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New ETFlab Bond Index ETF Launched on Xetra
January 12, 2010--Another new listed bond index fund issued by ETFlab Investment GmbH, a subsidiary of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, has been tradable on Xetra since Tuesday.
ETF name: ETFlab iBoxx EUR Liquid Germany Covered Diversified
Asset class: Bond index ETF
ISIN: DE000ETFL359
Management fee: 0.09 percent
Distribution policy: distributing
Benchmark: Markit iBoxx EUR Liquid Germany Covered Diversified
The index tracks the market for German Jumbo Pfandbriefe (mortgage bonds) and comprises up to 30 liquid bonds with a minimum issue volume of 1 billion euros. A maximum of four Pfandbriefe per issuer can be included in the index. The maximum weighting per issuer is limited to 15 percent.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment currently contains a total of 550 exchange-listed index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges. This selection, together with an average monthly trading volume of 10 billion euros, makes Xetra Europe’s leading trading venue for ETFs.
Treasury calls for more choice in business finance
January 12, 2010--Work to increase options for UK businesses in need of non-bank finance is the subject of a discussion document released by the Treasury today. The document seeks views on the barriers to more diverse financing for firms with the intention to introduce proposals for reform later in the year.
Financial Services Secretary to the Treasury, Paul Myners said:
“The extraordinary events in credit markets over the past two years have shown that the continued availability of any single form of business finance cannot be taken for granted. Right across the world, firms that had relied on loans from banks to finance their operations found themselves in a very difficult situation when bank lending contracted.
“Here in the UK, our large corporations have had a great deal of success in accessing finance directly from credit markets with a surge in corporate bond issuances. Smaller firms, however, have not been able to similarly replace bank lending by directly tapping financial markets or non-bank financing.
“A more diverse funding market, where large and mid-size firms can go directly to markets or have options other than banks when they are looking for support, would clearly be an advantage to the UK economy, not just in economic slowdowns.”
The Treasury announced its plans to publish a discussion paper on non-bank lending channels in December’s Pre-Budget Report. Today’s document focuses on a range of issues relating to business finance including:
credit assessment and monitoring;
corporate transparency;
transparency in the pricing of bank loans
UK investor preferences;
non-bank loan markets and high yield bond markets.
The document attempts to identify barriers to the development of these alternative sources of finance.
The Treasury is seeking feedback from interested parties, particularly the investor and business communities. To focus this, questions are identified throughout the document.
View the Discussion paper on developing non-bank lending channels for UK businesses
Greece taking steps to meet fiscal challenges: Van Rompuy
January 12, 2010--Greece is now taking steps to meet the "substantial" challenge posed by its huge debt and public deficit, the European Union's new permanent president said on Tuesday.
"Greece faces very substantial economic and fiscal challenges and it is a matter of common interest for the European Union as a whole and more particularly for the members of the eurozone that Greece manages to meet those challenges," Herman Van Rompuy told reporters during a visit to Athens.
Greece, which is mired in recession, has a public spending deficit that rose to 12.7 percent of output last year, far above the 3.0 percent ceiling permitted to countries sharing the euro currency.
NASDAQ OMX Commodities and Nord Pool Spot Launch UK Power Market N2EX
January 12, 2010--NASDAQ OMX Commodities, a
business unit of The NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq:NDAQ), and Nord Pool Spot today announced the successful launch of N2EX, its marketplace for
physical UK power contracts. The launch included a day-ahead auction
and a prompt market.
"After an intensive year of development and preparations with the UK
market participants, we are very pleased with the day-ahead auction
results and the volumes currently being traded on the first day of the
prompt market. The total traded volume on the day-ahead auction which
closed at 10:30 CET was 6,987 MWh. The prompt market is still open for
trading and the so far traded volumes have exceeded expectations," said
Hans Randen, director trading in Nord Pool Spot.
"The good start for the N2EX market solution in the UK power market bodes well for the later launch of the derivatives market," commented Geir Reigstad, head of NASDAQ OMX Commodities.
N2EX will establish a reference price based on the physical market. The reference price will be the basis for its planned derivatives market.
N2EX is the result of a market initiative to inject liquidity back into
the UK power market. In 2008, the Futures and Options Association (FOA)
selected a consortium bid from Nord Pool Spot AS and NASDAQ OMX
Commodities as a result of their extensive expertise. Nord Pool Spot
runs the largest physical power market in the world, while NASDAQ OMX
Commodities provides access to the world's largest power derivatives
exchange and one of Europe's largest carbon markets, together with Nord
Pool ASA.
For further information, please go to www.n2ex.com.
Single Stock Dividend Futures Trading Launched with Société Générale as First Market Maker
January 11, 2010--The international derivatives exchange Eurex announced that trading of single stock dividend futures started today. For the first time, the pure dividend component of the underlying stocks of a benchmark equity index is available for exchange trading and clearing as a stand-alone product in Europe. The launch was supported by Société Générale, which provides two-way prices in all 25 products throughout the day in these new products.
Eurex recorded already first trading volume during the morning. The new futures contracts cover the annual dividends of 25 of the constituents of the European benchmark index Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50®. The exchange intends to list the remaining 25 constituents on 1 March 2010 and will continue to seek additional liquidity providers over the coming weeks.
Peter Reitz, member of the Eurex Executive Board, said: “Société Générale as first market maker in the new dividend futures will strongly contribute to the liquidity of these contracts from launch. Société Générale as one of the largest participants in the over-the-counter market in this asset class adds further credibility and acceptance to the new futures contracts that will likely attract significant investor interest going forward.”
Today’s launch extends the successfully introduced index dividend futures on the Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50, launched in June 2008. The Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Index dividend futures currently trades around 10,000 contracts daily, volume in 2009 was over 2.5 million contracts. Further dividend index futures are available for the indices DAX®, DivDAX®, Dow Jones EURO STOXX® Select Dividend 30 and SMI®.
Successful Business Development for Eurex Repo in 2009
Record results for EUR repo and GC Pooling markets in 2009
Expansion of GC Pooling planned to include secured financing in US dollars
January 11, 2010--Eurex Repo, a leading electronic marketplace for international repo trading and secured financing, continued to further grow last year. The volumes in the secured money market segment GC Pooling and the EUR repo market reached new record levels.
GC Pooling achieved €73 billion average outstanding volumes in 2009 on an annual basis. This volume development contributed to the annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 94 percent since its market launch in 2005.
Marcel Naas, Managing Director of Eurex Repo, said, “Our business model comprising anonymous electronic trading, central clearing and efficient collateral management via Clearstream really proved itself last year. The option of re-using collateral to generate refinancing capacity via the central bank was a particular contributing factor towards both the acceptance of the GC Pooling market and the stabilization of the money market, and helped our clients considerably in their liquidity management. The growth in volume in GC Pooling underscores the advantage of our solution; the rise in the number of participants in GC Pooling by almost 30 percent to the current 35 is further proof.”
The EUR repo market also recorded growth: Average outstanding volume in December 2009 was €99.4 billion, and for the year as a whole, €98.6 billion. Fifteen new participants joined in 2009, taking the total to 61. The CHF repo market remains slightly below the previous year’s high level.
Eurex Repo plans to further expand the GC Pooling market in 2010, and together with Clearstream, to launch new baskets with additional securities categories and currencies. Secured financing in US dollars is to be offered as soon as the end of January 2010.
Financial Stability Board Launches Peer Review On Compensation And Invites Feedback From Stakeholders
January 11, 2010--The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has launched a peer review of implementation of the FSB Principles for Sound Compensation Practices and their Implementation Standards. The Principles and Standards were endorsed by the G20 Leaders at their Summits in London in April 2009 and Pittsburgh in September 2009. In their Pittsburgh statement, G20 Leaders tasked the FSB “to monitor the implementation of FSB standards and propose additional measures as required by March 2010.”
The peer review on compensation will focus on the steps being taken or planned by FSB member jurisdictions to ensure effective application of the Principles and Standards, as well as progress to date in implementation by significant financial institutions.
A template (attached) to collect information from national authorities was distributed to FSB members in December 2009, and the responses will be analysed and discussed by the FSB. The initial review is to be completed by March 2010 and the report will be published.
As part of this review, we welcome feedback from financial institutions and other stakeholders on practical experiences in implementing the FSB Principles and Standards (or the respective national rules) – including descriptions of how compensation arrangements at financial institutions have changed in practice (governance, pay structures, risk adjustments), areas where implementation is proving challenging, and issues of consistency in regulatory responses across sectors and jurisdictions. Feedback can be submitted by 1 February 2010 to fsb@bis.org under the subject heading “FSB Thematic Peer Review on Compensation.” Individual submissions will not be made public.
view the FSF Principles for Sound Compensation Practices
view the FSB Principles for Sound Compensation Practices-Implementation Standards
Financial Stability Board meets on the financial reform agenda
January 11, 2010--The Financial Stability Board (FSB) met in Basel on 9 January to take forward the regulatory policy reform agenda and reaffirm the timelines for policy development and implementation in 2010. The meeting also agreed on a framework for strengthening adherence to international standards, and reviewed current conditions and adjustment in the financial system.
Financial conditions
Financial conditions have strengthened across a range of markets in recent months. For many financial institutions, access to liquidity and capital from the private sector has improved. As a result, a variety of emergency financial sector support measures put in place during the crisis are being withdrawn or scaled back. Although there are signs of recovery in the global system as a whole, the strength of that recovery is increasingly differentiated among markets and institutions. The policy response, including continued official support, may therefore need to be more targeted to addressing specific areas of weakness than during the crisis itself and its immediate aftermath. It is important that liquidity and risk capital be directed toward supporting credit to sectors that will contribute to a stronger real economy,economy, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
Improving financial regulation
Further work is essential to address the underlying weaknesses that gave rise to the crisis. Momentum is being maintained towards meeting the clear targets set by G20 Leaders for improving financial regulation. Coordination is taking place to achieve consistency across borders and maintain a level playing field. Sound compensation practices. FSB members are undertaking substantial changes in oversight of compensation practices to assure they are better aligned with risk.
Tradegate Exchange successfully launched as regulated exchange
Increase in trading activity on the first few days of trading this year
Deutsche Börse finalizes acquisition of majority interest
January 11, 2010--Since the start of trading in 2010, yet another regulated stock exchange
has been in operation in Germany, namely the Berlin-based Tradegate Exchange.
With effect from 4 January, the former OTC trading platform has been awarded the status “regulated market” as defined in the MiFID.
Deutsche Börse AG has acquired a 75-percent interest plus 1 share in Tradegate Exchange GmbH, the stock exchange operator. Deutsche Börse AG also holds a 5-percent stake in Tradegate AG Wertpapierhandelsbank, one of the market makers on the Tradegate Exchange. This transaction was closed last Friday. Deutsche Börse has the option of gradually increasing its stake in Tradegate AG to a maximum of 20 percent. The two members of the Management Board of Tradegate Exchange GmbH have been appointed.
“We want to continue the exceptional success enjoyed by Tradegate and expand this retail business further as a regulated exchange in Europe. With trading hours from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm, the lowest trading costs among its peers, and functions and order types geared towards private investors, the Tradegate Exchange has significant advantages over its competitors”, said Jochen Thiel, member of the Management Board of Tradegate Exchange GmbH and Executive Director at Deutsche Börse.
Thorsten Commichau, who is also member of the Management Board of Tradegate Exchange GmbH, looks back at the rise in trading activity during the first week of trading in 2010: “On our first day of trading alone, around 5,000 more trades were concluded than the daily average in December 2009. The number continued to rise during the first week of trading.”
From 2001 to the end of 2009, the market share and trading activity of TRADEGATE, which was formerly an OTC trading platform, enjoyed ongoing and significant growth. From just under 40,000 trades in 2001, the number had risen to around 2.4 million by the end of 2009. In December 2009, just under 175,000 trades valued at 835.3 million euros were concluded on the Tradegate platform. The average order size in December was around 4,800 euros, which underscores the Tradegate Exchange’s focus on retail business.
Deutsche Börse’s majority interest in Tradegate Exchange GmbH will serve to expand its trading offering for private investors and strengthen its position in the European retail market; with the Tradegate Exchange, it will be operating a platform which offers particularly online brokers new trading functions, longer trading hours and innovative order types at attractive prices. Deutsche Börse AG’s participation will give market participants additional access and settlement alternatives based on existing infrastructures and processes, providing the ideal conditions for them to integrate Tradegate Exchange.
Two New UBS ETFs Launched on Xetra
ETFs on MSCI country/regional indices listed in XTF segment
January 8, 2010--Two more exchange-listed equity index funds issued by UBS ETF SICAV have been tradable on Xetra since Friday. Both UBS ETFs are based on the MSCI index family. These equity indices are weighted according to free float market capitalization and track the performance of international equity markets. The two UBS ETFs are primarily aimed at institutional investors.
ETF name: UBS-ETF MSCI Canada I
Asset class: Equity index ETF
ISIN: LU0446734955
Management fee: 0.28 percent
Distribution policy: distributing
Benchmark: MSCI Canada Index
The MSCI Canada Index tracks the performance of Canadian companies which, combined, represent 85 percent of market capitalization in Canada.
ETF name: UBS-ETF MSCI EMU I
Asset class: Equity index ETF
ISIN: LU0446735093
Management fee: 0.18 percent
Distribution policy: distributing
Benchmark: MSCI EMU Index
The MSCI EMU (European Economic and Monetary Union) Index tracks the performance of the equity markets of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The following industrialized nations are included: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
