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Remarks of Chairman Gary Gensler, Commodity Futures Trading Commission

September 14, 2009--Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you today. Thank you to the New Republic and International Securities Exchange for hosting this event and inviting me to participate. Also, thank you to Noam Scheiber for asking me to be here.

One year ago, the financial regulatory system failed the American public. There were gaps in our regulatory structure that left the nation unprepared and unable to respond quickly to changing market environments.

The Administration has sent legislation to Capitol Hill to address some of the causes of the financial crisis. It is essential that we take action to bolster consumer protection in financial products, such as mortgage sales practices; establish a plan that would help unwind nonbank entities that are on the brink of collapse; address systemic risk; and regulate financial products and dealers that have for decades gone unregulated. Today I will spend my time with you addressing unregulated over-the-counter derivatives, which is an area of particular importance to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

As we move forward with regulatory reform, we do so with the full knowledge of the failures of our financial regulatory system. The last decade, and particularly the last 24 months, has taught us much about the new realities of our financial markets.

We have learned the limits of foresight and the need for candor about the risks we face. We have learned that transparency and accountability are essential. Only through strong, intelligent regulation can we fully protect the American people and keep our economy strong. We have all felt the effects of the failures of our regulatory system. Every single person in this room had to put money into a company that most Americans had never even heard of. $180 billion of the tax dollars that you and I paid went into AIG to keep its collapse from further harming the economy. We must ensure that this never happens again. We cannot afford any more billion-dollar bailouts.

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CFTC Advisory Committee To Discuss Energy And Environmental Markets - Committee To provide Views On Emissions Trading Markets And Relevant Energy Issues

Committee to provide views on emissions trading markets and relevant energy issues.
September 14, 2009--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) will convene the second meeting of its expanded Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC) at 8:00 a.m. EDT, on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at the CFTC’s New York Regional Office, 140 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10005.

The Committee will focus on recent CFTC hearings on position limits and hedge exemptions, regulatory reform and legislative proposals, and carbon and other emissions trading markets.

Bart Chilton, the Committee’s Chair, stated that “As Congress once again takes up the important topic of cap and trade legislation, the issue of regulatory oversight in these markets becomes even more critical. The CFTC has a longstanding history of federal regulation of derivatives trading—from monitoring exchange activity to ensuring financial responsibility to carrying out disciplinary and enforcement actions, and it’s very important to have the federal oversight of the entire market as seamless as possible. These markets will be so big, and their impact so large, that the oversight needs to be done right—from the outset.”

The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight will present an update on energy and environmental markets, the Office of Legislative Affairs will present an update on current legislation and several Committee members will present their views on specific issues. The Commission has invited staff from other federal agencies to attend as observers.

The meeting is open to the public. The meeting will be webcast via the internet and audio of the hearing will be available via a listen-only conference call. Individuals may also view the hearing via teleconference at the Commission’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, N.W.; and the Commission’s Chicago Regional Office, 525 West Monroe Street, Suite 1100.

Van Eck files Amended application with the SEC

September 11, 2009--Market Vectors ETF Trust has filed an amended statement with the SEC.

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Grail Advisors files with the SEC

September 14, 2009--Grail Advisors, LLC and Grail Advisors ETF Trust file for exemptive relief with the SEC.

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Two New TIPS Have Begun Trading

September 14, 2009--Allianz Global Investors is pleased to announce that PIMCO now offers three TIPS Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), giving investors a choice of short maturity, long maturity and broad TIPS index exposure to help them address their inflation-protection needs.

PIMCO’s two newest offerings, the PIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund (LTPZ) and PIMCO Broad U.S. TIPS Index Fund (TIPZ), launched on September 3, 2009, are designed to offer long or broad exposure to the U.S. TIPS curve, and may be especially appealing to investors seeking greater return sensitivity to changes in real yield, or aiming to protect purchasing power in the long run.

Launched on August 20, 2009, the PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund (STPZ) targets the shorter maturity Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market. Accordingly, the Fund may offer higher correlation to changes in inflation than longer-maturity TIPS with lower volatility.

for more info visit www.pimcoetfs.com.

IndexIQ Names Anthony Wilson Vice President & Regional Director for Western Region Sales

September 14, 2009-IndexIQ, a leading developer of index-based alternative investment solutions, has named Anthony Wilson as Vice President and Regional Director of Sales for the Western region, it was announced today.

Before joining IndexIQ, Wilson spent nine years as a director and principal in the Private Client Group at Turner Investment Partners Inc., where he was responsible for managing and developing business relationships with Registered Independent Advisors, Wirehouse consultants, multi-family offices, Regional Consultants and Bank Trust Departments. Prior to that, Wilson held senior sales positions at several well-known investment firms, including Pacific Income Advisors and Jurika & Voyles, LLC.

At IndexIQ, Wilson will be responsible for continuing the expansion of the firm`s Western region marketplace presence.

"Anthony brings great experience in communicating the value of unique financial products to the RIA, Financial Advisors, and Family Office marketplaces," said Anthony B. Davidow, Executive Vice President and Head of Distribution at IndexIQ. "His addition to the team further strengthens our presence in the Western region. We look forward to his contributions as we continue to penetrate the market, and continue to introduce unique and innovative alternative investment products."

IndexIQ is the sponsor of index-based alternative investment products, including the first hedge fund replication Exchange-Traded Fund, the IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (NYSE Arca: QAI); the first Macro and Emerging Markets hedge fund replication ETF, the IQ Hedge Macro Tracker ETF (NYSE: MCRO); and the first open-end, no-load hedge fund replication mutual fund, the IQ ALPHA Hedge Strategy Fund (IQHIX - Institutional Share Class, and IQHOX - Investor Share Class). IndexIQ products are designed to be liquid, transparent,* tax efficient, and accessible to a broad range of investors

Quarterly Changes to the NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index

September 14, 2009--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today the results of the quarterly evaluation of the NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index (Nasdaq:QGRI), which will become effective with the market open on Monday, September 21, 2009.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) will be added to the Index.

The Index is designed to track the performance of U.S.-listed securities whose issuer is participating in government sponsored relief programs such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or other direct government investment programs or government loans. The Index consists of securities of companies across multiple industry groups including, but not limited to, financial institutions and automobile manufacturers. The NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index is evaluated on a quarterly basis. For more information about the NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index, including detail eligibility criteria, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/.

As a result of the evaluation, no security will be removed from the Index.

Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices and the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index

September 11, 2009-Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (TSX:FFH) has announced a proposal to acquire the outstanding shares of Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. that it does not already own. The relative weight of Fairfax Financial will increase in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity and the S&P/TSX Capped Financials indices to reflect the issuance of new shares as part of the transaction, which will be effective after the close of trading on Monday, September 14, 2009.

Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Friday, September 11, 2009:

The shares of Mega Silver Inc. (TSX-V:MSR) will trade under the new name Mega Precious Metals Inc. The new ticker symbol will be "MGP" and the new CUSIP number will be 58516L 10 8. There is no consolidation of capital.

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.

SEC To Hold Securities Lending and Short Sale Roundtable

September 11, 2009-The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable about securities lending and short sale issues on September 29 and September 30.

The roundtable will feature an in-depth review of securities lending practices and also analyze possible short sale pre borrowing requirements and additional short sale disclosures. Panelists are expected to include investors, corporate issuers, financial services firms, beneficial owner lenders, lending agents, borrowers of securities, self-regulatory organizations, international regulators and the academic community.

The roundtable agenda is available. The list of panelists will be announced at a later date.

The roundtable discussion will be held in the auditorium at SEC headquarters at 100 F Street NE in Washington, D.C. On September 29, the roundtable will focus on securities lending issues and take place from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. On September 30, the roundtable will focus on short sale pre-borrowing and additional short sale disclosures and take place from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 12:30 p.m.

The public is invited to observe the roundtable discussion. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtable discussion also will be available via webcast on the SEC Web site.

For additional information about the roundtable, contact the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets at (202) 551-5720.

Additional Materials
Notice of Roundtable Discussion;

Request for Comment
Submit comments

Investors Pull $2.1 Billion out of Leveraged ETFs

September 11, 2009--Investors pulled nearly $2.1 billion out of inverse and leveraged exchange-traded funds in August, the second consecutive month of losses for the funds, which have come under regulatory scrutiny.

Overall, assets in the 755 ETFs in the U.S. rose $20.1 billion in August, up 3.3% from the previous month, to $661 billion, according to a report from State Street Global Advisors. The increase marks the sixth consecutive month of increases for the funds, which trade daily on exchanges like stocks.

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US ETP ASSETS HIT ALL TIME HIGH

Latest data from the ETF Research and Implementation Strategy team at Barclays Global Investors reveals US ETP net inflows of US$54.3 Bn push US ETP Assets to an all time high of US$678 bn at end August 2009, driven by fixed income, commodity and emerging market ETPs.
The US ETP industry had 846 ETPs, net new inflows of US$54.3 Bn YTD with total assets of US$678 bn from 36 providers on 3 exchanges at the end of August 2009. YTD assets have risen by 25.1% which is more than the 13.5% rise in the MSCI US Index in US dollar terms.

Contrasting this to the latest data from Strategic Insight, net inflows to mutual funds (excluding ETPs) domiciled in the US were minus US$50.5 Bn in the first six months of 2009.

Deborah Fuhr, Global Head of ETF Research & Implementation Strategy at BGI said, “The net inflows of US$54.3 Bn in the past eight months shows demand for ETPs is still growing as clients view ETPs as useful tools to help them implement many types of exposures”.

Fixed income ETPs have seen the largest net inflows with US$29.5 Bn net new assets YTD. The most popular fixed income exposure has been Corporate bond ETPs with US$8.7 Bn net inflows, followed by inflation linked ETPs with US$6.7 Bn, and ETPs tracking aggregate bond benchmarks with US$4.3 Bn.

Commodity focused ETPs was the second most popular asset category in terms of net flows, with US$23.8 Bn. Precious metals commodity ETPs grew the most with US$12.9 Bn net new assets, followed by energy ETPs with US$5.0 Bn and broad commodity exposures with US$3.7 Bn.

Emerging markets equity ETPs was the third most popular asset category with US$12.9 Bn net inflows. Broad emerging market equity exposures saw net inflows of US$6.1 Bn YTD, followed by Brazil focused ETPs with US$2.2 Bn, and ETPs tracking Chinese benchmarks with US$1.3 Bn net new assets.

XTF Enhances Country Rotation and Fixed Income ETF Portfolios

Adds Seven New Countries to Rotation Portfolio, Adds Fixed Income Asset Classes
January 15, 2008 -- XTF Global Asset Management, an asset manager that builds and manages portfolios of ETFs, today announced that it has added seven new country-focused ETFs to its country rotation portfolio. XTF also announced that it has enhanced its fixed-income ETF portfolio by adding several fixed income asset classes. These product enhancements are designed to leverage the diversity and appeal of new ETFs that came to market in 2007.

The seven new country ETFs increase XTF's Country Rotation Portfolio's (CRP) exposure to emerging markets. New countries include: Spain, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, Malaysia, China and Taiwan. The CRP now can invest in up to 20 ETFs that each track the economies of foreign countries. Previously, CRP invested in up to 13 countries, including: The Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and South Africa.
"We've been tracking these seven countries' financial and economic data over the past year and determined that it is now appropriate to add them to our portfolio," said Jeff Buetow, XTF's chief investment officer. "We initially limited the CRP to developed markets to take advantage of the safety of their long track records as well as the sound structural characteristics of the corresponding ETFs. Now that emerging market ETFs have become far more attractive from an investment perspective, we believe it's the right time to provide emerging market exposure as part of a well diversified portfolio."
Since its January 2007 inception, the CRP has outperformed its benchmark index, the Country Rotation Composite Index, by nearly 200 basis points. Part of its success is due to XTF's model-driven investment approach, which actively manages exposure to foreign equity markets. The model tracks foreign equity market economies, fundamentals, risk and technical factors, generating buy or sell signals for each country. The CRP's performance to date validates this approach.
The CRP is designed to take advantage of changes in the risk and the appreciation potential of the individual countries it follows. XTF models each country independently, and compares its risk/reward profile to an equivalent investment in intermediate-term U.S. Treasuries. If the country profile is favorable versus U.S. Treasury yields, XTF invests in the country. Alternatively, if Treasuries are more favorable, XTF invests in the Treasuries. Each country in the CRP is equally weighted at five percent of the overall portfolio. XTF uses a binary investment strategy, and makes an "all or none" decision to invest in each country.
"The Country Rotation Portfolio is designed to function as an enhancement to investors' core portfolio. By taking a broad, long-term view of international equities, CRP also is a strategy that investors can deploy to mitigate against short-term volatility in their portfolios," said Tom Scuccimarra, XTF's head of sales and distribution. "By moving into fixed income ETFs, we can hedge against potential downturns in the foreign equity markets, stabilizing investor portfolios further."

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