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UK economy grows faster than forecast
December 22, 2011--The economy unexpectedly grew faster than first thought between July and September, thanks to stronger services and construction output, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.
However, the economy did not grow at all in the second quarter, and economists forecast a sharp slowdown at the end of this year and early in 2012.
Germany banks on consumers to aid economy
December 22, 2011--Germany’s upbeat consumers will continue to support the economy and provide the basis for growth, which should peak next summer after a slowdown in the months ahead, the finance ministry said on Thursday in its monthly report.
The view builds on reports tracking consumer morale, which held steady going into January and resisted an expected fall as income expectations and views of the economy improved despite a softening of households’ willingness to make major purchases.
Stocks to be included in ISE Stock Indices
December 21, 2011--The following changes will be made to the ISE 100, ISE 50, ISE 30, ISE Bank 10 and ISE
Dividend indices will be revised as shown in the following, starting from 01/01/2012.
view changes
Application of own credit risk adjustments to derivatives - Basel Committee consultative document
December 21, 2011--The Basel Committee today issued a consultative document on the application of own credit risk adjustments to derivatives.
The Basel III rules seek to ensure that a deterioration in a bank's own creditworthiness does not at the same time lead to an increase in its common equity as a result of a reduction in the value of the bank's liabilities. Paragraph 75 of the Basel III rules requires a bank to "[d]erecognise in the calculation of Common Equity Tier 1, all unrealised gains and losses that have resulted from changes in the fair value of liabilities that are due to changes in the bank's own credit risk".
The application of paragraph 75 to fair valued derivatives is not straightforward since their valuations depend on a range of factors other than the bank's own creditworthiness. The consultative paper proposes that debit valuation adjustments (DVAs) for over-the-counter derivatives and securities financing transactions should be fully deducted in the calculation of Common Equity Tier 1. It briefly reviews other options for applying the underlying concept of paragraph 75 to these products and the reasons these alternatives were not supported by the Basel Committee.
view the Application of own credit risk adjustments to derivatives - consultative document
Eurozone target in danger as UK declines
December 20, 2011--Euro zone ministers agreed on Monday to boost IMF resources by €150bn to ward off the debt crisis and won support for more money from EU allies, but it was unclear if the bloc would reach its €200bn target after Britain bowed out.
Following a three-hour conference call, European Union finance ministers said currency zone outsiders the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden would also grant loans to the International Monetary Fund to help save the 17-nation zone.
New listing on LSE for Gold P-ETC GBp On London Stock Exchange
December 19, 2011--Source, one of the fastest growing Exchange Traded Product (ETP) providers in Europe with US$8 BN in assets, is pleased to announce that its Source Physical Gold P-ETC is now listed in GBp on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
This listing complements the existing listing in USD on the LSE, and provides sterling-denominated investors with easy access to one of the fastest growing gold products in Europe. The company also plans to list the product in EUR on Xetra early 2012.
Year to date, the Source Physical Gold P-ETC has raised over US$1 billion in assets and traded over US$4 billion on the LSE. As demand for precious metals has soared, investors have adopted physically-secured ETPs as their vehicle of choice. With over US$2.2 billion in assets, the Source Physical Gold P-ETC is now the 6th largest physical gold product globally, and is one of the most cost-efficient and liquid products in the market.
Commenting on the new listing, Source CEO Ted Hood said, “Investors look to precious metals as both an investment opportunity and a safe haven. The concept of a physical holding is part of their appeal. It is important that the investment vehicle does not compromise this.”
Consultative paper on "Principles for the supervision of financial conglomerates" released by the Joint Forum
December 19, 2011--The Joint Forum released today a consultative paper on Principles for the Supervision of Financial Conglomerates.
The proposed principles, which revise the Joint Forum's 1999 principles, provide national authorities, standard setters and supervisors with a set of internationally agreed principles that support consistent and effective supervision of financial conglomerates and in particular those financial conglomerates that are active across borders.
view the Principles for the supervision of financial conglomerates - consultative document
Proposed regulatory capital disclosure requirements issued by the Basel Committee
December 19, 2011--The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision today published for consultation a set of requirements for banks to disclose the composition of their regulatory capital. These aim to improve the transparency and comparability of banks' capital bases, including on a cross border basis.
During the financial crisis, market participants and supervisors attempted to undertake detailed assessments of the capital positions of banks and make cross jurisdictional comparisons. These efforts were often hampered by insufficiently detailed disclosure and a lack of consistency in reporting between banks and across jurisdictions. A lack of clarity on the quality of capital may have contributed to uncertainty during the financial crisis.
Fitch revises outlook on France to 'negative'
December 18, 2011--A negative outlook usually means a downgrade is possible in 12-18 months.
Fitch said the change in outlook was prompted by the heightened risk of government liabilities arising from the eurozone's debt crisis.
The agency also said it was considering downgrading ratings for Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Ireland and Cyprus.
ECB publishes consolidated banking data for 2011
December 16, 2011--Today the European Central Bank (ECB) is publishing the June-2011 Consolidated Banking Data (CBD), a data set that provides various statistics about the EU banking system on consolidated basis. It includes statistics on both individual EU Member States and the EU as a whole.
It refers to 4,700 credit institutions and 434 banking groups and covers data for 1,016 foreign-controlled branches and subsidiaries operating in the EU. In particular, the data set includes profitability and efficiency indicators, balance sheet indicators relating to banks’ funding sources, non-performing loans developments as well as solvency ratios.
