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ALFI's response to the Consultation concerning ESMA guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues (ESMA/2012/44)
April 3, 2012--On 30 March ALFI responded to Consultation concerning ESMA guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues.
ALFI welcomes ESMA's decision to broaden the scope of these proposed guidelines in such a manner as to target not only UCITS ETFs but all UCITS alike that engage in the relevant activities (e.g. securities lending) or pursue the same type of investment policy (e.g. tracking an index).
Furthermore, ALFI supports ESMA’s move towards greater transparency as it will further enhance investor’s understanding and confidence in UCITS products. The proposed guidelines reflect industry best practice in terms of transparency and disclosure. Transparency requirements should however be proportionate and bring real-added value in particular to retail investors allowing them to take well-informed investment decisions. For instance, we believe that the transparency requirements should be proportional to the extent that certain techniques are being used and should not apply to immaterial techniques and instruments.
When considering investor protection and disclosure requirements, we strongly encourage ESMA to take a horizontal approach to funds and non-fund products alike, in the spirit of MiFID and of the PRIPs initiative. Any consideration regarding the marketing of UCITS ETFs cannot be dissociated from a review of other products which are also subject to MiFID, therefore any action should be taken within the MiFID Review, maintaining a level playing field vis-à-vis other financial instruments. In this context, we very much support ESMA’s statements that “further consideration should be given to the development of harmonized definitions at European level of all exchange-traded products” and that “products with broadly similar characteristics should be subject to the same level of regulatory requirements and that investors in such products should be able to rely on an equivalent level of regulatory protection” (Consultation Paper, p. 11, paragraph 20).
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Source: ALFI
Eurozone in recession until spring 2012: official forecast
April 3, 2012--- The eurozone, which entered a short recession in late 2011, will return to modest growth in the spring of 2012, official institutes from France, Germany and Italy forecast on Tuesday.
The three statistics agencies, which offer a joint assessment of the eurozone economy every quarter, confirmed an earlier outlook of a 0.2 percent contraction in the first quarter of 2012 after a 0.3 percent contraction in the final quarter of 2011.
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Source: EUbusiness
12 new Commerzbank ETCs launched on Xetra
ETCs track the positive and inverse performance of individual commodities
April 3, 2012--Twelve new exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) issued by Commerzbank AG have been tradable on Xetra since Tuesday.
The new exchange-traded commodities enable investors to participate in the performance of platinum, palladium and gas oil. The underlying indices track the positive and inverse performance of each individual commodity, with a leverage factor of either one or two.
These strategy indices are calculated by Commerzbank and participate in the movements of the underlying commodity futures contracts. They comprise a leverage component and an interest rate component. The leverage component is based on the daily percentage movements of the futures contract contained in the index. The interest rate component represents an investment in a risk-free money market instrument minus index fees and costs of collateralisation.
Deutsche Börse’s ETC segment product range currently comprises 276 instruments. The monthly trading volume of ETCs on Xetra averages around €900 million.
view the The 12 ETCs listed for the first time including ISIN and management fee tradable from 3 April 2012
Source: Xetra
BlackRock contests regulator's ETF fee-sharing plan
April 3, 2012-BlackRock is challenging proposals by the European regulator to change certain securities lending practices in the exchange traded funds (ETF) and wider Ucits industry, in the view it would create an "un-level playing field'.
The asset manager’s response to the European Securities and Markets Authority’s guidelines on ETFs contests that gross returns generated from securities lending and other portfolio management techniques, should have to be returned to the fund.
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Source: City Wire
Boerse Stuttgart achieves monthly turnover of EUR 9.1 billion
Securitised derivatives and investment funds up/ bond trading remains at high level
April 3, 2012--According to its order book statistics, Boerse Stuttgart generated turnover of more than EUR 9.1 billion in March 2012, a similarly high level as in February.
Trading volumes were significantly lower than in the same month last year. However, in March 2011 financial markets faced an exceptional situation due to the tsunami and nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan.
Traditionally Boerse Stuttgart generates the biggest proportion of turnover in trading with securitised derivatives and this continued to be the case in March 2012. Last month’s turnover in this asset class totalled around EUR 4.4 billion, an increase of around 5.1 percent in comparison with the previous month. Turnover in leverage products grew by almost 2 percent to more than EUR 1.9 billion. Investment products accounted for more than EUR 2.4 billion of turnover, a growth of almost 8 percent in comparison with February.
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Source: Boerse Stuttgart
Progress report on Basel III implementation and procedures for conducting country reviews published by Basel Committee
April 3, 2012--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has today published its second progress report on Basel III implementation.
The report tracks the implementation of Basel II, Basel 2.5 and Basel III by Committee member countries. It outlines the progress of individual member countries in transforming the Committee's regulatory standards into national law or regulation according to the internationally agreed timeframes.
Stefan Ingves, Chairman of the Basel Committee and Governor of Sveriges Riksbank, said: "Full, timely and consistent implementation of the new capital standards by internationally active banks is a top priority for the Basel Committee. This will help to restore confidence in regulatory capital ratios and to improve the resilience of the global banking system. Committee members are encouraged to keep up their efforts to ensure that implementation of the Basel III rules can begin, as agreed, from 1 January 2013."
The Committee has also commenced a programme of peer reviews to assess whether its members' national rules and regulations are consistent with the globally agreed minimum standards. These reviews will identify differences that could raise prudential or level playing field concerns. The methodology used by the Basel Committee to conduct these consistency reviews was also published today. Reviews of the Basel rules adopted by the European Union, Japan and the United States are already underway.
view the BIS Progress report on Basel III implementation
Source: BIS
New EDHEC-Risk Survey Reveals the Investment Management Opinions of Sovereign Wealth Funds
April 3, 2012--In a new survey entitled "What Asset-Liability Strategy for Sovereign Wealth Funds?" produced as part of a research chair supported by Deutsche Bank, Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) respondents have underlined the need for a change in investment practices to take into account both short-term constraints and liabilities.
The survey presents the results of the Deutsche Bank research chair’s foundation paper – a dynamic asset-liability management (ALM) model developed to guide asset allocation and risk management decisions at the SWF level, and describes the results of a call for reaction on its theoretical and practical appeal for sovereign fund management.
In spite of the prevailing view that Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are not like other institutional investors and that they are pursuing a pure strategy of accumulation as a standalone, the EDHEC-Risk survey shows that the funds themselves consider that ALM techniques are appropriate for their financial management and that they have as a mission and constraint to take account of the risks of the States that set them up. The specific characteristic of their ALM is that it must cover not only the liability risk but also the contribution risk. It is noteworthy that SWFs believe that the asset management industry is not providing them with liability-driven investment (LDI) solutions that are adapted to their situation.
view What Asset-Liability Management Strategy for Sovereign Wealth Funds?
Source: EDHEC
ESMA publishes the responses received to the Consultation on ESMA guidelines for the regulatory framework for ETFs and other UCITS issues
April 3, 2012--ESMA has published the received to the Consultation on ESMA guidelines for the regulatory framework for ETFs and other UCITS issues.
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Source: ESMA
J.P. Morgan and Source launched the J.P. Morgan Macro Hedge Dual TR Source ETF
April 2, 2012--J.P. Morgan and Source are pleased to announce the launch of the J.P. Morgan Macro Hedge Dual TR Source ETF. This euro-denominated fund is designed to provide cost-effective volatility exposure, for sophisticated investors.
This is the second ETF in the J.P. Morgan Macro Hedge series - the J.P. Morgan Macro Hedge US TR Source ETF was launched in February and now has assets of over US$ 200 million.
Volatility is an attractive hedge in times of macro-economic stress - it tends to spike when equities and other risky assets crash. However, volatility exposure can be costly over the long term. J.P. Morgan’s Macro Hedge indices aim not only to capture spikes in volatility in times of market stress, but also, when markets are calmer, to generate a positive return. The J.P. Morgan Macro Hedge Dual TR Index takes exposure to US equity volatility, switching from long to long/short exposure depending on market conditions. During times of market stress, it can also add up to 25% exposure to European equity volatility. Although liquidity in European volatility markets still lags the US, the Euro-zone debt crisis has prompted more investors to include European volatility in their hedging strategies.
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Source: Source
IMF Working paper-Narrowing Vertical Fiscal Imbalances in Four European Countries
April 2, 2012--This paper describes the institutional changes that have induced a decline in the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI)- defined as the share of sub-national own spending not financed through own revenues - in four European countries: Belgium, Italy, Norway, and Spain.
The decline in VFI was achieved through progressive devolution of revenues to sub-national governments in Belgium, Italy, and Spain, while re-centralization of health sector expenditures was the cause of the decline in the VFI in Norway.
view the Narrowing Vertical Fiscal Imbalances in Four European Countries
Source: IMF
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