Regulators could focus on ETFs after UBS losses
November 1, 2011--Regulators could take some time to change the rules surrounding the exchange-traded products involved in the UBS rogue-trading losses, but banks might see an impact soon in capital terms
Investigations continue into the rogue-trading loss earlier this year at UBS. The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (Finma) remain quiet about the progress of their joint inquiry into the apparently unauthorised trades that lost the Swiss bank a total of $2.3 billion. The parallel internal inquiry commissioned by UBS itself, led by senior independent director David Sidwell, and assisted by two other UBS directors – former Swiss Re chief financial officer Ann Godbehere, who acted as interim chief financial officer at Northern Rock after it was nationalised, and Joseph Yam, formerly head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority – may not report for months.
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Source: Risk.net
Turnover on Xetra increases by 12 percent in October
Transactions on Xetra up by 34 percent
November 1, 2011--Order book turnover on Xetra and the Xetra Frankfurt specialist trading stood at €109.5 billion in October – an increase by 9.6 percent year-on-year (October 2010: €99.9 billion).
Of the €109.5 billion, €104.6 billion were attributable to Xetra (+12 percent y-o-y, October 2010: €93.5 billion). €4.9 billion were attributable to the Xetra Frankfurt specialist trading, a 23 percent decrease y-o-y (October 2010: €6.4 billion). Order book turnover on Tradegate Exchange* totalled €2.8 billion in October.
In equities, turnover reached €90.3 billion on Deutsche Börse’s cash markets (Xetra: €88.3 billion, Xetra Frankfurt specialist trading: €2.0 billion). Turnover in bonds was €1.5 billion, and in structured products on Scoach €2.1 billion. Order book turnover in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) amounted to €15.6 billion.
A total of 21.4 million transactions were executed on Xetra in October, an increase of 34 percent y-o-y (October 2010: 15.9 million).
The DAX security with the highest turnover in October was Deutsche Bank AG at €6.6 billion. Continental AG led the MDAX equities at €772.5 million, while Derby Cycle AG topped the SDAX equity index with €62.6 million, and Aixtron SE headed TecDAX with €305.7 million. The ETF with the highest turnover on Xetra was iShares DAX with €2.8 billion.
Further details are available online in Deutsche Börse’s cash market statistics at www.deutsche-boerse.com. For a pan-European comparison of trading locations, see the statistics provided by the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) at www.fese.be.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Italy Bonds Slide, Premium to Bunds at Record, on Greece Concern
November 1, 2011--Italian bonds led declines in the securities issued by Europe’s most indebted nations after a Greek plan to hold a referendum on its international bailout added to concern the region’s financial turmoil will deepen.
Italy and France’s 10-year borrowing costs climbed to the highest levels relative to benchmark German bunds since before the creation of the euro in 1999. Bund yields fell the most on record, with the securities outperforming all their euro-area peers, as investors sought the safest assets. Greek two-year yields climbed to a record high 87.28 percent as members of the nation’s ruling party called for Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign.
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Source: Bloomberg Business Week
Eurozone may adopt finance tax without EU backing: Schaeuble
October 31, 2011--Eurozone members could introduce a financial transaction tax even if other EU countries were opposed, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Financial Times in an interview published Monday.
Schaeuble said he backed using the 17-member eurozone as a testing ground for the levy, which is designed to restrict speculative trading, even though Britain and its vast financial sector are firmly against it.
Schaeuble said he respected the arguments of Britain, a member of the European Union but not of the eurozone.
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Source: EUbusiness
Flash estimate - October 2011-Eurozone inflation estimated at official 3.0% in October
October 31, 2011--Euro area1 annual inflation2 is expected to be 3.0% in October 2011 according to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. It was also 3.0% in September3.
Computation of flash estimates
Euro area inflation is measured by the Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices (MUICP). To compute the MUICP flash estimates, Eurostat uses early price information relating to the reference month from Member States for which data are available4 as well as early information about energy prices.
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Source: Eurostat
London 'under constant attack' from EU directives: Cameron
October 28, 2011-British Prime Minister David Cameron said London's financial district was under "constant attack" from European Union directives, the BBC reported Friday.
During a flight from the EU leaders' summit in Brussels to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, western Australia, Cameron told a BBC reporter that Britain's finance industry should be protected from EU measures.
"London -- the centre of financial services in Europe -- is under constant attack through Brussels directives," Cameron said.
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Source: EUbusiness
EU leaders set to force banks to boost capital: draft
October 28. 2011--European Union leaders were set Wednesday to impose new capital requirements on banks so they can absorb big losses on Greek debt, according to a draft statement obtained by AFP.
According to the text, which is to be adopted at a summit later Wednesday, measures to restore confidence in Europe's banks "are urgently needed and are necessary in the context of strengthening prudential control of the EU banking sector".
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Source: EUbusiness
ESMA publishes the responses received to the Consultations on the Regulatory Technical Standards for Credit Rating Agencies
October 28, 2011--ESMA has published the responses received to the Consultations on the Regulatory Technical Standards for Credit Rating Agencies.
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Source: ESMA
EBRD supports energy efficiency in Turkey
October 28, 2011--The EBRD is boosting its support to energy efficiency projects in Turkey with a new US$ 40 million loan to Isbank for on-lending to local companies and households.
The loan is part of the EBRD’s US$ 240 million Turkey Private Sector Sustainable Energy Financing Facility, or TurSEFF, with Isbank, one of the leading banks in Turkey, becoming the fifth bank participating in the programme.
The EBRD’s loan will be used to finance energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy investments such as industrial energy efficiency, thermal rehabilitation of buildings, small scale renewable investments, including geothermal, solar, biomass and biogas.
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Source: EBRD
Euro area economic and financial developments by institutional sector-Second Quarter 2011
October 27, 2011--In the second quarter of 2011, the annual growth rate1 of net disposable income in the euro area
decreased to 3.6%, compared with 3.8% in the first quarter of 2011 (see Annex, Table 1). The annual growth
rate of final consumption in the euro area stood at 2.5% in the second quarter (2011q1: 2.7%). The annual growth rate of gross fixed capital formation decreased to 3.1% in the second quarter of 2011,
from 6.4% in the previous quarter.
The annual growth rate of households’ gross disposable income stood at 3.0% in the second quarter of
2011, compared with 2.9% in the previous quarter (see Table 2). The annual growth rate of households’
consumption expenditure was 3.2% in the second quarter compared with 3.1% in the previous quarter.
The annual growth rate of households’ gross saving increased to 2.2% in the second quarter compared with
0.5% previously. The households’ gross saving rate2 decreased to 13.6%, as compared with 14.3% in the
second quarter of 2010. The annual growth rate of household financing decreased to 1.7% (2011q1: 2.3%)
and that of financial investment was broadly unchanged at 2.4% in the second quarter of 2011(2011Q1:
2.5%). Households’ net worth3 increased by 2.5% in the second quarter, compared with 3.1% in the previous quarter (see Chart 6).
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Source: ECB
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