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Big investors press private equity firms
September 28, 2009--There is an irony in the brewing tension between investors and private equity firms, says Leon Shahinian, manager of private equity investments at the California Public Employees Retirement Scheme (Calpers).
The private equity model is based on “great transparency and governance and a strong alignment of interests between company executives and their private equity investors”, he says. Managers invest heavily in their own funds, take board seats in companies they back and keep a close eye on the performance of their investments.
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Source: FT.com
State Street launches VRDO Municipal Bond ETF
September 27, 2009--State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, has launched the SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF on the NYSE Arca.
The ETF is designed to provide investors with access to municipal variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs), an asset class offering attractive yields and stable income that is exempt from federal taxes and often state and local income taxes as well.
Specifically, it seeks to track the price and yield performance of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal VRDO Index. As of 21 September 2009, the index, which includes VRDOs issued by US states, local governments, or agencies, provides exposure to more than 377 issues.
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Source: ETF Express
CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee Meeting will be Rescheduled
September 28, 2009--The meeting of the Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, previously scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, 2009, will be rescheduled.
The new date for the meeting will be announced at a later time.
Source: CFTC.gov
Toronto Stock Exchange To Implement 25% Dilution Threshold For Public Company Acquisitions
Public Company Acquisitions With 25% Or More Dilution Of Issued And Outstanding Securities Will Require Security Holder Approval
Rule Amendment Comes Into Effect November 24, 2009
September 25, 2009--Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), a member of TMX Group (TSX: X), today announced that it has received approval from the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") for changes to its rules governing public company acquisitions. Effective November 24, 2009 (60 days from today), TSX listed issuers will be required to obtain security holder approval for public company acquisitions that will result in the issuance of 25% or more of their issued and outstanding securities (on a non-diluted basis).
"Toronto Stock Exchange provides a high quality market that balances the costs and benefits of regulation and governance for companies of all sizes. We are focused on expanding the size and reach of Canada's capital markets, and are putting in place the right measures to maintain the confidence of investors," said Kevan Cowan, President, TSX Markets and Group Head of Equities. "Today's announcement is in line with many of the world's major exchanges and provides us with an even stronger platform as we work to attract new investors and capital to Toronto Stock Exchange and to Canada."
This rule amendment was the result of an extensive public consultation process and careful analysis of global trends and best practices. Submissions were received in the spring of 2009 from various stakeholder groups. Commenters were near unanimous in their views and called for security holder approval of public company acquisitions resulting in dilution exceeding a threshold at or below 25%. TSX submitted the rule amendment to the OSC, which formally reviewed the submission in mid-September and will publish its approval in its weekly bulletin today.
The Notice of Approval is posted www.tmx.com.
Source: TSX
Speech by SEC Chairman:Mary L. Schapiro Address to Financial Services Roundtable
September 24, 2009--Thank you very much, Bob [Robert P. Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of New York Mellon Corporation] for that kind introduction. I am pleased to be here tonight.
I'd like to focus this evening on the SEC as a capital markets regulator, reviewing what we've been doing and where we've been focused in the last several months. And, importantly, I will discuss where we expect to direct our energy in the months ahead. In all of our activities, we have been guided by a few core principles, with the most important one being this: "investors first."
Each of our initiatives is evaluated from the perspective of how it will help investors. And despite challenges, criticisms and stumbles, we as an agency return to our core value of serving as the investor's advocate, hour-by-hour, day-by-day in all that we do.
We also recognize that fully regenerating confidence in America's securities markets is critical to our nation's continuing economic recovery. Restoring our markets to their position as a revered model for the rest of the world to follow, is goal each of us in this room, and at the SEC, likely hold in common.
SEC as a Capital Markets Regulator In order to achieve the goals of renewed investor confidence and restored market stature, it is essential that this country have a strong and effective capital markets regulator. And that regulator must have a top-of-mind and undiluted commitment to promoting the interests of investors.
Throughout its history, the SEC has served this role. And as we reform and re-energize our agency, we have a renewed commitment to our investor protection mandate and our responsibilities to effectively regulate the capital markets.
Looking Back
So, what have we been doing to fulfill this role? The SEC has spent the last several months rebuilding ourselves to be a stronger, more focused and more effective capital markets regulator — the kind of capital markets regulator that investors expect and deserve. Throughout this period, the SEC has dedicated much of its efforts to pursuing an investor-centric rulemaking agenda, ensuring that investor interests are promoted in regulatory reform efforts, and re-vamping our enforcement program.
Rules Addressing the Financial Crisis
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Source: SEC.gov
SEC Announces Panelists for Securities Lending and Short Sale Roundtable
September 25, 2009--The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the panelists for its September 29 and September 30 roundtable in Washington D.C. to discuss securities lending and short sale issues.
The roundtable will begin at 9:30 a.m. on both days with opening remarks from SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
"Securities lending was once thought to be a way to earn a few extra points of return, with little or no risk," said Chairman Schapiro. "Events of last year reveal the risk was present. As a result, we need to consider ways to enhance investor-oriented oversight of this multi-trillion dollar market."
Chairman Schapiro added, "We also must focus on a flip-side of securities lending — short selling. That's why the roundtable will also examine potential short sale pre-borrow and hard locate requirements and short sale disclosures."
Panel topics will include discussions of securities lending practices, possible short sale pre-borrowing requirements and additional short sale disclosures.
Roundtable participants will include representatives of corporate issuers, financial services firms, beneficial owner lenders, lending agents, borrowers of securities, self-regulatory organizations, international regulators and the academic community.
The roundtable will be held at the SEC's headquarters at 100 F Street NE in Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtable also will be webcast on the SEC's Web site.
For additional information about the roundtable, contact the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets at (202) 551-5720.
Additional Materials
- Spotlight on Short Sales
- Notice of Roundtable Discussion; Request for Comment
- View comments
- Submit comments
view agenda and panelists
Source: SEC.gov
Schwab files with the SEC
September 25, 2009--Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc.
Schwab Strategic Trust have filed an amended application for exemptive relief with the SEC.
VIEW FILING
Source: SEC.gov
Barclays Global Investors Lists Three iShares Russell 200 Index ETF’s on NYSE Arca
September 25, 2009--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading the iShares
Russell Top 200 Value Index Fund (IWX), iShares Russell Top 200 Index
Fund (IWL) and iShares Russell Top 200 Growth Index Fund (IWY). The
ETFs are sponsored by Barclays Global Investors.
iShares Russell Top 200 Index Fund
The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price
and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell Top
200®Index (the "Underlying Index"). The Underlying Index is a
float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index that measures the
performance of the largest capitalization sector of the U.S. equity
market. The Underlying Index includes securities issued by the
approximately 200 largest issuers in the Russell 3000® Index
representing approximately 65% of the market capitalization of all
publicly-traded U.S. equity securities.
iShares Russell Top 200 Value Index Fund
The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price
and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell Top 200®
Value Index (the "Underlying Index"). The Underlying Index is a style
factor weighted index that measures the performance of the largest
capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market and is a subset of
the Russell Top 200® Index.
iShares Russell Top 200 Growth Index Fund
The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price
and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell Top 200®
Growth Index (the "Underlying Index"). The Underlying Index is a style
factor weighted index that measures the performance of the largest
capitalization growth sector of the U.S. equity market and is a subset
of the Russell Top 200® Index.
Source: NYSE EUronext
Pax World Funds, ALPS Trust files with the SEC
September 24, 2009--On an Application dated September 17, 2009 the undersigned applicants, Pax World Funds Trust II, Pax World Management Corp. and ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor” and, collectively with the Trust and the Adviser, “Applicants”), apply for exemptive relief.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
Credit Quality Declines in Annual Shared National Credits Review
September 24, 2009--Credit quality declined sharply for loan commitments of $20 million or more held by multiple federally supervised institutions, according to the 32nd annual review of Shared National Credits (SNC).
The credit risk of these large loan commitments was shared among U.S. bank organizations, foreign bank organizations (FBO), and nonbanks such as securitization pools, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension funds. Credit quality deteriorated across all entities, but nonbanks held 47 percent of classified assets in the SNC portfolio, despite making up only 21.2 percent of the SNC portfolio. U.S. bank organizations held 30.2 percent of the classified assets and made up 40.8 percent of the SNC portfolio.
The 2009 review covered 8,955 credits totaling $2.9 trillion extended to approximately 5,900 borrowers. Loans were reviewed and categorized by the severity of their risk—special mention, substandard, doubtful, or loss—in order of increasing severity. The lowest risk loans, special mention, had potential weaknesses that deserve management attention to prevent further deterioration at the time of review. The most severe category of loans, loss, includes loans that were considered uncollectible.
Key findings were:
Criticized assets, which included SNCs classified as special mention, substandard, doubtful, or loss, reached $642 billion, up from $373 billion last year, and represented 22.3 percent of the SNC portfolio compared with 13.4 percent in 2008.
SNC commitment volume increased $92 billion, or 3.3 percent, while the number of credits remained virtually unchanged. Classified assets, which included SNCs classified as substandard, doubtful, or loss, rose to $447 billion from $163 billion and represented 15.5 percent of the SNC portfolio, compared with 5.8 percent in 2008. Classified dollar volume increased 174 percent from a year ago. Special mention assets, which exhibited potential weakness and could result in further deterioration if uncorrected, declined to $195 billion from $210 billion and represented 6.8 percent of the SNC portfolio, compared with 7.5 percent in 2008.
The severity of criticism increased with the volume of SNCs classified as doubtful and loss rising to $110 billion, up from $8 billion in 2008. Loans in nonaccrual status also increased nearly eight times to $172 billion from $22 billion. Nonaccrual loans included $32 billion in credits classified as loss and $56 billion classified doubtful.
The distribution of credits across U.S. bank organizations, foreign bank organizations, and nonbanks remained relatively unchanged. U.S. bank organizations held 40.8 percent, while FBOs and nonbanks held 38 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively. Nonbanks continued to hold a disproportionate share of classified assets. Nonbanks held 47 percent of classified assets and 52 percent of nonaccrual loans. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured institutions held 24.2 percent of classified assets and 22.7 percent of nonaccrual loans.
Criticized volume was led by the Media and Telecom industry group with $112 billion, Finance and Insurance with $76 billion, and Real Estate and Construction with $72 billion. These three groups also represented the highest shares of criticized credits with 17.3 percent, 11.7 percent, and 11.2 percent of criticized credits in the SNC portfolio, respectively.
The review identified significant deterioration in credit quality of leveraged finance credits, with these loans representing more than 40 percent of the dollar volume of total criticized assets. About 72 percent of the dollar volume of the 50 largest leveraged finance SNCs were criticized, which represents one-third of all criticized assets.
Underwriting standards in 2008 improved from prior years, with examiners identifying fewer loans with structurally weak underwriting characteristics compared to credits written in 2007 and 2006. However, the SNC portfolio contained loans with structurally weak underwriting characteristics that were committed before mid-2007 that contributed significantly to the increase in criticized assets.
The SNC program was established in 1977 to provide an efficient and consistent review and classification of SNC, which includes any loan and or/formal loan commitment, and any asset such as real estate, stocks, notes, bonds, and debentures taken as debts previously contracted, extended to borrowers by a federally supervised institution, its subsidiaries, and affiliates that aggregates to $20 million or more and is shared by three or more unaffiliated supervised institutions. Many of these large loan commitments are also shared with foreign banking organizations and nonbanks, including securitization pools, hedge funds, insurance companies, and pension funds.
In conducting the 2009 SNC review, agencies reviewed $1.2 trillion of the $2.9 trillion credit commitments in the SNC portfolio, or 41 percent of the credits by dollar volume. The 2009 SNC sample was heavily weighted toward non-investment grade and criticized credits. The results of the review are based on analyses prepared in the second quarter of 2009 using credit-related data provided by federally supervised institutions as of December 31, 2008, and March 31, 2009.
Attachments
Shared National Credits Program 2009 Review
Industry Mapping File
Source: occ.treas.gov