EBA publishes outcome of 2013 EU wide transparency exercise
December 16, 2013--The European Banking Authority (EBA) disclosed today updated information on 64 European banks from 21 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). The data covers the first half of 2013 and is based on 730,000 data points including capital, Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) and sovereign exposures.
Through this disclosure exercise, the EBA aims to promote greater understanding of capital positions and exposures of EU banks, thus contributing to market discipline and financial stability in the EU.
Main outcomes
The data released by the EBA showed a continued positive trend in EU banks' capital position: Core Tier 1 (CT1) increased by more than EUR 80 bn between December 2011 and June 2013; combined with a reduction of EUR 817 bn in RWAs, this led to an improvement of the CT1 ratio by 170 bp, from 10% to 11.7%.
view the EU-wide transparency exercise
Source: EBA (European Banking Authority)
Eurozone business activity rises but France lags: PMI data
December 16, 2013--Business activity in the 17-nation eurozone ticked up in December, but the recovery is uneven and weak French data of particular concern, a key survey showed on Monday.
Markit Economics' said its Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for December rose to 52.1 from 51.7 in November.
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Source: EUbusiness
ETF innovator to launch CoCo financials fund
December 16, 2013--Hans Günther Bonk-the co-founder of IndexChange, the legacy ETF business that later became the foundation of iShares' German operation - is launching a fund investing in the subordinated debt and contingent convertibles of banks and insurers.
It's expected that many more banks will start issuing these kinds of financial securities in the next years under pressure from regulators to build capital ratio. Bonk's fund follows Pimco and TwentyFour Asset Management, which have also announced funds to buy bank debt in the belief that it will rise in value as banks continue to repair their balance sheets.
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Source: Financial News
iShares lists Ucits ETF in London
December 16, 2013--iShares has listed a Ucits exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the shares of the Euro Stoxx 50 index with the exception of financials on the London Stock Exchange.
The iShares Euro Stoxx 50 ex-financials Ucits ETF will invest blue chip stocks of 12 eurozone countries but avoid financial companies, such as banks and insurers.
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Source: Funds Europe
The future is physical, says Deutsche AWM
December 15, 2013--Massive outflows from Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management's exchange traded funds operations this year have forced Europe's second-largest ETF provider to make radical changes to its business model.
The change-as reported in FTfm last week-will see DeAWM convert 18 derivative-linked "synthetic" equity ETFs with assets of around €9.5bn to "physical" funds that buy the assets of an underlying index.
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Source: FT.com
Component change made to DAX ex Financials 30 Index
December 13, 2013--Deutsche Börse today announced that Brenntag AG will replace Kabel Deutschland Holding AG in the DAX ex Financials 30 Index, effective 23 December 2013.
The component change is the result of the Fast Exit rule, which states that an index component will be replaced if its ranking in either the turnover or market capitalization falls below 45.
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Source: Deutsche Börse
EBA warns consumers on virtual currencies
December 13, 2013-- The European Banking Authority (EBA) issued today a warning on a series of risks deriving from buying, holding or trading virtual currencies such as Bitcoins. The EBA said that consumers are not protected through regulation when using virtual currencies as a means of payment and may be at risk of losing their money. It also added that there is no guarantee that currency values remain stable.
The warning was issued while the Authority assesses further all relevant aspects associated with virtual currencies, in order to identify whether virtual currencies can and should be regulated and supervised.
According to the EBA, while virtual currencies continue to hit the headlines and are enjoying increasing popularity, consumers need to remain aware of the risks associated with them. In particular, consumers should be aware that exchange platforms tend to be unregulated and are not banks that hold their virtual currency as a deposit. Currently, no specific regulatory protections exist in the EU that would protect consumers from financial losses if a platform that exchanges or holds virtual currencies fails or goes out of business.
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Source: EBA (European Banking Authority)
World Bank Revises its 2013 Growth Projection for Russia- from 1.8 Percent to 1.3 Percent
December 13, 2013--The World Bank revised its September Russia growth projection for 2013 from 1.8 percent down to 1.3 percent as part of its quarterly forecast review.
The underlying assumption for this revision is weaker than expected domestic demand, with delayed investment recovery coupled with a slowing in consumption growth.
"Growth for 2014 is projected at 2.2 percent, and at 2.7 percent for 2015. The Bank expects that investment activities will slowly pick up, as the destocking cycle comes to an end and consumption growth will level out," said Birgit Hansl, World Bank Lead Economist for the Russian Federation.
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Source: World Bank
Scrapping ETF stamp duty "insufficient" to lure providers to UK
December 12, 2013--Firms are divided on whether the Chancellor's move to axe the 0.5 per cent stamp duty paid by exchange traded funds will see more UK-based ETFs, with concern the may be "insufficient" to lure providers based abroad.
Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Autumn Statement last week this tax will now be scrapped from April. The move follows the Budget announcement that stamp duty for Aim shares would be abolished.
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Source: Money Marketing
Boost & Interactive Investor announce FREE of commission trading in Boost's ETPs
December 12, 2013--Interactive Investor will allow all its clients to trade BOOST's Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) for FREE from today until 31st March 2014
A free trading facility in ETPs is a first for the UK market, BOOST has 44 short and leverage ETPs listed on the London Stock Exchange
BOOST's range includes the main commodity and equity benchmarks including Gold, Oil, FTSE 100 and FTSE 250
BOOST ETP, the award winning and independent ETP provider, which specialises in Short and Leveraged (S&L) ETPs, are pleased to announce that customers of Interactive Investor (II) will be able to trade BOOST's ETP's for free until 31st March 2014. II customers normally pay up to £10 per trade and as of today they will be able to trade for free.
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Source: Boost
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