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The Euro Turns 10: How The Next 10 Years Will Shape The Euro Zone
September 15, 2009-The global economic crisis is expected to further pan-European interests as the region's financial markets gain strength in 2010 and the euro maintains its status as a major world currency, said leading financial experts at a panel discussion organized by STOXX Limited.
Economic crisis should lead to greater demand for pan-European solutions, as opposed to national ones, in years to come "The global financial crisis has defined the issues that will be among those at the very top of the European Union agenda for the foreseeable future. First, better EU regulation of the financial sector, including the 'parallel banking system,' will have to be fashioned. Further, better micro- and especially macro-prudential supervision will have to be designed and implemented, with a special emphasis on common EU, if not world, standards," said Dr. Giuseppe Ammendola, an international business economist and adjunct professor, New York University.
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Source: Mondovisione
SocGen bankers quit to launch hedge fund
September 15, 2009--Thirty senior bankers from Société Générale’s alternative asset management team have left to set up their own hedge fund business with backing from an American private equity firm.
The team – including the head of SocGen’s $12.7bn global hedge funds business,
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Source: FT.com
LSE Share Value Boosted By The “Rolet” Effect - London Stock Exchange Group Sees 11.3 Per Cent Rise In Share Value In August - Overall Share Value Of Listed Exchanges Decreases By 1.3
September 14, 2009--The London Stock Exchange Group saw its share value rise in August by 11.3 per cent, according to the Mondo Visione Exchanges Index, continuing the positive impact of new CEO Xavier Rolet.
The LSE Group rise was achieved against a backdrop of a slight fall in overall share values for listed exchanges during August, which saw a decrease in capital returns of -1.3%
The index, which aims to reflect market sentiment and is a key indicator of exchanges performance, closed at 22196.55 on 31 August, 2009, with 11 of its 18 listed exchanges experiencing an increase in share value.
Seven exchanges showed decreases during August with the ASX in Australia and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing showing the biggest decline in share price with recorded figures of -10.7% and -7.7% respectively.
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Source: Mondovisione
LSE poised to acquire Sri Lankan technology company
September 14, 2009--London Stock Exchange is expected to announce, possibly as early as Tuesday, the acquisition of Millennium IT, a Sri Lankan trading technology company, as the group embarks on a massive upgrade of its trading platform.
The move marks the biggest step yet taken by Xavier Rolet, chief executive, to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor Clara Furse.
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Source: FT.com
Dow Jones UK Smaller Companies Index launched
September 14, 2009--Dow Jones Indexes has launched the Dow Jones UK Smaller Companies Index, which provides market participants with a measure of the UK's small and micro cap segments.
The index currently includes 188 stocks from the London Stock Exchange, including those traded on the Alternative Investment Market.
The index is designed to provide a complete view of the UK small and micro cap segment and will serve Dow Jones Newswires as a benchmark for its extended UK small cap coverage.
"The Dow Jones UK Smaller Companies Index was created as a result of the demand for a single go-to instrument to measure the performance of the broad UK small and micro cap market," says Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes. "The inclusion of stocks traded on the Aim makes this index a unique benchmark and will provide Dow Jones Newswires and market participants with a more accurate tool to analyse and evaluate the UK small and micro cap segment."
Dow Jones Newswires has been expanding its coverage of smaller UK companies and plans to use the new index as a reference.
The index universe for the Dow Jones UK Smaller Companies Index consists of all equity issue stocks, Reits or similar securities with readily available prices that trade in the UK, including those listed on the Aim. To be included in the index, stocks must fall between the 97 per cent and 99 per cent of cumulated free-float market capitalization of the index universe. A buffer rule avoids major turnover in the index, excluding only components which fall either below the 96 per cent quantile or above the 99.25 per cent quantile during the regular review.
The index is available in price and total return versions, and is reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December. The index is also examined on an ongoing basis to account for corporate actions such as mergers, de-listings or bankruptcies.
It is calculated in pounds sterling and US dollars, and is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Daily historical index values are available back to 30 June 2006, with the base value of the index being set at 1,000.
Source: Dow Jones
ETF Securities gold, palladium holdings hit record
September 14, 2009 - ETF Securities said on Monday the amount of metal it holds to back its gold and ETFS Physical Palladium (PHPD.L) exchange-traded commodities rose to record highs in the week to Sept 11.
The company's three gold-backed ETCs -- Gold Bullion Securities (GBSx.L), ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU.L) and a small Australian fund read full story
Source: Reuters
Zurich Cantonal Bank gold, silver ETF holdings rise
September 14, 2009-The amount of metal Zurich Cantonal Bank holds to back its silver exchange-traded commodity rose nearly 600,000 ounces or 1 percent in the week to September 11, the bank said in a weekly report on Monday.
Its ZKB Silver ETF (ZSIL.S: Quote, Profile, Research) now holds 54.984 million ounces of metal, the company said, up from 54.396 million ounces.
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Source: Reuters
NASDAQ OMX and HQ Bank Launch New Portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds
September 14, 2009--NASDAQ OMX
Nordic, part of the NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq:NDAQ), together with HQ
Bank today announced the launch of a new portfolio of Exchange Traded
Funds (ETFs) that will allow Nordic investors to trade internationally
recognized indices in local currency. The ETFs issued by HQ Bank will
be based on indices calculated by NASDAQ OMX and traded on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
Trading of the ETFs from HQ Bank will start beginning of October 2009
(pending regulatory approvals). Between launch in October and January
2010 HQ Bank plans to list around ten ETFs at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
Jenny Rosberg, Deputy CEO at NASDAQ OMX Nordic said: "Through this partnership with HQ Bank we are able to offer both institutional and retail investors in the Nordics the same trading opportunities in ETFs as investors around the world. The expansion of our ETF offering well matches customer needs and is an important step in developing our local market, which holds great potential for this type of product."
Mikael Konig, CEO at HQ Bank said: "This launch marks an important milestone for the Swedish ETF market, and we look forward to continue our collaboration with NASDAQ OMX to grow our offering in this space. Our ETF portfolio provides a perfect complement to managed funds, and is an investor-friendly and cost-efficient tool for index investments as the products are traded the same way as equities on a liquid market."
About Exchange Traded Funds
An Exchange Traded Fund is a security that tracks an index, a commodity
or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an
exchange. ETFs are a complement to actively managed funds and provide
investors with the possibility to invest in well known global indices
in the local currency. In the U.S., ETFs represent one of the most
traded instruments with an annual total turnover of over 9000 billion
USD in 2008. In Europe it is one of the fastest growing instruments in
recent years and has more than ten folded its turnover since 2002,
reaching an annual turnover of over 400 billion EUR in 2008. ETFs have
been available in the U.S. since 1993 and in Europe since 1999.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
JPMorgan counters EcoSecurities bid
September 14, 2009--JPMorgan has offered £123m for EcoSecurities Group, the carbon trading company, topping a bid from Guanabara, a Dutch vehicle run by EcoSecurities’ former president.
Carbon Acquisition Company, a wholly owned subisidiary of JPMorgan, said that EcoSecurities directors will recommend that their shareholders accept the offer of 100p per share, and that their support amounted to 19.1 per cent of shares.
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Source: FT.com
UK's Financial Services Authority Update On Lehmans-Backed Structured Products
September 11, 2009-Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Financial Ombudsman Service (Ombudsman) have been looking at the potential detriment this has caused for investors in the UK structured products market.
In May, the FSA and Ombudsman agreed that the issues relating to Lehmans-backed structured products should be considered under the "Wider Implications" process, in order to allow the FSA to explore all options to achieve the best outcome for consumers.
The FSA has now gained enough information from its review to enable it to move forward and believes it is now appropriate to lift the hold on individual adjudications of complaints on an immediate basis.
The FSA will report back on the outcomes of its review in more detail in October but confirms that it will be taking action against firms as a result of the findings of the review.
Dan Waters, retail policy director at the FSA, said: “This is a hugely complex area and during our review we have looked at promotional literature, clarity of information, quality of advice, sales systems and controls, involving plan managers, providers and advisers.
“There is still much for us to do and we will be outlining some of the findings of the review next month in more detail, but I can confirm that we have found serious issues and will be taking action against firms.
“In light of the progress we have made, we believe our regulatory action can now progress alongside the Ombudsman adjudicating on individual complaints without prejudicing either, so individual cases referred to the Ombudsman can now proceed.”
Background
1. The Wider Implications process is intended to provide a transparent means of bridging potential regulatory gaps or overlaps between the FSA, Ombudsman and Office of Fair Trading on 'significant issues', including those that may give rise to widespread consumer detriment.
2. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.
3. The FSA aims to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets, help retail consumers achieve a fair deal and improve its business capability and effectiveness
Source: FSA.gov.uk