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”
Source: ESMA
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.
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Source: JP Morgan
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.
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Source: EUbusiness
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.
Source: Deutsche Börse
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.
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Source: Eurex
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.
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Source: IP&E
BlackRock ETF Landscape: STOXX Europe 600 Sector ETF Net Flows -Week Ending 01-Jul-2011
July 6, 2011--For the week ending 01 July 2011, there were
US$38.0 Mn net inflows to STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF net inflows last week were in oil and gas with US$44.1 Mn followed by food and beverage with US$38.9 Mn net inflows while healthcare experienced net outflows of US$43.5 Mn
Year to date, STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs have seen US$174.2 Mn net outflows. Basic resources has seen the largest net outflows with US$214.2 Mn, followed by insurance with US$184.3 Mn net outflows, while banks experienced the largest net inflows with US$303.5 Mn.
As of 01 July 2011, there is US$10.2 Bn AUM invested in the STOXX sector ETFs which is greater than the US$6.0 Bn open interest in the sector futures. The ETF AUM is greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in 16 out of 19 sectors.
to request report
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
EPEX Spot / EEX Power Derivatives: Power Trading Results In June
July 6, 2011-- In June 2011, a total volume of 114.6 TWh was traded on the Power Spot and Derivatives Market operated by EPEX Spot SE and EEX Power Derivatives respectively (June 2010: 136.4 TWh)
In June 2011, power trading on the day-ahead auctions on EPEX Spot accounted for a total of 22,711,709 MWh (June 2010: 21,355,184 MWh) and can be broken down as
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Source: EPEXSPOT
Deutsche Börse operates Xetra cash market in new data centre
July 6, 2011--Deutsche Börse AG has been operating its Xetra cash market in a new data centre since the beginning of the week, after Deutsche Börse IT successfully migrated the entire Xetra host infrastructure over the past weekend.
The Xetra infrastructure is now housed in the International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centre of the international IT company Equinix Inc., a global provider of data centre services. Deutsche Börse and Equinix have already been offering Proximity Services since 2006.
As part of the migration, Deutsche Börse IT replaced all of the host computer hardware and gateways with the latest higher-performance hardware. This means all Xetra clients will benefit from a further reduction of Xetra system latency of up to 40 percent.
The migration of the Xetra cash market enables Deutsche Börse Group to now offer its clients co-location services from a single location for the first time. Clients also benefit from the fact that as one of the largest global providers of data centre services, Equinix bundles a large number of exchange-related service providers, including data vendors, under one roof. Moreover, through the linkage of many telecommunication providers, Xetra participants can choose the access to the Equinix data centre that is the most cost-effective for them.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Europe lashes out at credit rating agencies
July 6, 2011-- Europe launched a barrage of fire at credit ratings agencies Wednesday after efforts to resolve the eurozone's debt crisis were plunged into new turmoil by a severe downgrade of Portugal's debt.
European Union officials and ministers reacted furiously after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Portuguese debt to junk status and warned that Lisbon may need a second bailout.
Europeans were particularly angry over the timing of the ratings cut, just as Portugal begins to implement tough austerity measures in return for a 78-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout agreed in April and as the eurozone struggles to craft a new rescue package for Greece.
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Source: EUbusiness
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