Americas ETP News
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GOP tension emerges over SEC, CFTC merger idea
November 15, 2012--Republican lawmakers at the top of Congress's agriculture committees are bristling over a recommendation from their GOP colleagues that would do away with a key financial regulator.
A new report issued by Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) streamline their operations, or potentially be combined into a single agency. The lawmakers behind the report, released Thursday, blasted the two regulators for failing to communicate before the collapse of the futures firm MF Global, previously headed by Jon Corzine.
That suggestion has sent top Republicans on the farming panels rushing to protect their turf, as any potential merging could mean they would lose jurisdiction over the CFTC, with much of the regulatory oversight falling to the banking panels.
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Source: The Hill
CFTC Approves Position Limit Appeal
November 15, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will move forward with an appeal of a federal district court's decision vacating the position limits rule. The Commission approved the appeal on a 3-2 vote.
“As part of the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress directed the Commission to limit promptly speculative positions in physical commodity futures and options contracts and economically equivalent swaps.
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Source: CFTC.gov
SEC Issues Staff Summary Report of Examinations of Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations
November 15, 2012--The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued its second annual staff report on the findings of examinations of credit rating agencies registered with the SEC as Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs).
The staff determined that with one exception, all NRSROs appropriately addressed the staff's recommendations in the first annual report in 2011. In addition, the staff announced a new initiative to highlight compliance issues at credit rating agencies between examinations.
view the 2012 Summary Report of Commission Staff's Examinations of Each Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization
Source: CFTC.gov
DB-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy-North America-ETF+ Monthly Directory-October 2012 ETPs
November 15, 2012--This document includes all US listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded vehicles (ETVs), plus a special section covering exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
The directory is organized by asset class and asset-class-related sub sections. Within each sub section it has also been sorted. For Equity and Fixed Income ETPs it is sorted by country (or sub region for regional products) in alphabetical order and by AUM in descending order, and for the other ETP asset classes it is sorted by sub sector in alphabetical order and by AUM in descending order. A number of key information points per product has been included in order to enable the reader to get an overview in their respective area of interest. Among the key numeric information we include avg. daily turnover, assets under management, and cash flows (all in $US).
request report
Source:Deutsche Bank-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy-North America
CFTC's Office of General Counsel Responds to Questions Regarding Certain Physical Commercial Agreements for the Supply and Consumption of Energy
November 14, 2012--Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Office of General Counsel (OGC) is providing its view, in the form of an answer to frequently asked questions (FAQ), in response to questions from market participants and other interested parties regarding the classification of certain physical commercial agreements for the supply and consumption of energy that provide flexibility set forth in the CFTC's joint Federal Register release with the
Securities and Exchange Commission entitled Further Definition of “Swap”; “Security-Based Swap”; and “Security-Based Swap Agreement”; Mixed Swaps; Security-Based Swap Agreement Recordkeeping (“Release”).
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Source: CFTC.gov
CBO Releases Report Examining the Reasons for the Slow Growth of the Economy Since the Recent Recession
November 14, 2012--CBO regularly issues reports on the state of the budget and the economy, and today CBO released a study, What Accounts for the Slow Growth of the Economy After the Recession?, with an accompanying infographic providing background information that helps to explain the economic projections included in those reports.
The U.S. economy has grown slowly since the deep recession in 2008 and 2009. In the three years following the recession, the cumulative growth of the nation’s output—real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP)—was nearly 9 percentage points below the average seen in previous economic recoveries since the end of World War II, or less than half the average growth during those other recoveries. What explains that relatively slow rate of economic growth? CBO finds that:
About two-thirds of the difference is from slower growth in the productive capacity of the economy, or potential GDP. That outcome reflects slower growth of all three of the major determinants of that productive capacity: the number of employed workers (adjusted for variations caused by the business cycle); the flow of services available from capital assets such as equipment, structures, inventories, and land; and the efficiency in producing goods and services. Much of the sluggishness of potential GDP since the recession is the result of long-term trends unrelated to the current business cycle, including the nation’s changing demographics.
view the Congressional Budget Office report-What Accounts for the Slow Growth of the Economy After the Recession?
Source: CBO (Congressional Budget Office)
FTSE Licenses Two New Canada Indexes to Vanguard
November 14, 2012--FTSE Group ("FTSE") has licensed the FTSE Canada High Dividend Yield Index and the FTSE Canada All Cap Real Estate Capped 25% Index to Vanguard as the basis of two new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Both are part of a range of indexes designed to help Canadian investors benchmark unique segments of their equity market.
The FTSE Canada High Dividend Yield Index comprises stocks that are characterized by higher-than-average dividend yields. The index constituents are drawn from the large, mid and small cap country component of the comprehensive FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS), which covers 98% of the world’s investable market capitalization.
The FTSE Canada All Cap Real Estate Capped 25% Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index representing the performance of Canadian REITS and Real Estate Operating Companies as classified by the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) System. It is part of a series that represent the performance of key Canadian industry sectors and employs capping to avoid over-concentration. The index is a subset of the FTSE Canada All Cap Index, a component of GEIS.
Visit FTSE.com for more info
Source: FTSE
Stricter oversight sought for money-market funds
November 14, 2012--A group of federal regulators is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt stricter rules for money-market mutual funds.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council issued the recommendations yesterday. The panel is led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Among the recommendations are requirements for funds to hold capital reserves against losses — there are none right now — and limits on how quickly investors can withdraw their money.
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Source: The Columbus Dispatch
CFTC Issues Proposed Swaps Report for Public Comment
Proposed report seeks public input on format, structure, and supporting documentation
November 14, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued, for public comment, a proposed CFTC Swaps Report that, when the proposal is finalized, will give the public a view into the previously dark swaps market.
The CFTC Swaps Report will offer the public a comprehensive view of the size, risks and activities in the swaps market. The proposal for this new market transparency initiative grew out of the swaps market reforms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). While the Dodd-Frank Act only requires the Commission to publish a report on trading, clearing, participants, and products in the swaps market on a semiannual and annual basis (H.R. 4173-322), the agency elected to publish this information on a weekly basis. This much greater level of transparency will allow market participants and the public to gain a more thorough understanding of risks and developments in the swaps market.
view the CFTC cftc swaps report
Source: CFTC.gov
CFTC Seeks Public Comment on Request from ICE Clear Europe Limited for Order Permitting Portfolio Margining of Swaps and Security-Based Swaps in a Customer Account
November 14, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is requesting public comment on a petition submitted by ICE Clear Europe Limited (ICE Clear Europe) for an order pursuant to Section 4d(f) of the Commodity Exchange Act (Act).
The petition requests an order that would set forth terms and conditions under which ICE Clear Europe and its clearing members that are dually registered as futures commission merchants and securities broker-dealers would be permitted to (1) commingle in an account subject to Section 4d(f) of the Act (a cleared swaps customer account) positions in swaps and security-based swaps and related customer money,
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Source: CFTC.gov
