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Rydex files with the SEC
December 18, 2009--Rydex has filed a prospectus with the SEC for leveraged ETF products.
view filing
State Street Global Advisors Lists SPDR® Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF on NYSE Arca
December 17, 2009--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading theSPDR®Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF(Ticker: SCPB). The ETF is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors.
The fund’s investment objective is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital 1-3 Year U.S. Corporate Investment Grade Index, which is designed to measure the performance of publicly issued U.S. dollar denominated corporate issues that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 3 years.
The fund’s prospectus and other fund information are available at www.spdrs.com
Fee Rate Advisory #4 for Fiscal Year 2010
December 17, 2009--Yesterday President Obama signed H.R. 3288, the appropriations bill that includes funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, effective Dec. 21, 2009, the Section 6(b) fee rate applicable to the registration of securities, the Section 13(e) fee rate applicable to the repurchase of securities, and the Section 14(g) fee rate applicable to proxy solicitations and statements in corporate control transactions will increase to $71.30 per million dollars. The Section 6(b) rate is also the rate used to calculate the fees payable with the Annual Notice of Securities Sold Pursuant to Rule 24f-2 under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
All filings submitted to the SEC before 5:30 p.m., ET, and filings pursuant to Rule 462(b) (17 C.F.R. 230.462(b)) submitted to the SEC before 10:00 p.m., ET, on Dec. 18, 2009, will be subject to the current fee rate of $55.80 per million dollars. Rule 462(b) filings submitted after 10:00 p.m., ET, and all other filings submitted after 5:30 p.m., ET, on Dec. 18, 2009, shall be deemed filed as of the next business day, Dec. 21, 2009, under Section 232.13 of Regulation S-T (17 C.F.R. 232.13), and be subject to the new fee rate of $71.30 per million dollars. Filers with questions about the new Section 6(b), Section 13(e), or Section 14(g) fee rates should call the SEC at (202) 551-8900.
In addition, effective Jan. 15, 2010, the Section 31 fee rate applicable to securities transactions on the exchanges and over-the-counter markets will decrease to $12.70 per million dollars. Until that date, the current rate of $25.70 per million dollars will remain in effect. The Section 31 assessment on security futures transactions will remain unchanged at $0.0042 per round turn transaction. The Office of Interpretation and Guidance in the Commission's Division of Trading and Markets is available for questions regarding Section 31 and may be reached at (202) 551-5777 or by e-mail at tradingandmarkets@sec.gov.
Claymore files for exemptive relief with the SEC
December 17, 2009-Claymore Advisors has filed for exemptive relief with the SEC to permit Claymore Exchange-Traded Fund Trust 3 to
create and operate one actively managed investment portfolio of the Trust that offers exchange-traded shares ("Shares") that are
redeemable in large aggregations only.
view filing
Rydex files with SEC
December 17, 2009--Rydes has filed a registation statement-post effective amendment with the SEC.
view filing
BATS Exchange To Launch Us Primary Listings Market
December 17, 2009--BATS Exchange, a leading and innovative U.S. securities exchange, today announced plans to launch a listings market by summer of 2010.
“BATS has always worked to inject competition into the market while 'Making Markets Better.' Now, as one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, we are excited to once again provide a competitive alternative to incumbent exchanges by expanding into the U.S. listings market,” said Joe Ratterman, chief executive of BATS Global Markets and BATS Exchange.
“Based on feedback from our members, investors and the investment community, we believe there is an incredible opportunity to compete in the listings business and satisfy unmet needs of current and future public companies and exchange-traded funds in the U.S.,” he said. “Stock markets have historically played an important role for companies in gaining access to growth capital, and as a major player among global stock exchanges, we felt it was important for BATS Exchange to help our customers find solutions to their capital needs.”
In just four years, BATS Exchange has captured 10% market share in U.S. equities while BATS Europe, operating as a pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF), currently executes 8% of the FTSE 100.
In September, BATS Exchange launched the BATS 1000SM Index, a U.S.-listed securities benchmark based on the performance of 1,000 U.S. securities in 10 equally-weighted sectors using a new sector classification system designed by BATS Exchange.
The company also recently filed rules with the SEC to launch U.S. equity options trading and a second U.S. equities exchange (BYX) both slated for launch in early 2010.
State Street Global Advisors Launches Short Term Corporate Bond ETF
December 17, 2009--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management business of State Street Corporation STT, today announced that the SPDR® Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF (Symbol: SCPB) began trading on the NYSE Arca on December 17, 2009. Its annual expense ratio is 0.1245 percent.
Designed to improve access to investment grade short term corporate bonds, the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital US 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index. The index includes corporate issues that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 3 years, are rated investment grade (average A2/A3 credit rating), and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. As of November 30, 2009, there were 572 issues included in the Index with an average maturity of 1.91 years.
“As investors look to improve the diversification of their fixed income holdings, demand for precise access to the corporate bond duration curve has increased,” said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors. “The SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF can help investors position their portfolios for a potential increase in interest rates, as short-term corporate bonds are historically less sensitive to interest rate movements than longer term issues.”
The SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF enhances State Street’s growing family of fixed income SPDRs. As of November 30, 2009, the SSgA Funds Management, Inc., the adviser to the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF manages managed $9.2B in 18 bond ETFs.
State Street Global Advisors is one of the largest ETF providers in the United States and globally. U.S. assets under management for SPDR ETFs totaled more than $174 billion as of November 30, 2009.
Adams Express Reviewing Conversion To Actively-Managed ETF
December 17, 2009--As a result of shares constantly trading at a discount, the board of closed-end fund Adams Express Company has been discussing converting to an open-end fund or, more uniquely, an actively managed exchange-traded fund, according to Doug Ober, interested chairman.
"The discount has been about 16% on average for the past several months, which is on the high side for us," Ober said. "Whenever the discount gets out to those kinds of levels the board takes an even stronger interest on ways to have an impact on that discount."
Actively-managed ETFs have found favor as of late with many large fund complexes taking the plunge--most recently including T. Rowe Price--although it has yet to catch on with closed-end funds, according to Cecilia Gondor.
Allison Testimony before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee
December 17, 2009--Chairman Kucinich, Ranking Member Jordan and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today regarding Treasury's efforts under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) and the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
As a result of our efforts under EESA, confidence in our financial system has improved, credit is flowing, and the economy is growing. The government is exiting from its emergency financial policies and taxpayers are being repaid. Indeed, the ultimate cost of those policies is likely to be significantly lower than previously expected.
While EESA provided the Secretary of the Treasury with the authority to invest $700 billion, it is clear today that TARP will not cost taxpayers $700 billion. We have funded $370 billion to date and, based on current commitments and plans, we expect total disbursements to be around $550 billion. We expect that the overall cost of the program will be at least $200 billion less than the $341 billion that was projected in the August Mid-Session Review of the President's Budget. The financial statements we just published estimate that the ultimate cost of the disbursements through the end of September will be about $42 billion.
With the recent announcements of repayments by Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, banks will have soon repaid nearly two-thirds of the total amount invested in banks under the program. We also expect a positive return from the government's investments in banks. Investments are generating more income than previously anticipated – more than $15 billion in income so far – and we expect substantial additional income going forward.
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Reports -- US
Among the Emerging country ETFs, iShares MSCI Brazil ETF turnover was US$1,268m followed by iShares FTSE/Xinhua China ETF with turnover of US$854m. In non-US developed market flows, iShares MSCI Japan had turnover of US$367m. In non-domestic regional flows, emerging market turnover was US$3.6bn and developed markets regional flows EAFE had turnover of US$1.1bn.
Assets under Management (AUM) To request a copy of the report Global X Funds Lists Global X China Energy ETF on NYSE Arca SSGA files with the SEC SIFMA’s Economic Advisory Roundtable Unveils Predictions for Q4 2009, 2010 Interest Rates
Survey participants unanimously believe that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will not change its current 0.0 to 0.25 percent target Fed funds rate at this week’s meeting.
The Economy
The median forecast calls for gross domestic product (GDP) to fall 2.5 percent in 2009 on a year-over-year basis (0.3 percent on a fourth quarter-to-fourth quarter basis). Full-year nonfarm payroll employment losses in 2009 were estimated to total 4.5 million jobs; while job recovery estimates for 2010 ranged widely, the median expectation was for a return to growth, albeit restrained, of 800,000 jobs. Survey respondents expected the full-year average unemployment rate to be 9.3 percent in 2009 and 10.1 percent in 2010.
Monetary Policy
Respondents were nearly unanimous in their opinion that the Federal Reserve’s expanded balance sheet did not pose a near-term inflationary risk. When asked to rank possible steps the Federal Reserve would take to reverse course, respondents cited reverse repos, with test operations totaling $1 billion as of December 14th, as the most likely first step by 80 percent of respondents. Other possible actions frequently mentioned by respondents were paying interest on reserves, directly selling assets back to the market or using a collateralized vehicle.
Transaction Tax
Respondents were also unanimous in their judgment that a securities transaction tax would have a negative impact on both the U.S. financial markets and economy.
The report also includes forecasts concerning oil prices, fiscal policy, and consumer spending, among other issues. view SIFMA Year-End 2009 Economic Outlook
SEC Approves Stronger Safeguards to Protect Clients’ Assets Controlled by Investment Advisers
“The Madoff Ponzi scheme and other frauds have caused investors to question whether their assets are safe when they entrust them to an investment adviser,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “These new rules will apply additional safeguards where the safeguards are needed most — that is, where the risk of fraud is heightened by the degree of control the adviser has over the client’s assets.”
The SEC’s custody rule as amended today would promote independent custody and require the use of independent public accountants as third-party monitors. Depending on the investment adviser’s custody arrangement, the rules would require the adviser to be subject to a surprise exam and custody controls review that are generally not required under existing rules.
Surprise Exam — The adviser is now required to engage an independent public accountant to conduct an annual “surprise exam” to verify that client assets exist. Such a surprise examination would provide another set of eyes on the client’s assets, and provide additional protection against theft or misuse. The accountants would have to contact the SEC if they discovered client assets were missing.
Custody Controls Review — When the adviser or an affiliate serves as custodian of client assets, the adviser is now required to obtain a written report — prepared by an accountant that is registered with and subject to regular inspection by the PCAOB — that, among other things, describes the controls in place at the custodian, tests the operating effectiveness of those controls and provides the results of those tests. These reports are commonly known as SAS-70 reports. Requiring that the accountant be registered with and subject to inspection by the PCAOB provides greater confidence regarding the quality of these reports.
The new rules also will impose an important new control on advisers to hedge funds and other private funds that comply with the custody rule by obtaining an audit of the fund and delivering the fund's financial statements to fund investors. The rule will require that the auditor of such a private fund be registered with and subject to regular inspection by the PCAOB.
The new rules also require that the adviser reasonably believe that the client’s custodian delivers the account statements directly to the client, to provide greater assurance of the integrity of these account statements. It also will enable clients to compare the account statement they receive from their adviser to determine that the account transactions are proper. SEC Approves Enhanced Disclosure About Risk, Compensation and Corporate Governance
"Good corporate governance is a system in which those who manage a company — that is, officers and directors — are effectively held accountable for their decisions and performance. But accountability is impossible without transparency," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "By adopting these rules, we will improve the disclosure around risk, compensation, and corporate governance, thereby increasing accountability and directly benefiting investors."
In particular, the new rules require disclosures in proxy and information statements about:
The relationship of a company's compensation policies and practices to risk management.
The background and qualifications of directors and nominees.
Legal actions involving a company's executive officers, directors and nominees.
The consideration of diversity in the process by which candidates for director are considered for nomination.
Board leadership structure and the board's role in risk oversight.
Stock and option awards to company executives and directors.
Potential conflicts of interests of compensation consultants.
The new rules, which will be effective Feb. 28, 2010, also require quicker reporting of shareholder voting results.
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December 16, 2009--ETF Liquidity Trends
US ETF turnover declined by 4.2% to US$57.7bn in the previous week. Turnover in the S&P 500 SPDR ("Spider") was US$18.0bn. The iShares Russell 2000 had turnover of US$3.7bn same as that of PowerShares QQQ Nasdaq 100 with turnover of US$3.7bn.
There were eleven new ETFs launched in the last week. FaithShares Advisors launched three new Equity ETFs. Charles Schwab and Global X launched two new Equity ETFs each. Blackrock Fund Advisors (formerly BGI) launched two Bond ETFs. Additionally, Old Mutual Global Shares Trust and Claymore also listed one new Equity ETF each. All the listings were on NYSE Arca.
In the previous week, average daily turnover in the Large Cap, US Sector, Leveraged and Global Regional products was US$23.3bn (-3.7%), US$9.2bn (-2.1%), US$7.6bn (-9.6%) and US$4.9bn (-3.0%) respectively.
Total assets under management for equity based ETFs remained at about the same level in the previous week, AUM were US$590.1bn/
December 16, 2009--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading the Global X China Energy ETF (Ticker: CHIE). The ETF is sponsored by Global X Funds.
The fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S-BOX China Energy Index. The Index is a free float adjusted, liquidity tested and market capitalization-weighted index that is designed to measure performance of the investable universe of companies in the Energy sector of the Chinese economy, as defined by the index provider Structured Solutions AG, which generally includes companies whose businesses involve: oil, gas, consumable fuels, alternative energy and electricity production and distribution; and energy equipment and services.
December 16, 2009--SPDR Series Trust has filed a prospectus with the SEC for
SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF -Ticker:SCPB
view filing
December 16, 2009--The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s (SIFMA) Economic Advisory Roundtable today unveiled its outlook for Q4 2009 and 2010, forecasting the Federal Open Market Committee will not change its current 0.0 to 0.25 percent target federal funds rate at its December 15-16 meeting.
“While cautiously optimistic about the generally positive trend of most economic indicators, the economists were restrained in their forecasts and demurred from predicting the level of rebound one might normally expect after a severe recession.,” said Kyle Brandon, managing director of research for SIFMA. “The outlook warned of potential future challenges, particularly missteps in fiscal and monetary policies.”
December 16, 2009--The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted rules designed to substantially increase the protections for investors who turn their money and securities over to an investment adviser registered with the SEC. The new rules provide safeguards where there is a heightened potential for fraud or theft of client assets.
Most investment advisers do not maintain physical custody of their clients’ assets. Instead, those assets are held by a qualified third-party custodian, such as a regulated bank or a broker-dealer. However, over the past year, the SEC has brought a series of enforcement cases against advisers who had access to their clients’ assets and misused them. These advisers often covered up the misuse by distributing false account statements to their clients reflecting assets that didn’t really exist. The SEC’s new rules are intended to help prevent that from happening.
December 16, 2009--The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved rules to enhance the information provided to shareholders so they are better able to evaluate the leadership of public companies.
Beginning in the upcoming annual reporting and proxy season, the new rules will improve corporate disclosure regarding risk, compensation and corporate governance matters when voting decisions are made.
