ASIC releases report on regulating complex products
January 31, 2014--With financial products and markets continually growing in complexity, ASIC has reviewed its approach to regulating complex products.
Today ASIC has published Report 384 Regulating complex products (REP 384) about its review. REP 384:
outlines the risks posed by complex products to retail investors
sets out ASIC's recent and current work on complex products, including considering the whole of the product lifecycle-development, distribution, sale, and post-sale, and
identifies opportunities for further work, including working with industry, where appropriate.
view the ASIC Regulating complex products report
Source: ASIC
China leads big drop in Asia ETF inflows
January 31, 2014--The Asia exchange-traded fund market, excluding Japan, suffered a sharp drop in inflows in 2013, with some of the top ETF providers in China worst hit.
Industry participants say market conditions, which go hand-in-hand and with ETF flows in the region, were unfavourable, weighing on investor sentiment.
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Source: FT.com
Onshore liquidity crunch to undermine China credit
January 30, 2014--The market for Chinese credits is likely to remain under pressure from rising bond supply and risk of corporate defaults.
These are the side effects from the cyclical deterioration in the mainland's borrowing conditions that result from a more constrained financial sector.
In the short term, market risks will be dominated by tighter financial conditions-reduced availability and higher cost of credit-which results in financial sector deleveraging, according to a Morgan Stanley report.
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Source: Financial Asia
India fights inflation with surprise rate rise
Reserve Bank of India increases interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to ease inflation
January 28, 2014--India's central bank unexpectedly increased interest rates on Tuesday, in a move to tackle stubbornly high inflation.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 8pc, its third rise since its new governor Raghuram Rajan took office in September.
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Source: The Telegraph
DB-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy -Asia-Pac Weekly ETF Market Review - China ETFs record inflows, Japan saw outflows
January 28, 2014--Data in this report is as of 24 January 2014.
Market Review
Last week,all the major markets in the Asia-Pacific region remained in negative territory except China. Compared to the week before,from north to south:
Japan (Nikkei 225) -2.18%
South Korea (KOSPI2) -0.22%
China (CSI 300) +3.08%
Hong Kong (HSI) -2.95%
Singapore (FSSTI) -2.27%
Australia (S&P/ASX 200) -1.22%
New Product Launch Review
Last week,one new product was launched in the Asia-Pacific ETP market. Invesco Great Wall Fund Management listed one equity ETF (159935 CH) on Shenzhen Stock Exchange tracking the CSI 500 Index.
ETP Weekly Flows – Weekly inflows into China,while Japan saw outflows
Last week,Asia-Pacific ETP market recorded outflows of -$0.2bn vs. +$0.3bn of inflows for the previous week,setting the YTD weekly flows average at +$0.3bn (+$1.1bn YTD in total flows). Developed markets equity ETFs experienced weekly outflows of -$234mn while emerging markets equity ETFs collected inflows of +$68mn over the last week. On a country level,ETFs benchmarked to China recorded inflows of +$142mn,while Japan benchmarked ETFs saw outflows of -$362mn.
Winners and losers: At ETP level,Nomura Nikkei 225 ETF (1321 JP) and Tracker Fund of Hong Kong (2800 HK) were the largest flows receivers of the week collecting +$308mn and +$92mn respectively. Over the same period,biggest outflows were experienced by Maxis Nikkei 225 ETF (1346 JP),Daiwa ETF - Nikkei 225 (1320 JP) and Daiwa ETF - Topix (1305 JP) recording -$286mn,-$185mn and -$178mn of outflows respectively.
Turnover Review – Floor activity up by 8.5%
Asia-Pacific ETP turnover totaled $14bn for the last week,8.5% up from the previous week’s total. Stock exchanges in Japan remained on the top of the turnover ranking with $6.3bn turnover,followed by South Korea ($3.3bn),China ($2.3bn) and Hong Kong ($1.8bn). Among equity ETFs,leveraged long strategy,emerging country,Asia-Pac developed country and short strategy ETFs had total turnover of $5.9bn,$4.6bn,$1.9bn and $0.7bn respectively. Within fixed income asset class,money market and sovereign ETFs recorded turnover of $0.2bn and $0.1bn over the last week respectively.
Assets under Management Review – Assets decreased by $0.6bn
Last week, Asia-Pacific ETP AUM decreased by $0.6bn and ended the week at $163.7bn. On a year-to-date basis,Asia-Pacific ETP market is down by $3.8bn or 2.3% below last year’s closing.
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Source: Deutsche Bank-Synthetic Equity & Index Strategy -Asia
China moves to quell investor concerns
January 27, 2014--China's local governments have published separate audit reports detailing their combined public debt of $3 trillion for the first time ever, to increase transparency and quell investor concerns.
The audits showed China's wealthiest eastern provinces are the most indebted, though repayment burdens are more onerous in poorer areas such as the southwestern province of Guizhou, where the ratio of debt to GDP is the highest, at 79%.
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Source: FIN24
China Universal gains license to launch classification fund tracking Hang Seng Index
January 27, 2014--Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (Hang Seng Indexes) announced on January 24 that it has granted a license to China Universal Asset Management Co Ltd (China Universal) to launch a classification fund linked to the Hang Seng Index.
The fund commenced its initial public offering (IPO) on January 24 and will be listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the form of a listed open-ended fund (LOF).
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Source: ETFI Asia
NASDAQ OMX Opens New Office in Bangalore, India
Opening Underscores NASDAQ OMX's Ongoing Business Growth in Southeast Asia, Dedication to R&D
January 26, 2014--NASDAQ OMX (Nasdaq:NDAQ) has opened a new office in Bangalore which will focus on developing new technologies and innovating current solutions, including the next generation Investor Relations platform.
The opening underscores the expansion of the global exchange company's footprint in India, as it looks to deepen its business relationships and outreach within the Southeast Asia region.
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Source: NASDAQ OMX
Yuan use rises to 8th position
January 24, 2014-International payments in renminbi surge
The yuan became the world's eighth most-used currency in international payments in December, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication said on Thursday.
Lifted by the Chinese government's efforts to promote its global clout, the yuan overtook 22 currencies over the past three years to achieve a market share of 1.12 percent, just behind the Swiss franc, which held a share of 1.29 percent.
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Source: China Daily Asia
KKR, BlackRock, funds in talks to buy stake in China Huarong: sources
January 24, 2014--KKR & Co (KKR.N) and BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) are among leading global investors in talks to buy a stake in China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd as the bad debt manager seeks to raise more than $2 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Other investors in the hunt include rival private equity firms Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Bain Capital, the people familiar with the matter said, Sovereign wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East are also in a group of 20 or so investors preparing to submit first-round offers by mid-February, they said.
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Source: Reuters