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MAS grants final approval to Singapore Mercantile Exchange
August 12, 2010--Approval seen as milestone towards creation of a pan-Asian exchange from Singapore.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted “Approved Exchange” (AE) status to Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX), the final approval to operate as a regulated and licensed exchange.
SMX is the first pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange, according to a MAS report.
Mr. Jignesh Shah, Vice Chairman of SMX and Group CEO, Financial Technologies Group, said, “SMX will create a new generation international commodity and currency derivative trading platform at par with best global exchanges in New York and London. The development also stands testimony to FTIL’s domain knowledge and technological expertise in creating next generation financial markets. The approval from MAS is a significant milestone towards realizing SMX’s vision of creating a pan-Asian exchange from Singapore, one of the world’s most respected and reputed international financial centres and the best IFC from the East.”
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Source: Singapore Business
SGX seeks public opinion before launching Index Futures and Options contracts
August 12, 2010--The Singapore Exchange has said it is consulting the public on the proposed specifications for the SGX EURO STOXX 50 Index Futures and Options contracts.
The Futures contract is a standard, cash-settled futures contract based on the EURO STOXX 50 Index.
The Options contract, on the other hand, is a standard options contract based on the SGX EURO STOXX 50 Index Futures.
SGX said the proposed contracts would expand its existing suite of equity index futures and options beyond Asian-based products.
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Source: Chanel News Asia
Taiwan, Japan May Cross-List Exchange-Traded Funds
August 12, 2010-- Taiwan Stock Exchange is in talks to list exchange-traded funds in Japan to tap Asia’s largest stock market and advance its ambition of becoming an international fund-raising center.
“We have been studying it for some time but we are concerned about the demand for the product,” Taiwan Stock Exchange’s Senior Vice-President Michael Lin said in a phone interview today in Taipei, confirming a Commercial Times report. He said it’s unlikely the plan will be implemented this year. The sides have discussed listing each other’s ETFs since 2008, said Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. spokesman Naoya Takahashi.
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Source: Bloomberg Business Week
India looks to shake up its banks
August 11, 2010-India’s central bank has launched a review of bank ownership regulation that is expected to lead to the re-entry into the banking sector of some of the country’s largest industrial conglomerates, such as the Tata and Reliance groups.
The discussion paper from the Reserve Bank of India opens debate on whether large domestic industrial groups should be allowed to own banks again for the first time since the country’s financial sector was nationalised in 1969.
But it also made clear that the licences would favour Indian groups by proposing tougher restrictions on investment in domestically incorporated banks by foreign companies.
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Source: FT.com
China shows further signs of slowing
August 11, 2010--China’s economy continued to slow in July even as consumer price inflation rose again, intensifying the debate about whether recent efforts to tighten policy have gone too far.
As efforts to calm the property market and reduce energy consumption began to bite, the rate of increase in industrial production, fixed asset investment and retail sales all fell in July. New banks loans and money supply growth slowed.
Inflation jumped above the 3 per cent government target to 3.3 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent the month before. But factory-gate inflation fell from 6.4 per cent to 4.8 per cent.
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Source: FT.com
TOCOM to Allow Foreign Commodity Brokers to Trade through Intermediaries
August 10, 2010--Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“TOCOM” or the "Exchange") today announced that the Exchange enabled Foreign Commodity Brokers to participate in its market through Intermediaries and amended its Market Rules accordingly. This expands the number of ways through which a foreign market participant can trade on the TOCOM markets.
Until now, Foreign Commodity Brokers who wished to trade on the TOCOM markets needed to either acquire membership from the Exchange or consign trades directly to a TOCOM Broker Member (a member licensed to accept the consignment of trades in the commodity markets). However, recently, several Broker Members have converted their business category to “Intermediary”, under which they can intermediate the consignment of trades for commodity markets to a Broker Member, and some Foreign Commodity Brokers have also newly entered the market as Intermediaries, which led to an increased number of Intermediaries in Japan. Some of these Intermediaries actively pursue overseas marketing activities and a number of companies wished to be allowed to intermediate trades from Foreign Commodity Brokers.
In response to such needs, TOCOM has decided to lift restrictions on market access by Foreign Commodity Brokers through intermediaries in order to improve the convenience of its market. Having received approval from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry today, the Exchange has amended its Market Rules and Brokerage Rules accordingly and made them effective immediately.
Source: -Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)
China trade surplus widens
August 10, 2010-China’s trade surplus surged again in July to its highest level in 18 months, adding to the political pressure on Beijing to appreciate its currency more quickly and highlighting questions about global imbalances.
The trade surplus for July increased to $28.7bn, well ahead of the $20bn recorded in June and significantly more than analysts’ forecasts. The figure, one of China’s largest ever monthly surpluses, comes at a time when the US trade deficit has been widening.
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Source: FT.com
DB Index Research -- Asia-Pacific ETP Market Weekly Review
August 9, 2010--Overview
There are 228 equity based ETFs in the Asia Pacific region with 321 listings across 12 countries and 15 exchanges. Japan has the largest market share by AUM, accounting for 39.16% of the whole market, whilst China has the largest market share by turnover with 36.66%.
There was one new listing last week. MAPS Investment Management Company listed a commodity ETF on the Korea Stock Exchange which tracks S&P GSCI Crude Oil Enhanced Index.
Turnover
Monthly average daily turnover rose 1.6% in the last week. Turnover for the previous week was USD 857m. The largest ETF by turnover was the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker issued by BlackRock with USD 196m accounting for 22.8% of total turnover.
Assets Under Management
AUM declined 5% in the previous week. AUM as of Aug 6th was USD 64.9bn. The largest ETF by AUM is the iShares Asia Trust - iShares FTSE/Xinhua A50 China Tracker managed by BlackRock with AUM of USD 6.7bn.
To request a copy of the report
Source: DB Index Research
Hong Kong surges on earnings reports
August 6, 2010--Hong Kong stole the show among the region’s stock markets as it recorded its biggest weekly gain in four months on the back of some positive earnings reports
The Hang Seng index rose 0.6 per cent to a three-month high of 21,678.80 – taking its gain over the five-day period to 3.1 per cent. The index rose every day this week as the market shrugged off concerns that it was looking overvalued.
HSBC set a positive tone as its first-half profits more than doubled as bad debts fell. The bank’s shares rose 3.7 per cent over the week to HK$82.70.
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Source: FT.com
FSA publishes the status of Loans held by all banks as of end-March 2010, based on the Financial Reconstruction Act
August 6, 2010--1. Loans based on the Financial Reconstruction Act (FRA)
The total amount of loans held by all banks as of end-March 2010, based on the definition in the FRA(Act No.132 of 1998), is 11.7 trillion yen. The figure decreased by 0.2 trillion yen from 12.0 trillion yen as of end-March 2009.
[Table] Breakdown of the factors affecting changes in loans based on the FRA as of end-March 2010?(Trillion yen, changes from end-March 2009)
| Loans based on the FRA: | -0.2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Of which,) “Special attention loans”: | -0.0 | |||
| [Increase factors] | ||||
| Newly issued loans due to weakened business activities: | +0.9 | |||
| Upgrading from lower categories: (Improvement of business conditions of borrowers: 0.1, Establishment of restructuring plans: 0.0) |
+0.1 | |||
| [Decrease factors] | ||||
| Return to normal claims: (Improvement of business conditions of borrowers: -0.4, Establishment of restructuring plans: -0.3) |
-0.7 | |||
| Downgrading to lower categories | -0.5 | |||
| Repayment, etc. | +0.2 | |||
| (Of which,) “Doubtful and bankrupt/de facto bankrupt”: | -0.2 | |||
| [Increase factors] | ||||
| Newly issued loans due to weakened business activities: | +3.3 | |||
| Downgrading from upper categories: | +0.5 | |||
| [Decrease factor] | ||||
| Removal from B/S, etc: (Collection, Repayment, etc: -3.4, Liquidation of claims credit: -0.7) |
-4.1 | |||
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Source: FSA.go.jp
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