETF space may offer some opportunities for us," he told the audience at the Maximizing Distribution Impact by Channel discussion at the MFWire Influencers' Summit on Thursday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.
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Source: Mutual Fund Wire
Deutsche Bank to restructure commodity ETFs
October 1, 2009--Deutsche Bank has announced that it will restructure its PowerShares commodity-linked exchange traded funds (ETFs) to "satisfy position limits imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)", the bank said in a statement
The bank will increase the number of commodities tracked by the Commodity Index Tracking Fund and the Agricultural Fund to diversify both ETFs' exposures, reduce the funds' holdings in Chicago corn and wheat, and meet the position limits imposed by the CFTC.
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Source: Energy Risk
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Reports -- US
September 30, 2009-- Highlights
ETF Volume
US ETF turnover remained at about the same level at US$56.5bn in the previous week. Turnover in the S&P 500 SPDR ("Spider") was US$18.4bn. The PowerShares QQQ Nasdaq 100 had turnover of US$4.0bn followed by the iShares Russell 2000 with turnover of US$2.6bn.
There were five new ETFs launched in the previous week. BGI launched three new ETFs, State Street GA launched one new fixed income ETF and United States Commodity Funds LLC launched one new commodity ETF. All these ETFs are listed on NYSE Arca. (See page 8 for further details)
In the previous week, average daily turnover in the Large Cap, US Sector, Leveraged and global regional products was US$24.1bn (-1.4%), US$8.6bn (-0.1%), US$8.3bn (-0.7%) and US$3.9bn (2.1%) respectively.
Among the Emerging country ETFs, iShares MSCI Brazil ETF turnover was US$932m followed by iShares FTSE/Xinhua China ETF with turnover of US$830m. In non-US developed market flows, iShares MSCI Japan had turnover of US$322m. In non-domestic regional flows, emerging market turnover was US$2.6bn and developed markets regional flows EAFE had turnover of US$1.1bn.
Assets under Management (AUM)
Total assets under management for equity based ETFs remained at about the same level in the previous week, AUM were US$548.3bn. See page 8 for largest changes in fund shares.
To request a copy of the report click here
Source: Source: Aram Flores and Shan Lan -DB Index Research
Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange land in Los Angeles
September 30, 2009-- Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange's 2009 U.S. Campaign arrives in Los Angeles today to highlight how California-based companies can benefit from listing on the Canadian equity exchanges. The breakfast event at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel will outline the exchanges' prominence as international resource equities markets as well as their expertise in financing, mentoring and supporting emerging companies. Registration will begin at 7AM and the event's sessions will conclude at 11:30AM.
Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange are world leading markets for micro to mid-cap public companies and are the most favored foreign listing destinations for U.S. companies, with over 130 U.S. listings. Moreover, they are the world's leading markets for the mining, energy and cleantech, listing the highest number of companies in these sectors. Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, which are owned by TMX Group, are a dynamic source of North American capital for more than 3,800 companies that have a combined market capitalization of over $1.6 trillion USD.
The keynote presentation will be delivered by TMX Group CEO Tom Kloet; he will address the advantages offered by Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange for U.S. businesses. The keynote will be followed by remarks by Doug Samuelson, General Counsel and Director of Acro Energy Technologies Corp., and Lorne Abony, CEO of Fluid Music; they will discuss their experiences of listing on TSX Venture Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange respectively.
The event will also provide the opportunity for one-on-one sessions with campaign sponsors on cross-border legal, accounting and banking considerations.
Future U.S. Campaign Information Sessions
Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange will visit three additional cities as part of the 2009 U.S. Campaign.
To register, to view the campaign's launch webcast from earlier this year, and to find more information about future events, please visit www.tmx.com/usa.
| DATE | CITY |
| October 15, 2009 | Miami |
| October 28 and 29, 2009 | Phoenix |
| November 19, 2009 | Minneapolis |
Source: TMX Group