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Publication of the Revision on the Designation of the International Financial Reporting Standards for their Voluntary Application in Japan
March 3, 2010--The Financial Services Agency (FSA) completed the public consultation and updated the list of Designated International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), allowing all IFRSs and International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) interpretations approved and issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on or before December 31, 2009, to be used in the voluntary application of IFRS in Japan by certain Japanese listed companies (“Specified Companies”) starting from the consolidated fiscal years ending on or after March 31, 2010. During the public consultation period, the FSA received 6 sets of comments, which did not oppose to the proposed list of Designated IFRSs, and the FSA has decided to update the list of Designated IFRSs as proposed.
1. Background
On December 11, 2009, the FSA published a set of revised Cabinet Office Ordinances for the voluntary application of IFRS in Japan. With this revision, Japanese listed companies which meet certain requirements (“Specified Companies”) will be given the option to prepare their consolidated financial statements, starting from the consolidated fiscal years ending on or after March 31, 2010, by applying IFRSs designated by the Commissioner of the FSA through public notice.
(Note) The Commissioner of the FSA will designate and publish in the Official Gazette, those IFRSs published by the IASB which are recognized as having been approved and issued through fair and reasonable due process and are expected to be considered as being fair and appropriate financial reporting standards from the viewpoint of investor protection and market integrity in Japan (“Designated IFRSs”). The official designation is preceded by a public consultation process to listen to a wide range of stakeholders and reflect their views in the decision making. On December 11, 2009, the Commissioner of the FSA designated after such public consultation the entire IFRSs and IFRIC interpretations approved and issued by the IASB, on or before June 30, 2009.
The FSA put under public consultation the draft of the revised Regulatory Notices, etc. from January 20 to February 22, 2010, with an intention to update the list of Designated IFRSs for their voluntary application in Japan.
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Source: FSA.go.jp
BlackRock to beef up ETFs in Japan - Nikkei
March 1, 2010--BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) plans to broaden its lineup of exchange-traded funds as part of efforts to expand its Japanese operations, the Nikkei business daily said citing an interview with the chief executive of the U.S. asset management company.
Last December's acquisition of Barclays Global Investors -- including its iShares ETF brand -- has prepared BlackRock to broaden its product lineup and better meet clients' needs, Chief Executive Laurence Fink told the Nikkei.
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Source: Reuters
ETF Landscape: China ETFs Industry Review - Year End 2009
March 1, 2010--At the end of 2009 there were 53 ETFs globally tracking Chinese benchmarks with US$32.3 Bn in assets under management from 28 providers on 21 exchanges around the world. The United States has the highest concentration of Chinese ETF AUM with US$12.47 Bn in 21 ETFs, followed by Hong Kong with US$9.97 Bn AUM in 12 ETFs, and China with US$5.87 Bn AUM in eight locally domiciled ETF
There are now 20 ETFs with US$14.4 Bn tracking A share indices listed in Hong Kong and Singapore.
visit Blackrock for more information
Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Blackrock
China Pledges Stable Yuan to Help Ailing Exporters
February 26, 2010--China reaffirmed its determination on Thursday to hold down the yuan's exchange rate to help its beleaguered exporters.
Beijing is under pressure, especially from the United States and the European Union, to let the currency rise to relieve their own exporters and so reduce their big trade deficits with China.
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Source: Reuters
Nomura raises $3bn in first dollar bond sale
February 26, 2010--Nomura has sold $3bn worth of bonds in its first dollar-denominated offering and the biggest by a Japanese financial institution in nearly four years as it seeks to raise its profile as an investment bank.
The brokerage, which in 2008 bought Lehman’s Asian and European operations , is trying to diversify funding sources. It sold €1.2bn ($1.6bn) of bonds in Europe last December.
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Source: FT.com
DB Index Research -- Weekly ETF Reports - Asia-Pacific
February 25, 2010--Highlights
Market Overview
There are 204 equity based ETFs in the Asia Pacific region with 269 listings across 12 countries and 15 exchanges. Japan has the largest market share by AUM accounting for 39.97% of the whole market, whilst China has the largest market share by turnover with 44.36%.
There were six new listings in the last week. Deutsche Bank AG listed one new Equity ETF and three new Fixed Income ETFs on Singapore Stock Exchange. Nomura AM and Mizuho AM listed one new commodity ETF each on Osaka Stock Exchange, Japan. All the new listings were Primary listings.
Turnover
Monthly average daily turnover remained at about the same level in the last week. Turnover for the previous week was USD 869m. The largest ETF by turnover was the China 50 ETF issued by China Asset Management with USD 230m accounting for 26.5% of total turnover.
Assets Under Management
AUM rose 1.2% in the previous week. AUM as of Feb 22nd were USD 60.6bn. The largest ETF by AUM is the TOPIX ETF managed by Nomura Asset Management with AUM of USD 6.2bn.
To request a copy of the report
Source: Aram Flores and Shan Lan -DB Index Research
India May Grow 8.2% Next Year, Allowing Stimulus Exit
February 25, 2010-- India’s economic growth may surpass 8 percent in the coming financial year, Finance Ministry projections showed, allowing scope for a reduction in stimulus measures that would help the nation restrain its debt burden.
“The economy has posted a remarkable recovery from the global recession,” according to the annual Economic Survey prepared by officials advising Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, released in New Delhi today. “The recovery creates scope for a gradual rollback, in due course, of some of the measures undertaken over the last 15 to 18 months.”
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Source: Bloomberg
Sustainable investment opportunities in Asia (excl. Japan) massively underestimated - potential of up to USD 4,000 billion by 2015
February 24, 2010--A study just published by the Vontobel Group shows that investors are significantly underestimating Asia in terms of its sustainability. The Asian region (excl. Japan) offers a very high yield potential for sustainable investments, whereby the assets under management could increase from their current level of USD 20 billion to as much as USD 4,000 billion. Vontobel's sustainability experts are seeing a tremendous pace of change in social, environmental and corporate governance standards within the region. Investors are familiar with the corresponding risks but underestimate the potential, thanks to the major progress achieved in data availability, for identifying Asian companies with high standards of sustainability and for optimising their investments accordingly.
Falko Paetzold, author of the sustainability study: "With the information we have collated and evaluated we enable investors for the first time to reliably identify the factors in the success of sustainable investments in Asia and consequently to invest successfully in this huge growth market."
The latest Vontobel study entitled "Sustainable Investing in Asia - Uncovering Opportunities and Risks" for the very first time provides an in-depth examination of the true importance and development of a sustainable path of economic growth in Asia (excl. Japan) and comes to the following conclusions, amongst others:
Asia is faced with massive environmental problems and social challenges in a range of areas. By contrast to the West, however, it is not civil society which is demanding and driving forward a process of sustainable development, it is the governments themselves who are taking extremely decisive action in countering these acute problems with various broadly-based initiatives.
Asian companies are tackling the challenges in differing ways. In this context, the difference between progressive companies with comprehensive sustainability initiatives and those companies whose actions are of a more defensive nature is much greater than in Europe. Contrary to the assumption amongst many investors, we are seeing a rapid improvement in the situation regarding information on these topics.
Vontobel anticipates strong growth in the volumes of sustainable investments in Asia (excl. Japan) by 2015. The current USD 20 billion in sustainable investments represents just 0.4 percent of the global "sustainable" assets under management. An increase up to the current global average share of sustainable investments alone would mean such assets rising to USD 1.5 trillion in this region. A corresponding growth in the sustainable global assets under management could in fact see the assets increasing up to USD 4.0 trillion in 2015.
view the Sustainable Investing in Asia - Uncovering Opportunities and Risks report
Source: Vontobel
Thailand-SEC approves Thai ETFs on foreign ETFs
February 24, 2010--The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the guidelines for the launch of exchange-traded funds (ETF), to raise funds in Thailand for investment in foriegn ETFs.
The investible foreign ETFs are required to link to common products, demonstrate passive investment instrategies and be tradable on the exchanges which are members of the World Federation of Exchange.
Source: The Nation
WDX Organisation Announces Historic First As Oil-Based Product Is Priced In World Currency Unit (WOCU)
February 24, 2010--WDX Organisation Ltd., the company behind the
Wocu (World Currency Unit) is delighted to announce its agreement with Navitas
Resources, the specialist energy and climate commodity trade facilitator. In a world first, the new Navitas electronic exchange intends to price marine fuel (bunker fuel) in Wocu, alongside USD, from Q2 2010. The agreement follows Navitas joining WDX’s Early Participation Scheme earlier this year.
Importantly this will enable shipping companies to tender in either Wocu or Dollars for quotes at various ports around the world for marine fuel products and allow suppliers to place offers in the market 24/7. The marine fuel market is around 200 million metric
tonnes a year globally, valued at approximately $100bn per year. Because the Wocu is a
derivative of the exchange rates of the world’s top 20 economies (as measured by GDP)
its use is expected to significantly reduce currency fluctuations compared to pricing in
USD. It is anticipated that both consumer and producer will benefit greatly from the
smoothing effect of the Wocu, as the oil industry and consumers are exposed
significantly to USD currency volatility.
Navitas Resources, based in Singapore, is in the business of developing trading markets. Its NR-X electronic online platform allows suppliers and consumers to buy, sell and tender in various physical commodity markets over a safe, anonymous and secure network. It is the first physical trading platform to support the Wocu, differentiating it substantially from other trading platform exchanges.
Francesca Zerenghi, CEO of Navitas Resources, said, “We are taking a leading role in the development of non-US denominated commodity transactions. Both energy companies and developing countries with significant US dollar exposure will have the opportunity to reduce volatility in their earnings and balance sheet through the use of the Wocu. We became an Early Participation Scheme member of the WDX Organisation Ltd, along with leading foreign exchange companies and securities firms, as we strongly believe that developing markets should have access to a trading platform where they can control their risk much more effectively. Reducing exchange rate fluctuation risk enhances this considerably. ”
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Source: WOCU
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