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Deutsche Bank strikes billion-euro takeover deal

October 28, 2009--Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank has struck a deal to buy Sal. Oppenheim, a Luxembourg-based private banking group, for 1.0 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars), Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

"With this transaction, Deutsche Bank strengthens its position among high-net-worth private clients, especially in Germany," a statement said.

"Sal. Oppenheim's Asset and Wealth Management activities will be maintained and expanded in the future under the private bank's established brand and preserve Sal. Oppenheim's identity, values, culture and service quality."

read more

Source: ETF Express

Eurozone lending sees first fall

October 27, 2009--Bank lending to companies operating in the eurozone fell in September for the first time on record, according to the European Central Bank.

Lending fell at an annual rate of 0.3%, compared with a modest annual growth of 0.1% in August.

The fall comes at a time when European governments are pumping money into their economies to try to lift lending. read more

Source: BBC

comdirect Bank And Boerse Stuttgart Set Up Stiftung Rechnen Foundation

Stock exchange promotes numerical skills in Germany/ The Stiftung Rechnen foundation is a further central module in the expansion of the stock exchange's educational activities / Christoph Lammersdorf: “Only the numerate can really understand financial products.”
October 27, 2009--In October 2009, Boerse Stuttgart, Germany’s leading stock exchange for private investors, in conjunction with comdirect bank founded the Stiftung Rechnen foundation, based in Hamburg.

It has been recognised as a legally independent civil law foundation by the responsible authorities. Its aims are to promote education, science and research in the field of numerical skills and mathematics. The foundation also supports non-profit institutions and educational establishments by procuring and passing on subsidies. With the Stiftung Rechnen foundation Boerse Stuttgart, as one of its founders, has consistently expanded its activities within the framework of its educational initiative. In order to increase pupils’ knowledge of financial products, Boerse Stuttgart entered into a cooperation with the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry for Nutrition and Rural Areas and for Culture, Youth and Sport at the beginning of the year. Boerse Stuttgart provides pupils with teaching materials about everything to do with investment and on topics concerning the stock exchange.

“As a scientist, I am particularly interested in promoting mathematics. So the Stiftung Rechnen foundation is something that I find very important. Good, sound numerical skills should be as self-evident as reading skills. They are the basis for successful financial planning. Only the numerate can really understand financial products and the capital markets. With the Stiftung Rechnen foundation we have created a central port of call for all who make efforts to support the development of numerical skills,” said Christoph Lammersdorf, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart AG.

With the legally independent civil law foundation, its founders, comdirect bank and Boerse Stuttgart, have established a central port of call for further partners from the fields of science, industry, politics and society. Under its umbrella companies and organisations can become involved in the same way as individuals. The first partners and sponsors are the PwC Foundation, the society for social research and statistical analysis forsa, the Ernst Klett publishing house, Münster University’s Mathe-Meister project, the Scout24 Group and the bettermarks online learning system.

The Board of Trustees of the Stiftung Rechnen foundation comprises leading figures from science and industry: Prof. Günter M. Ziegler, who until 2008 was the President of the German Mathematicians’ Association (DMV) and the driving force behind the Year of Mathematics 2008, Prof. Dr. Martin Stein from the Institute for Didactics, Mathematics and Computer Science at Münster University, Christoph Lammersdorf, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart AG, Dr. Martin Enderle, CEO of the Scout24 Group and Dr. Christian Diekmann, CFO of comdirect bank AG.

Source: Boerse Stuttgart

The PLUS primary market continues to attract support

October 27, 2009--September saw a flurry of activity on the PLUS stock exchange. Although market conditions remain very challenging, the primary market enjoyed its busiest month since January.

New applications and admissions - two new companies joined the exchange (Technis International and Choice XS) and a further 3 made application to admit to the market. There are now six new companies in the pipeline from a range of sectors including entertainment, media, software, finance and telecommunications

Mergers and acquisitions - the flurry of activity on the exchange was not just limited to new entrants.

Cantina Augusto announced the acquisition of Fast Consultants Limited to expand their business further in the restaurant sector. Contract catering business Bright Futures Group acquired Jill Bartlett & Company Limited and Fairholt Resource Investment announced the proposed acquisition of Magnolia Petroleum.

New corporate advisers - joining PLUS as corporate advisers in Q3 were Strand Hanson Limited (formerly Strand Partners) and Zimmerman Adams International.

Regional marketing - following successful international marketing campaigns in South East Asia, PLUS continues to invest in pre-IPO events in support of the home market.

Most recently the exchange spoke at events in the Yorkshire/North East (Leeds) and the Midlands (Oxford), where the forums were well-received and attended by a host of prospective UK growth companies and advisers.

PLUS' pre-IPO seminars have been attracting strong interest from growth companies domestically and internationally. The next event is for London/South East and will take place on 18 November in London. For further details, please see http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/PLUS_events.shtml.

New standard segment for officially listed companies - in October, PLUS announced increased flexibility in its product offering for fully listed companies and funds. The exchange opened its standard segment for UK and international companies seeking access to the Official List via the FSA’s new streamlined “Standard” listing regime.*

“Primary market activity on PLUS-quoted picked up in Q3. During September we saw an upturn in admissions, applications and M&A activity on our stock exchange. Interest in the PLUS stock exchange remains high at all levels amongst both our home market and the international audience.” said Head of Capital Markets, Paul Haddock. *

http://www.plusmarketsgroup.com/pressreleases/PressreleasePMG20091001ListingRulesConsultation.pdf END. Notes to editors: PLUS Markets is a stock exchange in London with Recognised Investment Exchange status. Its offering includes the full range of stock exchange activities, namely: listing/quotation destinations, trading, and the provision of proprietary market data. As a listing and quotation destination, the PLUS primary market offers companies, funds, market professionals/issuers straightforward and cost-effective access to London’s capital markets. Growth companies can float on the PLUS-quoted market, an exchange-regulated market with clear, flexible and transparent entry criteria, while the PLUS-listed market offers a choice of admission options for companies or funds and provides access to the Official List of the FSA’s UK Listing Authority (Standard or Premium segments). Contact details John Parry, Rostron Parry + 44 (0) 207 490 8062 Rachel Maguire, PLUS Markets Group + 44 (0) 207 553 2000

Source: PLUS Market

CESR calls for evidence on the use of a standard reporting format for financial reporting

October 27, 2009--CESR issued today a call for evidence on the use of a standard reporting format for financial reporting of issuers having securities admitted to trading on regulated markets.

A standard reporting format for financial reporting would enable automated processing of financial information, cutting out the need for manual re-entry and comparison.

Investors, analysts, journalists, and financial intermediaries would be able to search information about companies on the internet more easily, to download the information into spreadsheets, to reorganise it in databases, and to put it to other comparative and analytical uses.

CESR invites responses to this consultation paper by 30 November 2009.

View The Use of a Standard Reporting Format for Financial Reporting of Issuers Having Securities Admitted to Trading on Regulated Markets paper

Source: COMMITTEE OF EUROPEAN SECURITIES REGULATORS(CESR)

11 new ComStage bond index ETFs launched on Xetra

Eleven additional ComStage bond index funds from Commerzbank’s ETF offering are tradable on Xetra
October 27, 2009--With eight of the new ComStage ETFs, participants can invest in the performance of iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified Index series. These indices track the most liquid government bonds denominated in euro, which have maturities of 1 – 3 years, 3 – 5 years, 5 – 7 years, 7 – 10 years, 10 – 15 years, more than 15 years and more than 25 years. The iBoxx € Liquid Sovereigns Diversified Overall TR Index tracks overall performance of the most liquid government bonds issued by euro zone governments.

The three new ComStage ETFs on the iBoxx € Sovereigns Germany Capped Total Return Indices offer investors the opportunity to participate in the development of government bonds denominated in euro and issued by the Federal Republic of Germany. Maturities are from 1 – 5 years, 5 – 10 years and more than 10 years. The product offering in Xetra’s XTF segment currently comprises 518 exchange-traded index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges. With this offering and an average monthly trading volume of around € 12 billion, Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment is the leading trading venue for ETFs in Europe. The table attached to this message contains the eleven ComStage bond ETFs admitted for trading in the XTF segment and their ISIN. The management fee is 0.12 percent for each product.

11 new ComStage ETFs

Source: Deutsche Börse

BSI to develop financial services compliance standard

October 26, 2009--The UK’s standards body, the BSI, has developed a standard for compliance teams in UK financial services firms.

The standard will set out a common methodology, process and good practice which can be adopted by compliance teams in retail and wholesale financial firms.

The voluntary standard will seek to complement existing regulation. ‘It will enable organizations to demonstrate regulatory compliance and assurance more easily through a consistent, transparent, auditable approach,’ said the BSI.

Unlike professional qualifications, the standard will not focus on individual competencies, but on business and operational processes.

In a statement the BSI commented: “Compliance with the standard is expected to help reduce the risk of compliance failures and offer greater reassurance to senior management and stakeholders that regulatory requirements are being met and managed appropriately. It will also enable better monitoring of systems and processes within a compliance team and promote recruitment of appropriately competent and experienced staff.”

Mike Low, Director, Standards, BSI, said: "Once published, this standard will provide a robust and consistent framework within which an organization will be able to administer and manage its compliance programme, providing reassurance to senior managers, regulators and customers by reducing the risk of compliance failure. BSI is delighted to bring together the financial services industry in a proactive response to events in the financial world."

Angela Knight, CEO of the British Bankers’ Association, said:"This is an interesting and challenging initiative which should improve efficiencies between and amongst compliance teams across the financial service industry and the BBA welcomes its development."

A draft of the standard will be available for public comment in Spring 2010 with publication expected late 2010.

Source: BSI

Financial Services:Commission adopts additional legislative proposals to strengthen financial supervision in Europe

October 26, 2009--The European Commission has adopted additional legislative proposals today to further strengthen financial supervision in Europe. Following the adoption of a legislative package to strengthen financial supervision in Europe on 23 September 2009, including the creation of a European System of Financial Supervisors with three new European Supervisory Authorities, the Commission proposes to make targeted changes to existing financial services legislation to ensure that the new Authorities can work effectively. In particular, these proposals lay down in detail the scope for the Authorities to exercise their powers, ensuring a more harmonised set of financial rules through the possibility to develop draft technical standards, settle disagreements between national supervisors and facilitate the sharing of micro-prudential information. The package will now be sent on to the Council and the European Parliament for consideration.

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said "This proposal complements and reinforces our supervision package of 23 September and provides more detail about precisely what powers are proposed for the new European Supervisory Authorities and in what areas. I urge the Council and the Parliament to adopt the whole supervision package in good time to allow the new Authorities to come into being at the end of 2010, if not before."

Today's legislative proposals complement a package of proposals on financial supervision presented by the Commission on 23 September ( IP/09/1347 ). In addition to proposals to create a European Systemic Risk Board, the package envisages the creation of a European System of Financial Supervisors (ESFS) for the supervision of individual financial institutions ("micro-prudential supervision"). The ESFS will consist of a network of national financial supervisors working in tandem with new European Supervisory Authorities, created by the transformation of existing Committees for the banking, securities and insurance and occupational pensions sectors 1 . There will be a European Banking Authority (EBA), a European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and a European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The new Authorities in the ESFS will take over all of the functions of the existing committees, and in addition have certain extra competences, including the following:

Developing proposals for technical standards, respecting better regulation principles;

Resolving cases of disagreement between national supervisors, where legislation requires them to co-operate or to agree;

Contributing to ensuring consistent application of technical Community rules (including through peer reviews);

The European Securities and Markets Authority will exercise direct supervisory powers for Credit Rating Agencies;

A coordination role in emergency situations.

In order for the ESFS to work effectively, changes to existing financial services Directives are necessary, laying down the precise scope for them to exercise certain of the proposed new powers. The areas in which amendments are proposed fall broadly into the following categories:

Definition of the appropriate areas in which the Authorities will be able to propose technical standards as an additional tool for supervisory convergence and with a view to developing a single rule book;

Incorporation in an appropriate manner of the possibility for the Authorities to settle disagreements between national supervisors in a balanced way, in those areas where common decision making processes already exist in sectoral legislation; and

General amendments which are necessary for the Directives to operate in the context of new authorities for example, renaming the level 3 committees to the new authorities and ensuring the appropriate gateways for the exchange of information are present.

Further proposals for technical amendments to sectoral Directives are envisaged by the Commission early in 2010, in particular in the insurance sector, which is not covered by the current proposal.

The Commission's supervision proposals are currently being considered by the Council and Parliament, and creation of the new Authorities is envisaged for the end of 2010. The proposals are an integral part of the Commission's strategy for preventing future crises.

More information is available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/committees/index_en.htm

1 :Currently there are three financial services committees for micro-financial supervision (supervision of individual financial institutions) at EU level, with advisory powers only: the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS), Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Committee (CEIOPS) and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR).

Source: European Commission

FSA announces tough new code for financial reporting disclosure

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced today that the major UK-headquartered banks have agreed to implement a tough new code for financial reporting disclosure.
October 26, 2009-The code forms part of proposals, designed to enhance investors’ confidence in financial reporting and to aid their ability to compare and contrast banks’ performance. It is based on an overarching principle that UK banks are "committed to providing high quality, meaningful and decision-useful disclosures to users to help them understand the financial position, performance and changes in the financial position of their businesses".

The FSA is inviting views on the application of this code to banks and other credit institutions. In the meantime, the major banks, at the FSA’s request, have agreed to implement the code in their 2009 year end annual reports.

If the banks are unable to sufficiently improve the quality and comparability of their disclosures in their 2009 annual reports, the FSA is also seeking views as to whether the code needs to be supplanted by more detailed disclosure templates.

Paul Sharma, FSA director, prudential policy, said:

"In the Turner Review we set out our view that the financial crisis had raised questions as to the adequacy of financial disclosure by banks throughout all major economies and the level of confidence that investors could place in their financial reports.

"The tough disclosure code published today puts UK banks further ahead of the game internationally in addressing these concerns. But when applying this code to their 2009 year end accounts, the FSA expects firms to achieve significant improvement in the quality and comparability of disclosures."

The code is being launched to the industry by the British Bankers Association (BBA) today.

The Turner Review identified a concern that in spite of banks’ efforts to enhance disclosures during 2008 and 2009, investor confidence in financial reports appeared to remain low.

The FSA has worked closely with the BBA and major firms to develop the code, which sets out key principles accompanied by explanatory text to highlight how the principles should be applied in practice.

for more info

View the Enhancing financial reporting disclosures by UK credit institutions

Source: FSA.gov.uk