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The AMF complies with the ESMA guidelines on automated trading
April 11, 2012--The AMF has included the ESMA guidelines1 on automated trading in its position no. 2012-03 published today, the provisions of which will apply from 7 May 2012.
These guidelines, issued on the basis of the Market in Financial Instruments (MiFID) and Market Abuse directives, set out the methods for implementation of certain provisions of these directives and their implementing directive in the particular field of automated trading systems, most notably high frequency trading.
They mainly concern the following activities:
The operation of an electronic trading system by a regulated market or a multilateral trading facility
(MTF);
Italy borrowing costs double as euro debt concerns resurface
April 11, 2012--Italy's borrowing costs doubled in a closely-watched bond auction on Wednesday that raised 11 billion euros ($14 billion) in short-term debt, as tensions returned to eurozone bond markets.
Eight billion euros in 12-month bonds were sold at a rate of 2.84 percent -- far higher than the 1.492 percent paid in March while three billion euros due July 2012 went at 1.249 percent compared to 0.492 percent last month.
Borrowing costs had been on the decline in recent months after Prime Minister Mario Monti came to power in November, replacing Silvio Berlusconi who was ousted by a parliamentary revolt and a wave of financial market panic.
DB - Equity Research- Equity Research - Europe-Weekly European ETF Market Monitor
April 11, 2012--The Weekly European ETF Market Monitor includes key statistics on the European ETF market as well as global ETF market highlights..
For more detailed coverage please refer to the monthly report, issued in the first week following the end of each month
The following link will be available for 90 days. For more information, please click on the link for the full PDF. If you have any trouble viewing the link, copy and paste the link in a browser. http://pull.db-gmresearch.com/p/400-1330/96007814/ETF_Research.pdf
Source and Nomura Expand Tactical Volatility Offering
April 10, 2012--April 2012--Source and Nomura have today announced the launch of the Nomura Voltage Short-Term Source ETF (the "ETF"). The ETF aims to provide responsive and tactical exposure
to volatility by tracking the Nomura Voltage Strategy Short‐Term 30-day USD TR Index, an index which seeks to capture spikes in volatility while reducing associated slide costs.
This is the second Source ETF in the Nomura Voltage series. The Nomura Voltage Mid‐Term Source ETF, which tracks the Nomura Voltage Strategy Mid‐Term 30‐day USD TR Index, was launched in April 2011 and now has assets of over US$ 542 million. Both ETFs are available to sophisticated investors, providing them with different volatility investment options to better manage their risk/return profile.
Futures on the CBOE Volatility Index (the “VIX”) are a convenient way to obtain exposure to volatility. However, because VIX futures often suffer from contango1, maintaining that exposure over the long term can be costly. The Nomura Voltage Strategy Short‐Term 30‐day USD TR Index offers an efficient alternative for investors seeking a long position in volatility. The index reflects exposure to volatility via the S&P 500 VIX Short‐Term Futures Index TR, but varies the level of exposure from 0% to 100% based on the Nomura Voltage allocation model. In this way, the index aims to capture spikes in volatility, whilst mitigating the cost of rolling VIX futures.
In response to ESMA consultation paper on ETFs, EDHEC-Risk Institute calls for improved transparency, governance and auditability of indices
April 10, 2012--In commenting on the ESMA Consultation Paper entitled "ESMA’s guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues" (ESMA/2012/44, January 2012), EDHEC-Risk Institute has welcomed the broadened focus of this new consultation, which goes a long way towards approaching important issues in a horizontal way across all UCITS, rather than in a vertical way limited to UCITS ETFs,
but regrets that the consultation paper has not gone further in several key areas:
While underlining the differences between passively and actively managed funds and proposing more disclosures on tracking error, the consultation paper falls short of giving a definition of passive management that would be framed in terms of a limit on the maximum level of tracking error acceptable.
EDHEC-Risk strongly believes that for an index-tracking vehicle to be considered a passive investment vehicle, it is also necessary that the underlying index be a financial index whose composition is dictated by a set of pre-determined rules and objective criteria allowing for strict systematic implementation. For an index to be considered representative of passive management, its ground rules should leave no room for implicit, let alone explicit, discretionary choices.
French economy grinds to a halt
April 10, 2012--France's economy posted no growth in the first quarter and there are no signs of a strong recovery in activity in the coming months, according to a Bank of France survey on Tuesday.
In its monthly report, the Bank of France indicated that the eurozone’s second-largest economy avoided a recession, after it grew by 0.2% in the fourth quarter.
However, it said that activity was likely to remain stable in the coming months, a picture confirmed by soft manufacturing data on Tuesday from the INSEE national statistics office.
Volatility-linked ETFs boost Source
April 8, 2012--Investors' desire to protect themselves against any equity market sell-off has helped transform Source into the second fastest-growing exchange-traded fund provider in Europe this year.
Source is the 10th-largest European ETF provider by assets, but it enjoyed the second-highest net inflows in the first quarter, gathering just under $1.2bn. More than half the inflows were generated by two volatility-linked products, which garnered a total of $660m.
EU plays down financial impact of carbon tax on airlines
April 6, 2012--The EU's climate commissioner played down the impact of the controversial carbon tax being imposed by the bloc on airlines, saying Friday it would cost less than a cup of coffee per passenger.
With the tax, sharply criticised by China and the United States, "a flight from Beijing to Frankfurt for example will cost around an extra two euros per passenger," Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told the French daily Les Echos.
"In other words, an amount less than that of a cup of coffee at the airport," she added.
EC shocks hedge funds with decision to implement AIFM as regulation
April 5, 2012--The latest draft of the EU AIFM directive has been leaked, prompting an unofficial consultation over changes to several key points and accusations that the European Commission ignored Esma's advice.
The European Commission’s decision to implement its controversial hedge fund rules as a regulation rather than a directive has rankled the hedge fund industry and the wider European financial and political communities.
A draft version of the implementation rules for the alternative investment fund managers (AIFM) directive has been leaked, sparking debate across the industry about why the Commission is ignoring much of the Level 2 advice from the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) and reverts back to Level 1 detail in some areas.
