European Union: Competition is sharper but liquidity fragmented
October 21, 2009--It is hard to believe that a dry-sounding European Commission directive that came into force almost exactly two years ago could have had the effect on Europe’s equities markets that it has.
But the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) has resulted in some astonishing changes to the trading landscape – probably far beyond what its architects envisaged.
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Hedge Fund Montly-2009 Key Trends in European Hedge Funds Figure 1: Industry Growth over the Years 2009 YTD AuMs read more Deutsche Börse and Eurex support EU Commission plans to increase safety and soundness of OTC derivatives market
The communication finalises the consultation process towards a future regulation of OTC derivatives markets in the European Union and states the proposals of the EU Commission for 2010.
Deutsche Börse published its proposals for a market structure with improved safety and integrity at the beginning of September 2009 in its White Paper entitled “The Global Derivatives Market – A Blueprint for Market Safety and Integrity“. view white paper ETF Landscape: European DJ STOXX 600 Sector ETF Net Flows, week ending 16-Oct-09 Visit Barclays Global for more information. Warsaw Stock Exchange-Derivatives Market in Q1-Q3 2009 read more SIX Swiss Exchange delists Lehman Brothers bonds Because investor claims will, under circumstances, no longer be valid once this filing deadline has passed, any continuation of trading in the bonds would be problematic in that it cannot be merely assumed that the securities are fungible. The last trading day for these bonds will be 30 October 2009. Trading in the euro-denominated bonds of Lehman Brothers will also cease after the close on 30 October 2009. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Werner Vogt, Head Media Relations. Due to huge and increasing popularity of ETCs and ETFs, ETF Securities strengthens its Research, Product Development and Legal Teams
Martin Arnold joins the Research & Investment Strategy team
Martin Arnold joins ETF Securities’ research team as a senior analyst. Martin has a wealth of experience in strategy and economics with his most recent role focused specifically on the foreign exchange markets. Martin has a strong macro background – gained both at the Reserve Bank of Australia and in the private sector - and experience covering a range of asset classes so should be able to quickly add strong research value-added to support our sales and marketing teams and clients invested across our ETC and ETF platforms. Martin holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of New South Wales (Australia), a Master of Commerce from the University of Wollongong (Australia) and the Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia.
Jenny Hsieh and Michael Langerup join the Product Development team
Jenny Hsieh joins from Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management where she helped develop and launch products for clients, with a focus on tax efficiency. Jenny has extensive experience within the investment banking and asset management industry and brings a solid skill set in product development, having started her career working on hybrid capital products. Jenny holds undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Sociology from UCLA (Univ. of Calif, Los Angeles) and an MBA from Insead.
Michael Langerup joins from Saxo Bank where he worked as a research analyst in the hedge fund group focusing on global macro research. Prior to this, he spent 1.5 years at Forsyth Partners’ FoHF group, where he was responsible for fixed income related hedge fund strategies. Michael started his career at Carnegie Asset Management, where he worked in portfolio administration as an analyst for three years. Michael holds a BSc in Business Administration and MSc in Finance and Accounting from Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) and an MBA from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University (USA).
Amila Kulasinghe joins the Legal team
Amila Kulasinghe joins from Goldman Sachs International where he worked in the legal department, advising the Execution & Clearing, Listed Derivatives, Prime Brokerage and Principal Strategic Investments business units. At Goldman his areas of practice included derivatives and trading documentation, securities custody arrangements, cross-border secured financing, and insolvency-related issues. Amila was called to the English Bar in 2005 and originally qualified as a commercial chancery barrister at Serle Court, a leading set of chambers specialising in off-shore trusts, banking and financial services litigation. Amila holds a BA in Law from Merton College, Oxford and an LL.M (with Distinction) in Corporate and Commercial Law from University College London.
*As at 19th October 2009
For further information, please contact:
Council conclusions on fiscal exit strategy
The COUNCIL AGREES that preparing a coordinated strategy for exiting from the broad-based
policies of stimulus is needed. Such a strategy should strike a balance between stabilisation and
sustainability concerns, take into account the interactions between the different policy instruments,
as well as the discussions at the global level. The Council UNDERLINES that an early design and
communication of such a strategy would contribute to underpinning confidence in our medium-term
policies and to anchor expectations.
The COUNCIL agrees that, beyond the withdrawal of the stimulus measures of the European
Economic Recovery Programme, substantial fiscal consolidation is required in order to halt and
eventually reverse the increase in debt and restore sound fiscal positions. The Council
UNDERLINES that increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of public finances and the
intensification of structural reform are desirable even in the short term and will contribute to foster
potential output growth and debt reduction. View the Council conclusions on fiscal exit strategy Council conclusions on strengthening EU financial stability arrangements
1. The current crisis in global financial markets has severely tested the stability of the
European financial system and revealed that more fundamental changes to the financial stability
arrangements, supervisory and regulatory framework are needed to ensure enhanced coordination
among national supervisors, central banks and governments in a crisis situation, as well as an
integrated approach to crisis prevention, management and resolution in order to promote financial
stability. read more -the Council conclusions on strengthening EU financial
stability arrangements CESR to consult on common definition of money market funds
CESR invites stakeholder's views by December 31. View consultation paper-A common definition of European money market funds If you are looking for a particuliar article and can not find it, please feel free to contact us
Source: FT.Com
October 21, 2009--After a very challenging 2008 and 1Q2009, the European hedge fund industry has witnessed a remarkable growth during the March to August 2009 period, bringing the size of the industry back to end-2008 level. European managers returned strong results of 3.34% in September, bringing the YTD performance to 19% in 2009. This is the strongest YTD September performance since 2000 (when the sector had returned 21% by the ninth month).
The sector had grown at a swift pace since 2000, reaching its highest point in June 2008, with assets of US$472 billion, before shrinking rapidly in the face of heightened volatility across all asset classes and massive redemptions in the latter half of 2008 and in 1Q2009.

Source: Eurekahedge.com
October 21, 2009-Deutsche Börse and Eurex welcome the communication issued by the EU Commission entitled “Ensuring Efficient, Safe and Sound Derivatives Markets: Future Policy Actions“. Both companies support the EU Commission’s objective to reduce systemic risks in the OTC derivatives market in order to increase the stability of the market with the proposed measures. Effective risk management and improved transparency are essential elements to strengthen the safety and soundness of the current market organization.
With their expertise as an operator of exchanges and of Europe’s largest clearinghouse Deutsche Börse and Eurex want to actively support the EU Commission in implementing its proposals.
Source: Deutsche Börse
October 21, 2009--Highlights
Last week saw US$238.6 Mn net inflows to DJ STOXX 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF inflows last week were in Banks with US$91.6 Mn and Oil & Gas with US$53.3 Mn while Utilities experienced net outflows of US$39.2 Mn.
Year-to-date, Banks has been the most popular sector with US$303.2 Mn net new assets, followed by Basic Resources with US$272.2 Mn net inflows. Retail sector ETFs have been the least popular with US$52.6 Mn net outflows YTD.
Source:ETF Research and Implementation Strategy, BGI
October 20, 2009--In Q1-Q3 2009, the WSE maintains a high fourth place in Europe regarding index futures contracts volumes. WIG20 futures contract is on 6th place (one place higher than in H1 ‘09) among European index contracts.
WIG20 options are on 11th place in terms of turnover volume among European index options.
Source: Warsaw Stock Exchange
October 20, 2009-Effective 2 November 2009, SIX Swiss Exchange will delist the following non-performing bonds of Lehman Brothers:
2.50 % Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. 13.10.2010 (sec. no. 2,698,508)
2.875 % Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V. 14.3.2013 (sec. no. 2,919,715)
Via the www.lehman-docket.com homepage, investors have now been informed that they must file their claims relating to the aforementioned bonds by 2 November 2009 at the latest.
Phone: +41(0)58 854 26 75
Fax: +41(0)58 854 27 10
E-mail: pressoffice@six-swiss-exchange.com
Source: SIX Swiss Exchange
October 20, 2009--ETF Securities Ltd (ETFS), the global pioneers of Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs), and 3rd generation Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), continues to grow its business with four new hires across Research, Product Development and Legal teams.
These appointments are in direct response to ETF Securities tremendous growth and ambitious development plans going forward and come at a time when ETF Securities sees spectacular growth within ETCs and ETFs, as AUM break $15.6bn*, following the recent expansion into the US and Japanese markets.
Helen Burden
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7448 4330
Email: helen.burden@etfsecurities.com
Source: ETF Securities
2967th ECONOMIC and FINANCIAL AFFAIRS-Luxembourg
October 20, 2009-The Council adopted the following conclusions:
"The Council NOTES that signs of early recovery are appearing, with the halt of the sharp decline
in EU economic activity, the stabilisation of financial markets, and the improvement in confidence.
20 October 2009
However, the recovery remains fragile and it is not yet time to withdraw the support governments
provided to the economy and the financial sector until the recovery is secured.
Source:COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
2967th ECONOMIC and FINANCIAL AFFAIRS-
Luxembourg
October 20, 2009--The Council adopted the following conclusions:
2. Against this background, the Council RECALLS the conclusions adopted by the 9 June
2009 ECOFIN Council1 and the 18-19 June 2009 European Council2, which underscored the need
"to advance work on building a comprehensive cross-border framework for the prevention and
management of financial crisis". The Council STRESSES the need to move forward to ensure that
progress is made in parallel to the ongoing work on the EU supervisory framework.
Source: COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
October 20, 2009-CESR published today a consultation paper aiming at a common European definition of money market funds. The paper sets out CESR’s proposals for a common definition of European money market funds.
The key purpose behind a harmonised definition of ‘money market fund’ is improved investor protection. A common definition will also help provide a more detailed understanding of the distinction between funds which operate in a very restricted fashion and those which follow a more ‘enhanced’ approach.
Source: COMMITTEE OF EUROPEAN SECURITIES REGULATORS (CESR)