Fear of SNB intervention weighs on franc
August 12, 2011--The Swiss franc endured a volatile week as the fall-out from the decision by rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade US sovereign debt shook financial markets.
Haven demand for the Swissie accelerated early in the week, taking the currency up to record highs against the euro and the dollar.
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Source: FT.com
Short-selling restricted in four eurozone states
August 12, 2011-- The speculative practice of short-selling will be restricted from Friday in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain to combat "false rumours" that have destabilised the markets, European regulators said.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said in a statement that the four countries "will shortly announce new bans on short-selling or on short positions."
This was "to restrict the benefits that can be achieved from spreading false rumours or to achieve a regulatory level playing field, given the close inter-linkage between some EU markets."
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Source: EUbusiness
Bankhall members advised to shun synthetic ETFs
August 11, 2011--Sesame Bankhall has advised Bankhall members to avoid synthetic exchange traded funds, and urged them to recommend ETFs only from Sesame’s panel of approved funds.
In January, the network published a list of 19 ETFs which have been approved for Sesame members. It does not include any synthetic, or swap-based, ETFs. Bankhall members are not restricted to the panel but Sesame has recommended that they only choose ETFs from the panel to avoid exposure to overly complex ETFs.
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Source: Money Marketing
ESMA Promotes Harmonised Regulatory Action On Short-Selling In The EU
August 11, 2011--ESMA today published a statement on the harmonised action by national competent authorities on short-selling.
European financial markets have been very volatile over recent weeks. The developments have raised concerns for securities markets regulators across the European Union. ESMA has been actively monitoring the markets over the last few weeks and has been exchanging information with national competent authorities on the functioning of the markets and the market infrastructure.
In the area of short-selling regulation, many authorities already have either requirements for the disclo-sure of net short positions and/or bans of certain types of short sales in place . Recent developments have meant that all competent authorities have reinforced the monitoring of their markets and are keeping their regulatory requirements under review. ESMA has coordinated discussions between the national competent authorities, specifically on the content and timing of any possible additional measures necessary to maintain orderly markets.
view statement-ESMA promotes harmonised regulatory action on short-selling in the EU
Source: ESMA
European quartet bans short-selling on financials
August 11, 2011--France, Spain, Belgium and Italy have all banned short-selling of financial stocks in a bid to calm banking share prices. However, the quartet have failed to persuade Germany and other European nations to support the move.
It follows a week when France's banks have been under heavy attack with its largest institutions Societe Generale and BNP Paribas falling as much as 20% within trading sessions as rumours above solvency and liquidity spooked investors.
The short-selling ban will run for 15 days and will only increase the number of parallels drawn by investors with the days leading up to the credit crunch of 2008.
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Source: Citywire.co.uk
Europe Curbs Short-Selling in Financial Stocks; Move Questioned
A ban on short-selling financial stocks in four European countries including France takes effect on Friday, a coordinated attempt to restore confidence in markets hit by rumours and higher borrowing costs.
France, Italy, Spain and Belgium imposed the ban, which will vary in detail depending on the country, the European Securities and Markets Authority (EMSA) said in a statement late on Thursday.
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Source: Reuters
Deborah Fuhr is set to join BofA Merrill
August 11, 2011--Deborah Fuhr, the former head of exchange traded fund research at US asset manager BlackRock, is joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch to head up its global equity derivatives strategy.
Fuhr's role will be a broadly-based role which will include the marketing of exchange traded funds, equity futures and other equity derivatives within Bank of America's Delta One business, according to people familiar with the situation.
Delta One - the global equity derivatives strategies - is an increasingly important profits motor at investment banks. Fuhr will be based in London. She will report to Piers Butler, head of European Middle East and African division covering global equities, macro and events.
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Source: efinancilatimes
FESE European Equity Market Report - May 2011 Figures
August 10, 2011--FESE has published the ‘European Equity Market Report’ which gathers data from all the market segments operated by FESE members (including Regulated Markets and Multilateral Trading Facilities) as well as from the major MTFs operated by investment firms in the European market. The FESE Statistics Methodology used in the Report has been agreed by all the trading venues involved, both RM and MTFs.
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Source: FESE
BlackRock ETF Landscape: STOXX Europe 600 Sector ETF Net Flows: week ending 05-Aug-11
August 10, 2011--For the week ending 05 August 2011, there were
US$160.4 Mn net outflows from STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF net outflows last week were in telecommunications with US$97.6 Mn followed by banks with US$41.9 Mn net outflows while insurance experienced net inflows of US$27.4 Mn.
Year to date, STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs have seen US$38.0 Mn net outflows. Utilities has seen the largest net outflows with US$242.4 Mn, followed by basic resources with US$214.9 Mn net outflows, while healthcare experienced the largest net inflows with US$280.2 Mn.
As of 05 August 2011, there is US$8.7 Bn AUM invested in the STOXX sector ETFs which is greater than the US$5.7 Bn open interest in the sector futures. The ETF AUM is greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in 15 out of 19 sectors. .
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Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
Deutsche Börse Commodities makes 500th Xetra-Gold delivery
A total of 2.5 tonnes of gold have been transferred to investors
August 10, 2011--Xetra Gold is a zero-coupon bond with perpetual maturity, representing a gram of gold. It is 100% backed by physical gold and represents the right to the delivery of gold. For investors, owning a unit of Xetra-Gold is equivalent to owning one gram of physical gold.
Since Xetra-Gold launched in 2007, investors have already made use of this physical backing 500 times and taken delivery of a total 2.5 tonnes of gold. Fees for packaging, transport and insurance apply, which depend on the quantity delivered.
“Investors have a choice of small bars in several different sizes (1 gram to 1000 grams) and standard bars of 12.5 kilograms,” said Steffen Orben, managing director at Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH. “Delivery normally takes around two weeks.”
The Deutsche Börse Commodities' gold reserve, which backs the Xetra-Gold bearer bond, amounted to 50.6 tonnes at the end of July. The gold is stored at Clearstream’s vaults in Frankfurt. At a price of EUR 36.38 per unit (Xetra price on 29 July), the current value of the gold in custody is around EUR 1.8 billion.
“Xetra-Gold provides investors with one of the most favourable opportunities of acquiring and trading physical gold,” said Martina Gruber, managing director at Deutsche Börse Commodities. “The bid/ask spread is generally only around 0.1 percent. In contrast to fund trading and other ETCs, no ongoing management fees are charged for Xetra-Gold.”
Xetra-Gold is therefore by far the best-performing security among the 181 exchange traded commodities (ETCs) available on Xetra. Its share of total order book sales in the ETC segment is around 16 percent.
Source: Deutsche Börse
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