Americas ETP News
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Bond bankers and investors cry foul over rule change
October 16, 2021--SEC stands firm in applying disclosure regulation to fixed-income trading
After US regulators finalised an amendment to a 50-year-old rule designed to limit fraud in penny stocks, lawyer Bruce Newman at WilmerHale did what lawyers do and went through it with a fine tooth comb.
In a note to his clients in October last year, he detailed the pertinent parts of the rule for those looking to comply with it, mostly around disclosures that dealers must check before quoting prices on a security. Then he noted something that would eventually send tremors through Wall Street trading desks.
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Source: ft.com
Roadmap to Build an Economy Resilient to Climate Change Impacts
October 15, 2021--Agency Actions Will Protect Retirement Plans, Homeowners, Consumers, Businesses and Supply Chains, Workers, and the Federal Government from Financial Risks of Climate Change
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration released a comprehensive, government-wide strategy to measure, disclose, manage and mitigate the systemic risks climate change poses to American families, businesses, and the economy- building on actions already taken by the Biden-Harris Administration including just this week:
a redesigned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate.gov site to better connect Americans to climate explainers, data dashboards, and classroom-ready teaching resources; the Department of Labor's new proposed rule to safeguard life savings and pensions from climate risk; as well as the Federal Acquisition Council's advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to consider greenhouse gas emissions when making procurement decisions.
view the A Road Map To Build a Climate-Resilient Economy
Source: whitehouse.gov
The SEC is poised to allow the first bitcoin futures ETFs to begin trading, source says
October 17, 2021--The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to allow the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds to start trading.
A person familiar with the SEC's deliberations told CNBC the regulator isn’t likely to block ETF proposals by ProShares and Invesco, which are based on futures contracts.
Bitcoin traded north of $60,000 on Friday, its highest level since April 17, on speculation the SEC would greenlight the ETFs.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to allow the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds to start trading next week, a landmark victory for a cryptocurrency industry that has long sought permissions from Wall Street's top regulator, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Source: cnbc.com
Smart beta holds its own despite popularity of thematic ETFs
October 15, 2021--Factor-based ETFs' US market share has remained at nearly 20% despite heavy marketing of some other strategies
Thematic strategies have become darlings of the ETF industry, with managers pumping out products that seek to combine outperforming stocks and a story that investors can easily understand.
Their buzz was once the purview of smart beta, which emphasises investment factors that have been shown to deliver outperformance such as momentum, growth or value, but those products have faded in prominence among many managers' line-ups.
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Source: FT.com
BlackRock Launches iShares USD Bond Factor ETF (USBF)
October 14, 2021---BlackRock today announced that the iShares USD Bond Factor ETF (NASDAQ: USBF) began trading. The ETF offers investors a chance to outperform the broader U.S. fixed income market by selecting bonds based on macro and quality and value style factor insights. USBF, which seeks to track the BlackRock USD Bond Factor Index, has an expense ratio of 0.18%, or $1.80 for every $1,000 invested-lower than 86% of mutual funds and ETFs in the Morningstar Core Bond category.1
Many debt market participants are seeking to navigate credit risk- the ability to be repaid in full and on time- and interest rate risk, given how yields could rise after not only recent all-time lows, but also four consecutive decades of declines. By applying a rules-based, transparent factor, or "smart beta," investing lens to bonds, USBF pursues a strategy that seeks to provide a diversified selection of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds while enhancing total return relative to the broader U.S. fixed income market and retaining similar risk characteristics.
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Source: BlackRock
First Trust Launches the First Trust Multi-Manager Small Cap Opportunities ETF
October 14, 2021--An actively managed ETF that relies on diversified expertise from multiple asset management firms
First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust"), a leading exchange-traded fund ("ETF") provider and asset manager, announced today that it has launched a new actively managed ETF, the First Trust Multi-Manager Small Cap Opportunities ETF (NYSE Arca: MMSC) (the "fund").
The fund seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing in equity securities issued by small capitalization companies.
The fund's portfolio is managed by First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust"), with the First Trust Investment Committee handling the selection and ongoing monitoring of the securities in the fund's portfolio. The First Trust Investment Committee is responsible for selecting and overseeing the sub-advisors. The assets of the fund will be initially allocated between two sub-advisors: Driehaus Capital Management LLC and Stephens Investment Management Group, LLC. Through the blending of multiple portfolio management teams, First Trust seeks to provide idiosyncratic profiles that complement each other.
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Source: First Trust
Coinbase calls for new regulator and framework for the crypto sector
October 14, 2021--Coinbase is calling for vast changes in how the crypto sector is regulated. On Thursday the company released a digital asset proposal in which its Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad called for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets to be regulated under a separate legal framework by a single federal agency.
Furthermore, the proposal calls for separate disclosure requirements on particular digital assets such as stablecoins.
The proposal comes a month after Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong voiced objections on Twitter in response to the SEC's decision to block its lending product.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com
US Department of Labor proposes rule to remove barriers to considering environmental, social, governance factors in plan management
October 13, 2021--Protecting security of families, businesses, workers from climate-related financial risks
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule that would remove barriers to plan fiduciaries' ability to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when they select investments and exercise shareholder rights.
The proposed rule,"Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights," follows Executive Order 14030, signed by President Biden on May 20, 2021. The order directs the federal government to implement policies to help safeguard the financial security of America's families, businesses and workers from climate-related financial risk that may threaten the life savings and pensions of U.S. workers and families.
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Source: dol.gov
SEC Modernizes Filing Fee Disclosure and Payment Methods
October 13, 2021--Amendments Will Help Automate Filing Fee Calculation and Validation, Update Fee Payment Options
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to modernize filing fee disclosure and payment methods. Operating companies and investment companies (funds) pay filing fees when engaging in certain transactions, including registered securities offerings, tender offers, and mergers and acquisitions.
The amendments revise most fee-bearing forms, schedules, and related rules to require companies and funds to include all required information for filing fee calculation in a structured format. The amendments also add new options for Automated Clearing House (ACH) and debit and credit card payment of filing fees and eliminate infrequently used options for filing fee payment via paper checks and money orders. The amendments are intended to improve filing fee preparation and payment processing by facilitating both enhanced validation through filing fee structuring and lower-cost, easily routable payments through the ACH payment option.
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Source: SEC.gov
SEC's 'complex' ETP probe could impact crypto ETFs
October 13, 2021--Investors are increasingly finding ways to access bitcoin outside the regulator's remit, lawyers and analysts warn
The Securities and Exchange Commission's indication that it is going to look more closely at how it regulates complex exchange traded products has implications for future bitcoin ETF rules, say attorneys and analysts.
Last week, SEC Chair Gary Gensler directed staff to study the risks of ETFs employing strategies "more complex than typical stocks and bonds" and draft potential rules to address those concerns.
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Source: ft.com
