AKA calls for legal certainty in German provincial pensions
February 19, 2010--A key figure at the German association of local and church pension schemes (AKA) has claimed postponing funded pension schemes because of the financial crisis could be detrimental to trust in the pensions system. A number of German provinces have set up funded pensions systems over recent years.
But over recent months, the German province of Niedersachsen has halted plans to create a pension fund for civil servants while Bavarian officials have frozen payments to a similar vehicle. (See earlier IPE stories: Brandenburg starts to fund pension and Bavaria freezes contribution to public pension fund)
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Source: IP&E
New Source ETF on DAX Tradable at Deutsche Börse
February 18, 2010--An additional exchange-traded equity index fund issued by Source is now tradable on Xetra.
ETF name: DAX Source ETF
Asset class: Equity index ETF
ISIN: DE000A0X80V0
Management fee: 0.15 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: DAX®
This new Source ETF gives investors a further opportunity to invest in the performance of the DAX index. DAX is the most important German equity index, and as the fourth largest underlying for derivatives in the world, is a key equity index in the global financial markets. The DAX index is calculated by Deutsche Börse and tracks the performance of the 30 largest German companies in terms of order book turnover and market capitalization.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment currently contains a total of 556 exchange-listed index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges. This selection, together with an average monthly trading volume of €11 billion, makes Xetra Europe’s leading trading venue for ETFs.
Source: Deutsche Börse
LSEG Completes turquoise transaction to create new pan-european venture - David Lester appointed CEO of Turquoise-Baikal combination
February 18, 2010--London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) has completed its acquisition of Turquoise Trading Limited (Turquoise), paving the way for the creation of a new pan-European trading venture through a merger of the businesses of Turquoise and Baikal Global Limited (Baikal).
The new venture, which will continue to trade under the Turquoise name, aims to drive European trading volume growth and promote venue choice. It will benefit from synergies with LSEG infrastructure and the planned migration to MillenniumIT trading technology.
David Lester has been appointed CEO of Turquoise, in addition to his role as Director of Information Services for London Stock Exchange Group. Commenting on the completion, he said:
"I am really looking forward to working with the Turquoise and Baikal teams, and with clients, to build a successful pan-European trading business. Working in partnership with a number of major global banking firms, we have a tremendous opportunity to offer an attractive range of highly relevant and competitively priced products and services across Europe.
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Source: London Stock Exchange Group
ISE introduces new departments and amendments to its regulations
February 18, 2010--The amendments to the “Regulation of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) Organization, Duties and Principles of Operation” and some revisions in the market regulations went into force after being published in the Official Gazette dated February 16, 2010.
• The “Marketing Department” was established. The Marketing Department will be responsible for determining the marketing strategy for the Istanbul Stock Exchange markets and the securities traded, or to be traded on such markets, and also for determining, developing, and applying the marketing methods in harmony with such strategies, and reporting the results of the above mentioned activities.
• The International Relations Department was re-structured and the functions of the relevant department will henceforth be carried out by the following two separate departments:
-The “International Relations Department” will be responsible for establishing, developing and maintaining links between the Istanbul Stock Exchange and its counterparts worldwide, as well as foreign capital markets institutions, international investors and other related persons/institutions; and within this framework, to carry out the necessary arrangements within and outside the Istanbul Stock Exchange, to coordinate the related activities and to realize all relevant correspondence and research.
-The “Media and Public Relations Department” will be responsible for the ISE’s media and public relations, organization, advertisement and sponsorship activities within the framework of promoting the institutional identity of the Istanbul Stock Exchange; all activities related to Right to Information Law; investor relations and consultancy services.
• The following amendments were made in the ISE regulations:
-The accounts to be used by the market makers and the principles of using such accounts were amended in the ISE “Stock Market Regulation” and “Emerging Companies Market Regulation”.
-As a result of the amendments, primary market operations were allowed in the ISE “Bonds and Bills Market Regulation”.
-The rules pertaining to the Istanbul Stock Exchange membership admission fee, membership collaterals, types of collaterals, and reimbursement of collaterals were re-arranged in the “Istanbul Stock Exchange Regulation”.
Source: Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE)
SocGen eyes 'bounce-back' in 2010
February 18, 2010--Société Générale reported a slim profit for the fourth quarter as it looks to “bounce back” from a year where its performance was badly marred by its exposure to risky assets.
France’s second-largest bank by market value said net income for the three months ended December 31 increased to €221m ($300m), up from €87m for the same period in 2008.
The meagre profit was slightly better than analysts’ expectations after SocGen rattled markets in January by issuing an unexpected profit warning, caused by a fresh €1.4bn hit on assets linked to the subprime mortgage market.
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Source: FT.com
New capital rules seen to threaten Europe
February 18, 2010--Henri de Castries, Axa chief executive, warned regulators on Thursday that the level of prudence currently envisaged in the new capital rules for insurers being designed in Europe would threaten the continent’s long-term economic prospects.
Mr de Castries said that the principles behind the so-called Solvency II rules, which are meant to better match capital held with risks taken, were good but that supervisors would have to adjust their requirements to come back into line with the framework established by the European Parliament last year.
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Source: FT.com
February 2010: Flash Consumer Confidence Indicator
February 18, 2010-In February 2010, the DG ECFIN flash estimate of the consumer confidence indicator for the euro area signals the first fall after 10 months of improvement (down to -17.4 from -15.8 in January). Confidence declined also among EU consumers, but to a lesser extent (down to -13.6 from -13.1 in January).
The next Business and Consumer Survey is due to be published on 25 February 2010.
Full tables are available on:
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Source: EUROPA
FSA crackdown on takeover rule breaches
February 17, 2010--Companies will face unlimited fines if they break rules on reporting takeovers, the financial watchdog said on Wednesday after a penalty of only £1,000 was imposed on a billion-pound property fund.
Semperian PPP Investment Partners pleaded guilty at a court hearing packed with lawyers whose combined hourly rates – a good part of them paid by the taxpayer – were many times the fine imposed.
The Financial Services Authority said later: “Future cases will face a very different set of sanctions
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Source: FT.com
Bank of Ireland to change year end
February 17, 2010--Bank of Ireland has announced that it will change its year end, increasing speculation about an imminent rights issue to avoid having to take further government investment as it struggles to absorb large property loan write downs.
The bank, which hitherto used a March 31 year end, said on Wednesday that it would revert to a calendar year system, reporting the nine months results to December 31 in late March.
Sebastian Orsi, banks analyst with Merrion Capital, a Dublin stockbroker, said the change “provides the flexibility to attempt a rights issue in the second quarter”. He added: “I can see no other reason for doing this at this time.”
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Source: FT.com
First estimate for 2009--Euro area external trade surplus 22.3 bn euro-105.5 bn euro deficit for EU27
February 17, 2010--The first estimate for the euro area1 (EA16) trade balance with the rest of the world in December 2009 gave a 4.4 bn euro surplus, compared with -1.8 bn in December 2008. The November 20092 balance was +4.0 bn, compared with -6.9 bn in November 2008. In December 2009 compared with November 2009, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 3.1% and imports by 1.7%.
The first estimate for the December 2009 extra-EU271 trade balance was a 2.5 bn euro deficit, compared with -11.3 bn in December 2008. In November 20092 the balance was -6.8 bn, compared with -24.4 bn in November 2008. In December 2009 compared with November 2009, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 2.0% and imports by 0.5%.
During 2009, euro area trade recorded a surplus of 22.3 bn euro, compared with -54.7 bn in 2008. The EU27 recorded a deficit of 105.5 bn in 2009, compared with -258.4 bn in 2008.
These data3 are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
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Source: Eurostat
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