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Euro falls heavily as eurozone woes deepen
July 8, 2011-The eurozone’s developing debt crisis, with Italy’s woes coming into sharp focus, left the euro struggling for footing this week.
Over the five sessions, investors saw Portugal’s sovereign rating downgraded to junk status by Moody’s; a fightback by the European Central Bank which removed collateral rules on Lisbon’s debt; and a sharp sell-off in Italian bonds and credit default swaps which hit the country’s banking stocks.
Contagion fears hit Italian financial sector
July 8, 2011--Milan’s stock index slumped during a turbulent week for peripheral eurozone equity markets, as speculation about which will be region’s next debt crisis victim focused on Italy.
Italian government bond yields hit nine-year highs as investors dumped the country’s debt amid fears the crisis would hit its shores – even perhaps ahead of Spain. Of major concern to investors is Italy’s 120 per cent debt to GDP ratio.
Republic of Poland: Selected Issues
July 8, 2011--I. PRIVATE PENSION SYSTEMS IN EMERGING EUROPE: THE UNCERTAIN ROAD AHEAD1
A. Introduction
1. Comprehensive pension reforms have been a cornerstone of fiscal policies in
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In response to population aging pressures, a number of Emerging European economies reformed their pension systems in the late 1990s and early 2000s by adopting multi-pillar pension frameworks.
Pension reforms were anticipated to
improve long-run fiscal sustainability and lead to better macroeconomic outcomes, including higher national saving rates and increased labor participation. An important part of the
reforms was the introduction of a private, in most cases mandatory, pre-funded, definedcontribution
second pillar pension systems. This private component, in conjunction with the public first pillar, was expected to help diversify risks, supplement old-age income for pensioners that was being tightened under the public pension schemes, and help with the
development of capital markets.
view the Republic of Poland: Selected Issues report
Eurozone bank stress test results due on July 15: EBA
July 8, 2011- The EU banking regulator said Friday that it will publish the results of its stress tests on eurozone banks in one week's time.
The results, carried out on 91 banks that represent 65 percent of the Europe's bank sector, will be published at 1600 GMT on July 15, the London-based European Banking Authority said in a statement.
"The test is being applied consistently across participating banks as part of a coordinated EU wide effort to improve transparency, identify vulnerabilities, inform policymakers and ensure appropriate measures are taken to address possible deficiencies," the EBA said.
ESMA publishes the results of an investigation into how Member States have implemented the Transparency Directive
July 7, 2011--ESMA publishes today a review (ESMA/2011/194) of how securities regulators across Europe use options and discretions under the Transparency Directive (TD). This mapping focused on those parts of the TD and its implementing measures that the participating 29 EU/EEA Member States are allowed to apply in different ways.
The main purpose of the stock-take was to ascertain the extent to which Member States introduced options, discretions, additional requirements and/or more stringent rules in their national legislation in this respect.
view the report-Mapping of the Transparency Directive –Options, Discretions and “Gold-plating”
JPMorgan to provide clearing for Knight Capital on Pipeline MTF
July 7, 2011--J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services today announced that its GlobeClear business has been appointed to provide clearing and settlement services for Knight Capital Europe Limited when executing trades on Pipeline's Block Board, the pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) for equity blocks.
With the addition of Pipeline's Block Board, GlobeClear supports over 60 OTC and 50 trading venues, providing access to the major European exchanges and MTFs. It provides clearing and settlement agency services covering all fixed income and equity securities for banks, brokers and hedge funds that want to trade in the global markets.
Irish, Italian borrowing costs hit record
July 7, 2011--Borrowing costs for eurozone strugglers Ireland and Italy rose to record levels on Thursday after an interest rate hike by the European Central Bank and on concern the debt crisis could spread.
The rate of return or the yield earned by holders of the countries' benchmark 10-year sovereign bonds rose to the highest levels since the formation of the eurozone.
Four new UBS ETFs launched on Xetra
July 7, 2011-- Four new ETFs issued by UBS ETFs plc have been tradable in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment since today.
ETF name: UBS ETFs plc – MSCI Emerging Markets TRN INDEX SF – (USD) A-acc
Asset class: equity index ETF
ISIN: IE00B3Z3FS74
Total drag level: 0.62 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index
Trading currency: US dollar
ETF name: UBS ETFs plc – MSCI Emerging Markets TRN INDEX SF – (USD) I-acc
Asset class: equity index ETF
ISIN: IE00B3P9PD09
Total drag level: 0.45 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index
Trading currency: US dollar
ETF name: UBS ETFs plc – MSCI EMU TRN INDEX SF – (EUR) A-acc
Asset class: equity index ETF
ISIN: IE00B5B1MZ58
Total drag level: 0.17 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: MSCI EMU Net Total Return Index
Trading currency: euro
ETF name: UBS ETFs plc – MSCI EMU TRN INDEX SF – (EUR) I-acc
Asset class: equity index ETF
ISIN: IE00B5M9BT58
Total drag level: 0.00 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: MSCI EMU Net Total Return Index
Trading currency: euro
The four new ETFs are based on two reference indices – two ETFs on each index. These exchange-traded index funds differ according to asset class, with asset class I ETFs primarily aimed at institutional investors.
The two ETFs based on the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index enable investors to participate in the performance of the emerging markets. These include the following 21 emerging market countries: Brazil, Chile, China, Columbia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. The index is calculated in US dollars and the equities included are weighted according to free-float market capitalisation.
The two ETFs based on the MSCI EMU Net Total Return Index track the performance of equity markets in the European monetary union (EMU): Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The index is calculated in euros, the equities included are weighted according to free-float market capitalisation.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment currently comprises a total of 823 exchange-listed index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges.
Eurex further expands its Italian government bonds derivatives offering
Medium-term interest rate contract to launch on 19 September 2011/New contract complements the already listed Euro BTP Future and Short-Term Euro BTP Future
July 7, 2011--The international derivatives exchange Eurex announced today that it will launch a new interest rate contract on 19 September 2011. The Mid-Term Euro BTP Future is based on notional medium-term bonds issued by the Republic of Italy (Buoni del Tesoro Poliennali – BTP).
The new contract will complement Eurex's interest rate derivatives offering for all A and AA-rated European government bonds as well as for other interest rate instruments and will serve as an ideal hedging instrument for this market segment.
“The success of our two listed BTP futures increased the demand among our customers for the yield curve to be completed. Our new BTP future covers medium-range maturities, creating new, additional trading opportunities,” said Peter Reitz, member of the Eurex Executive Board.
The Mid-Term Euro BTP Future will be based on deliverable bonds with a residual maturity of 4.5 to 6 years and an original maturity of not more than 16 years; the notional coupon will be 6 percent and the contract value will be 100,000 euros, as for the existing futures contracts. The minimum tick size will be fixed at 0.01 percent (10 euros per tick) in line with the tick sizes of the other BTP, Bund and Bobl futures. Trading hours will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CET.
Custodians burdened by regulatory changes in Germany, says kommalpha
July 7, 2011--New domestic and Europe-wide regulations for the financial sector are putting pressure on custodians operating in Germany, consultancy kommalpha has found.
In its annual survey – conducted on behalf of the Financial Times' German pension magazine dpn among custodians and custodian banks operating in Germany – kommalpha said the so-called 'Depotbankrundschreiben' by German supervisor Bafin had caused the most strain.
