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Nomura to double headcount in the US
October 5 2009-Nomura is poised almost to double its headcount in the US in an expansion that highlights the Japanese institution’s ambition to transform itself into one of the top five global investment banks.
The expansion, which coincides with a rebound in key markets from their lows in the northern spring, will be buttressed by Nomura raising Y432.8bn ($4.8bn) in fresh funds through a heavily subscribed new share issue.
Grail Advisors Bringing Fixed Income to Actively-Managed ETF Marketplace
October 5, 2009-- Grail Advisors, an innovator in the development and distribution of active-managed exchange traded funds (ETFs), today announced the registration of two new actively-managed fixed-income ETFs -- Grail McDonnell Intermediate Municipal Bond ETF and Grail McDonnell Core Taxable Bond ETF.
McDonnell Investment Management, LLC (McDonnell), a Chicago-based fixed-income specialist responsible for more than $13 billion assets(1) under management, will serve as the sub-adviser to both of the funds. Grail Advisors will serve as the funds' manager.
Similar to traditional actively-managed bond funds, the new Grail McDonnell offerings will allow portfolio managers unrestricted trading.
"Our stated goal has been to bring a full lineup of traditional, active fund managers and strategies to the ETF marketplace," said William M. Thomas, CEO of Grail Advisors LLC. "These new fixed-income ETFs, both very important additions to our actively-managed list, are made even more compelling by the skill and experience of McDonnell Investment Management."
McDonnell specializes in fixed-income investment management, offering both investment-grade taxable and tax-exempt strategies and below investment-grade strategies using separate accounts, structured products, and other private investment vehicles. Investment mandates include core, limited maturity/duration, multi-sector, customized benchmark blends, and below investment-grade credit. The firm is wholly-owned by a team of professionals who were instrumental in developing the separate account management business in 1987, when the group operated as part of Van Kampen Investments. McDonnell was formed as an independently-owned, registered investment advisor in 2001.
"We recognize that the investment demands of the marketplace are shifting in response to today's market environment," said Edward Treichel, President and CEO of McDonnell. "We stand poised with Grail Advisors to respond with client-tailored investment solutions like these new Grail McDonnell ETFs."
Grail Advisors rolled out the market's first true, actively-managed equity ETF in May -- the Grail American Beacon Large Cap Value ETF (NYSE: GVT). That fund was designed to incorporate traditional investment management approach and a multi-manager format into an active ETF structure. The Grail McDonnell offerings will combine all the benefits of an ETF structure -- lower costs(2), tax efficiency(3), transparency of holdings(4), and intra-day trading -- with actively-managed strategies from a veteran fixed-income management team.
San Francisco-based Grail Advisors intends to increasingly make the benefits of ETFs available to the large pool of investors who currently select traditional mutual funds or other vehicles to access active portfolio management. Mr. Thomas says Grail Advisors is currently in discussions with a number of leading financial institutions and asset managers, and expects to launch a number of customized, actively-managed ETFs that will provide full, daily disclosure on all holdings.
Direxion Shares ETF Trust Named by Weiss & Lurie in Class Action
September 5, 2009--A class action lawsuit against Direxion Shares ETF Trust (“Direxion” or the “Company”) and certain individuals associated with the Company was commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired shares in the Financial Bear 3X Shares Fund (NYSE:FAZ) Arca (the “FAZ Fund”) offered by Direxion pursuant or traceable to Direxion’s allegedly materially false or misleading Registration Statement issued in connection with the FAZ Fund’s shares (the “Class”) during the period November 3, 2008 through April 9, 2009 (the “Class Period”).
The complaint charges Direxion and certain of its executive officers with violations of the Securities Act of 1933. The complaint alleges that defendants misrepresented or omitted information regarding, among other things, true risks of the Company’s highly leveraged ETF products for those investors in the FAZ Fund for more than a day.
This action seeks to recover damages on behalf of investors who purchased Direxion securities. Plaintiff is represented by Weiss & Lurie, a law firm possessing significant experience and expertise in prosecuting class actions on behalf of shareholders in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Weiss & Lurie has been responsible for collectively recovering more than a billion dollars on behalf of class members and is one of the nation’s leading firms representing shareholders in securities class actions.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired shares in the FAZ Fund, you may move the court no later than November 17, 2009, to serve as a lead plaintiff of the class. In order to serve as a lead plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements. You do not need to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff in order to share in any recovery.
If you want to obtain a copy of the complaint or want more information about Weiss & Lurie or this action, or if you want to obtain a Certification form to serve as a lead plaintiff, please visit www.weisslurie.com. If you wish to receive an investor package or if you wish to discuss this action, have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to this matter, or if you have any information you wish to provide to us, please contact:
Joseph H. Weiss and/or Mary A. Nastasi, (888) 593-4771 or (212) 682-3025 or via Internet electronic mail at infony@weisslurie.com or by writing Weiss & Lurie, The French Building, 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1600, New York City 10176.
New Morningstar Box Score Report: Active Management
October 5, 2009-- The Morningstar Box Score Report on Active Fund Management is a brand new semi-annual report published by the Morningstar Indexes Research Group. This report will help you evaluate actively managed funds and demonstrate how actively managed funds perform against the Morningstar Style Indexes.
After accounting for risk, size and style, only 37% of active funds beat the respective Morningstar Style Index over the last three years.
Top-performing funds have been less risky over the past three years than their underachieving peers.
Over the past three years, active funds holding more cash outperform their more fully invested counterparts.
Download the free PDF of the Morningstar Box Score Report
Statement by Secretary Timothy F. Geithner at the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Meeting
October 4, 2009--On behalf of the United States and our delegation, I'd like to thank Turkey and the people of Istanbul for hosting this year's Annual Meetings. We meet as the global economy makes a critical transition away from crisis and toward recovery.
Less than one year ago, with the global economy facing serious and unprecedented challenges, countries put in place significant and extraordinary measures to stabilize financial markets and support the global economy. The United States has been a leader throughout this period, with the Administration enacting a sizeable stimulus plan; restoring confidence in the financial system and the flow of credit to consumers and households through the Financial Stability Plan; and helping marshal resources for emerging markets and developing countries through President Obama's call for large scale resources to backstop the global financial system.
The United States has been a leader throughout this period, with the Administration enacting a sizeable stimulus plan; restoring confidence in the financial system and the flow of credit to consumers and households through the Financial Stability Plan; and helping marshal resources for emerging markets and developing countries through President Obama's call for large scale resources to backstop the global financial system.
Conditions have improved considerably. Stresses in financial markets have declined, confidence has improved, international trade is recovering, and economic growth has resumed in most countries and globally. While global growth is forecast to accelerate in 2010, output gaps will persist, unemployment may rise further, and downside risks remain. For this reason, Leaders in Pittsburgh agreed to sustain their strong policy responses and not prematurely withdraw fiscal, monetary and financial sector support measures until durable, private sector-led growth is firmly achieved. When the time is right, credible exit strategies will be prepared to begin gradually withdrawing public sector support in a way that is cooperative and coordinated but does not jeopardize the recovery.
In Pittsburgh , G-20 Leaders reached an historic agreement to put the G-20 at the center of their efforts to work together to build a durable economic recovery while avoiding the fragilities and excesses of the past that led to the crisis. They pledged to adopt the policies needed to lay the foundations for a healthy global economy by creating a Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth; by building a robust system of financial supervision and regulation; and by modernizing the international financial institutions to take on the challenges of the 21st century. As IMF Governors, we have an important responsibility to work collaboratively to advance the reform agenda to support a durable recovery and head off future crises.
Forging a Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth
The crisis revealed critical weaknesses in the pattern of global growth, in which some countries consumed well beyond their incomes and others relied heavily on exports to generate growth and, in the process, accumulated vast amounts of foreign exchange reserves. This pattern of demand growth and global capital flows was excessively unbalanced and ultimately unsustainable.
To manage the transition to a more balanced and sustainable pattern of global demand, Leaders have created a new framework for economic cooperation, the Framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth, in which G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will work together, through mutual assessment, to help ensure that our individual policies are collectively consistent and more balanced, within a forward-looking framework.
We are committed to seeing this cooperative process of mutual assessment work so as to help prevent unsustainable trajectories of debt, credit, leverage, demand, and reserve accumulation becoming forces of destabilization in the future. We look to the IMF to play a key role in assisting the assessment of G-20 economic and financial policies and in providing its view on the likely balance and sustainability of the global economy. We expect that the IMF will report regularly to the G-20, in addition to the IMFC.
Strengthening Financial Sector Supervision and Regulation
Perhaps most dramatically, the crisis revealed gaps in our regulatory system that allowed the build-up of excess leverage and risk within and alongside the banking system. In the United States , we are working to implement reforms designed to protect consumers and investors and create a more stable, more resilient financial system.
In Pittsburgh , G-20 Leaders advanced an ambitious agenda to create a seamless web of financial regulation and supervision – addressing the deficiencies in our financial regulatory framework that contributed to the virulence and global spread of the financial crisis. Strengthening firms' capital must be at the core of this effort. The United States is committed to specific deadlines for implementation of more and higher quality capital, stronger liquidity, a simple leverage ratio to constrain excess risk-taking and building buffers that firms can draw down in periods of stress.
Compensation reform is also critical, and the United States has shown leadership in this area by already taking a number of actions to reform compensation practices to support financial stability. Since the April G-20 meeting, we have put in place tough new restrictions for firms receiving public assistance, including restrictions on bonuses and golden parachutes and a requirement that boards of directors review the relationship between compensation and risk; appointed a Special Master for Executive Compensation, empowered to review compensation structures for the top 100 employees at firms receiving exceptional assistance; and proposed legislation, already passed by the House, that will require all public companies to permit shareholders to cast an annual "say on pay" vote and make their compensation committees independent in fact, not just in name.
The U.S. has also moved to strengthen the transparency and the functioning of the over-the-counter derivatives market, and is working to develop tools to effectively resolve large failed financial institutions.
As we in the United States strengthen our system, we urge other nations to take steps to strengthen their own systems and ensure that the global financial system is safer and more stable. The United States is undergoing an IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program, reflecting our commitment to accept the obligations and responsibilities of being an IMF member. The IMF's work, through annual surveillance, the FSAP, Global Financial Stability Reports, new early warning exercises, and intensified cooperation with the expanded Financial Stability Board (FSB), is making an important contribution to strengthening financial systems around the world. IMF-FSB collaboration is essential to a stronger, more resilient global financial system.
Modernizing the IMF
Enhanced Resources
The IMF's actions since the crisis began have stabilized markets and boosted confidence, winning broad support and underscoring the Fund's central role in crisis response. A critical component of the response was ensuring the IMF has adequate resources to address the needs of members hard hit by the global crisis. To this end, countries delivered on commitments to renew and expand the IMF's New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) by over $500 billion to backstop the IMF. Dynamic emerging economies contributed a critical share to an expanded NAB, and the U.S. moved quickly to pass legislation enabling our $100 billion contribution. The IMF's action to supplement members' reserves and boost global liquidity through an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) also demonstrated the international community's willingness to take bold steps in support of a global recovery.
We welcome IMF approval of a package of extraordinary measures to sharply increase the resources available to low-income countries. Resources from the planned sale of IMF gold and other internal sources will more than double the Fund's medium-term concessional lending capacity and frontload these resources over the next two years. In addition, the new Standby Credit Facility will fill a longstanding gap in the concessional facilities architecture, by providing maturing low-income countries with an instrument specifically designed for intermittent Fund engagement. These welcome and ambitious measures will allow the IMF to help meet the needs of the poorest countries through the crisis and beyond.
Mandate
Resources are only part of the equation. The tools available to the IMF, and the institution's capacity to identify potential vulnerabilities and appropriate policy responses, are equally important to restoring and maintaining confidence.
The Fund recently enhanced its lending toolkit to provide countries with contingent finance to guard against sudden stops. The newly created Flexible Credit Line (FCL) is proving to be an effective crisis prevention instrument for the strongest performing emerging market countries. Both the FCL and the High Access Precautionary Arrangement (HAPA) have helped restore confidence in countries that have used them during the current crisis. We continue to support the Fund's efforts to strengthen its capacity to help its members cope with financial volatility, reducing the economic disruption from sudden swings in capital flows and the perceived need for excessive reserve accumulation.
The IMF's role in the newly announced Framework highlights the importance of candid surveillance assessments, especially when individual country policies have systemic implications. The crisis underscored the importance of strengthening financial sector surveillance, including linkages between the financial sector and the real economy. Effective exchange rate surveillance for all members remains at the core of the IMF's duties. The Fund should complement its unique role on exchange rate surveillance with stepped-up engagement in making the international system less prone to crisis. Moreover, greater transparency is critical to underpin the credibility and effectiveness of IMF surveillance. Since the crisis has taught us that no nation is immune, we call upon all IMF members to allow the publication of their annual Article IV reviews.
Governance Reform
A more representative, responsive and accountable governance structure is essential to strengthening the IMF's legitimacy, ensuring that it remains at the center of an evolving international monetary and financial system. Agreement in Pittsburgh to reform the global architecture to meet the needs of the 21st century was a watershed event. In addition to designating the G-20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, G-20 Leaders committed to a shift in IMF quota share to dynamic emerging market and developing countries of at least 5% from over-represented to under-represented countries. Attention must now shift to implementing this agreement, and we call on the IMF to facilitate this process by providing scenarios of how the quota shift could be implemented in the very near-term.
Reform of the Executive Board remains an essential component to modernizing the IMF's governance structure to better reflect the 21st century global economy. The United States has called for reducing the size of the Board while preserving the existing number of emerging market and developing country chairs. Further, the past six months have plainly demonstrated the benefits of securing stronger Ministerial engagement in setting strategic policies and priorities of the International Financial Institutions. To sustain this level of Ministerial engagement, we must find a way to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the IMFC. I look forward to discussion of concrete proposals to achieve greater involvement of the Fund's Governors in providing strategic direction to the IMF.
Global Cooperation to Combat Illicit Finance
We strongly support the cooperation among the Financial Action Task Force, the IMF, the World Bank, the FSB and the Global Forum to strengthen compliance with international standards. For example, global cooperation to address cross-border tax evasion has led to more tax information exchange agreements being signed in the last ten months than had been signed in the prior ten years. We continue to emphasize the importance of global efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other forms of illicit finance.
We underscore our concerns over illicit finance emanating from Iran and the severe deficiencies in its regulatory regime. We emphasize FATF statements calling upon the international community to implement countermeasures to protect the international financial system from money laundering and terror financing risks emanating from Iran , and we urge all nations to respond appropriately. We further urge all nations to implement the financial provisions of UNSCR 1803 by exercising enhanced vigilance over the activities of their financial institutions with Iranian financial institutions – including branches and subsidiaries abroad – and particularly with respect to Bank Saderat and Bank Melli.
CME Group Volume Averaged 10.5 Million Contracts Per Day In September 2009, Up 3 Percent From August 2009
October 2, 2009--CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that September volume averaged 10.5 million contracts per day, down 32 percent from the near record average daily volume in September 2008, but up 3 percent from August. Total volume was 222 million contracts for September, of which 82 percent was traded electronically. Electronic volume averaged 8.6 million contracts per day, down 32 percent from the prior September, but up 5 percent compared with August 2009. Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 489,000 contracts for September 2009, up 5 percent compared with September 2008. CME Group year-to-date volume through September averaged 10.3 million contracts per day.
CME Group interest rate volume averaged 4.4 million contracts per day, down 38 percent compared with September 2008. CME Group equity index volume averaged 3.0 million contracts per day, down 41 percent compared with record September 2008, but up 22 percent from August 2009.
CME Group foreign exchange (FX) volume experienced its highest monthly level to date in 2009, averaging 756,000 contracts per day, with notional value of approximately $98 billion, down 9 percent compared with the prior September. CME Group commodities and alternative investments volume averaged 639,000 contracts per day, down 13 percent from September 2008. CME Group energy volume (including volume cleared through CME ClearPort) averaged 1.6 million contracts per day for September 2009, up 3 percent compared with the same period last year. CME Group metals volume (including volume cleared through CME ClearPort) averaged 226,000 contracts per day for September 2009, down 20 percent compared with the prior September, but up 23 percent from August 2009.
Third-quarter volume averaged 10.1 million contracts per day, down 23 percent from third-quarter 2008. Compared with second-quarter 2009, third-quarter interest rates volume increased one percent, FX volume increased 16 percent, energy volume increased 6 percent and metals volume increased 6 percent. In addition, third-quarter average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 453,000 contracts, up 2 percent compared with third-quarter 2008.
Average daily volume and rate per contract figures from 2008 have been revised due to standardizing NYMEX reporting conventions to follow CME's treatment of post-trade transactions such as exercises, assignments and deliveries.
All references to CME Group volume and rate per contract information in the text of this document exclude our non-traditional TRAKRS products, for which CME Group receives significantly lower clearing fees than other CME Group products, Swapstream products, and HuRLO products.
Statement From FINRA Chairman and CEO Richard G. Ketchum on the Report of the Special Review Committee of the FINRA Board of Governors
October 2, 2009--Today's report by a Special Review Committee of the FINRA Board of Governors is one of a number of significant initiatives undertaken by FINRA in the wake of the Madoff and Stanford scandals to better understand and correct shortcomings in our examination program. As regulators, we owe it to investors — especially those harmed by recent scandals — to develop a better, more comprehensive response to fraud, and I am committed to taking the lessons from the report's findings to make FINRA even stronger.
As the findings have concluded, a number of key points are apparent. First, FINRA must institute a number of internal reforms to better safeguard investors and the broader financial system. Second, the report calls attention to the many regulatory challenges related to jurisdictional issues and product definitions. Finally, the review points to the urgent need for financial regulatory reform that ensures comprehensive oversight, reduces jurisdictional confusion, streamlines enforcement and improves coordination and communication among all regulators.
FINRA has already taken many steps to improve its examination and fraud detection capabilities since these scandals happened. One major initiative FINRA is announcing today is the creation of a new Office of Fraud Detection and Market Intelligence. This office will provide rapid response to fraud by a staff with expertise in fraud detection and investigation
View Report From the Special Review Committee
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
October 2, 2009--Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
The shareholders of TriStar Oil & Gas Ltd. (TSX:TOG) have approved the plan of arrangement with Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. (TSX:PBG) whereby TriStar will be combined with Petrobank's Canadian business unit.
The combined entity, called PetroBakken Energy Ltd. (TSX:PBN), will remain in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion and the S&P/TSX Capped Energy indices. The transaction will be effective after the close of Monday, October 5, 2009.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Barclays Global Investors Lists the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund on NYSE Arca
October 2, 2009--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading the iShares MSCI
Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund (Ticker: ESR). The ETF is
sponsored by Barclays Global Investors.
The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price
and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Emerging
Markets Eastern Europe Index (the "Underlying Index"). The Underlying
Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to
measure equity market performance of the following four emerging market
countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia.
Grail Advisors LLC Lists Four RP ETF ’s on NYSE Arca
October 2, 2009--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading the RP Growth
(Ticker: RPX), RP Focused Large Cap Growth (Ticker: RWG), RP Technology
(Ticker: RPQ), and RP Financials (Ticker: RFF). These actively managed
ETF’s are all sponsored by Grail Advisors LLC.
RP Growth
The fund, exclusively sub-advised by RiverPark Advisors, LLC (“RP”),
seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing at least 80% of its
net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes)
in equity securities of companies that RP believes have above-average
growth prospects.
RP Focused Large Cap Growth
The fund, primarily sub-advised by RP, seeks long-term capital
appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus the
amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities
of large capitalization companies that Wedgewood Partners, Inc., the
ETF’s other sub-adviser, believes have above-average growth prospects.
RP Technology
The fund, exclusively sub-advised by RP, seeks long-term capital
appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus the
amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities
of companies that develop, produce or distribute technology-related
products and services.
RP Financials
The fund, exclusively sub-advised by RP, seeks long-term capital
appreciation by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus the
amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities
of financial services companies.
Please refer to the prospectus covering these four ETFs at
www.grailadvisors.com for more information.
Small Public Companies to Begin Providing Audited Assessment of Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting in Nine Months
Final Stage of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley to Begin in June
Washington, D.C.,
October 2, 2009- The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the smallest publicly reporting companies will begin complying in nine months with the final portion of a key provision of a 2002 corporate governance law that requires companies to report to the public about the effectiveness of their internal control over financial reporting.
Under the provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, public companies and their independent auditors are each required to report to the public on the effectiveness of a company’s internal controls. The smallest public companies with a public float below $75 million have been given extra time to design, implement and document these internal controls before their auditors are required to attest to the effectiveness of these controls.
This extension of time will expire beginning with the annual reports of companies with fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2010. This expiration date previously had been for fiscal years ending on or after Dec. 15, 2009. The extension was granted so that the SEC’s Office of Economic Analysis could complete a study of whether additional guidance provided to company managers and auditors in 2007 was effective in reducing the costs of compliance. Because the study was published less than three months before the December 15 deadline, the Commission determined that additional time is appropriate and reasonable so that small public companies and their auditors can better plan for the required auditor attestation.
While the reporting and auditor-attestation grew out of the 2002 law passed by Congress, all U.S. public companies have been required to maintain internal accounting controls since 1977.
“Since there will be no further Commission extensions, it is important for all public companies and their auditors to act with deliberate speed to move toward full Section 404 compliance,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
View Study on SOX Internal Controls
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.
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.
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.
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.
