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ISE issues consultation paper on revised structure of listing regime for Irish listed companies
April 18, 2011--The ISE has issued today a Consultation Paper which opens up for debate proposals to revise
the structure of the ISE listing regime for companies trading on the Main Securities Market. The Consultation Paper follows on from the amended structure to the UK listing regime which was adopted by the Financial Services Authority in 2010.
The Consultation Paper discusses the possibility of re-labelling the Primary and Secondary listing regimes in Ireland as “Premium” and “Standard” respectively. A “Premium” Listing denotes a company which is required to comply with the existing requirements of the ISE Listing Rules (which includes the UK Corporate Governance Code and the Irish Corporate Governance
Annex). A “Standard” listing denotes a company which is required to comply with the minimum standards as outlined in various EU Directives.
If the restructuring were implemented, Irish companies would be given a choice of a “Premium” or “Standard” listing rather than automatically being required to comply with the higher standards applying to the “Premium” listing. If adopted, the structure would align the choice available to companies in the Irish market to that available in the UK and would facilitate dual listed companies.
Source launches three new physical precious metal P-ETCs: Silver, Platinum and Palladium
April 18, 2011--Source is pleased to announce the launch of three new physically-backed precious metals exchange traded products (ETPs): Source Physical Silver P-ETC, Source Physical Platinum P-ETC and Source Physical Palladium P-ETC. These will complement Source’s existing Physical Gold P-ETC, which has raised over US$ 1 billion and set new standards in security and cost effectiveness.
As demand for precious metals has soared, investors have been quick to adopt physically-secured ETPs as their vehicle of choice. Commenting on the launch, 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 – and the ability to access it in times of crisis - is part of their appeal. It is important that the investment vehicle doesn’t compromise this.”
Carbon emissions insurance to be launched
April 18, 2011--Investors in the fast-developing market for carbon credits will for the first time be able to buy insurance to protect them from the political uncertainty that underwriters believe has held back emissions trading in Europe.
Political decisions to change which projects are eligible for carbon credits are one of the many factors holding the market back, as well as fraud and uncertainties about what level of emissions infrastructure projects will deliver.
IMF raises alarm over exchange traded commodities funds
ETFs allow investors to buy a share of the market in gold or wheat or any commodity without buying the product itself
April 17, 2011--One of the most successful investment vehicles of the last decade could be sowing the seeds of the next financial crisis, a global financial watchdog warned.
Pension funds and retail investors could lose billions of pounds in investment schemes sold widely in the US and Europe with the promise of low costs and higher returns than bank deposit rates.
FSB progress report on implementing OTC derivatives market reforms
April 15, 2011--The FSB published on 15 April its progress report on implementation of OTC derivatives market reforms. The report summarises progress made toward implementation of the G20 commitments concerning standardisation, central clearing, exchange or electronic platform trading, and reporting of OTC derivatives transactions to trade repositories
. In particular it looks at progress against the 21 recommendations set out in the FSB's October 2010 report for implementing reforms in an internationally consistent and non-discriminatory implementation to meet the G20 commitments. In the report, the FSB makes several overall observations on progress, including identifying a number of issues meriting additional attention in the near term.
view the OTC Derivatives Market Reforms
Progress report on Implementation
15 April
ESMA seeks preliminary views on future rules for alternative investment fund managers
April 15, 2011--On 2 December 2010, the European Commission sent a request for assistance to the predecessor of ESMA, CESR, on the content of the implementing measures of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Direc-tive (AIFMD). Following receipt of this request, CESR published a call for evidence in order to gather input from external stakeholders (Ref. CESR/10-1459)
ESMA publishes today a discussion paper (ESMA/2011/121) setting out its proposed approach, including alternative options where relevant, for developing the measures. Today’s paper seeks views from market participants on the policy options ESMA has identified with regards to the Commission’s mandate.
Euro area annual inflation up to 2.7%
EU up to 3.1%
April 15, 2011---Euro area1 annual inflation was 2.7% in March 20112, up from 2.4% in February. A year earlier the rate was 1.6%. Monthly inflation was 1.4% in March 2011. EU3 annual inflation was 3.1% in March 2011, up from 2.9% in February. A year earlier the rate was 2.0%. Monthly inflation was 1.1% in March 2011.
These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Inflation in the EU Member States In March 2011, the lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (1.2%), Sweden (1.4%) and the Czech Republic (1.9%), and the highest in Romania (8.0%), Estonia (5.1%), Bulgaria and Hungary (both 4.6%). Compared with February 2011, annual inflation rose in eighteen Member States, remained stable in five and fell in four.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to March 2011 were registered in Ireland (-0.8%), Latvia (0.7%) and the Netherlands (1.3%), and the highest in Romania (6.8%), Greece (5.0%) and Hungary (4.3%).
New Source ETF launched on Xetra
An additional equity index fund issued by Source has been tradable on Xetra since Thursday.
April 14, 2011-- ETF Name: EURO STOXX Optimised Banks Source ETF
Asset class: equity index ETF
ISIN: IE00B3Q19T94
Total expense ratio: 0.30 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: EURO STOXX Optimised Banks EUR Net Return Index
The EURO STOXX Optimised Banks Source ETF enables investors to participate for the first time in the performance of the EURO STOXX Optimised Banks EUR Net Return Index. This index is a subset of the EURO STOXX Index, and follows the same methodology as the STOXX Optimised Index family. These indices take into account factors such as trading liquidity and securities lending, in their equity selection and weighting.
The product offering in Xetra’s XTF segment currently comprises 789 exchange-traded index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges.
Investors hold record £860bn in ETFs
April 14, 2011--Investors have put record sums of money into exchange-traded products such as ETFs, according to a report.
Assets held in exchange-traded funds and similar products totalled just under $1.4 trillion (£860bn) in the first quarter of this year, the report from BlackRock, the fund manager, found. Last year the figure was just under £800bn.
ETFs and exchange-traded commodities give private investors easy access to a huge range of assets, from index tracker funds to gold bullion. They are traded on the stock market in exactly the same way as shares and are normally a low-cost way to invest.
In an indication of the rapid growth in investors' appetite for ETFs over the past decade, total assets in 2001 amounted to just £64bn. In 1993, the first year covered by BlackRock's report, investors had a total of only £500m in exchange-traded products.
ESMA sets out guidelines on risk measurement and the calculation of global exposure for certain types of structured UCITS
April 14, 2011--ESMA publishes today the final report on the guidelines on risk measurement and the calculation of the global exposure for certain types of structured UCITS (ESMA/2011/112). The report contains the policy
approach agreed by ESMA, the cost-benefit analysis, the feedback from the public consultation and the
draft guidelines in English to be addressed to competent authorities and UCITS management companies.
The final version of the guidelines (which will be unchanged) will be translated into all the European
Union languages and will be available at a later stage on the ESMA website. The guidelines will take effect
when this translation process is completed and will accompany the Level 2 implementing measures of the
UCITS Directive that take effect on 1 July 2011. The report published today will nevertheless help UCITS
management companies and national competent authorities prepare in a timely manner.
The purpose of the guidelines is to propose, for certain types of structured UCITS, an optional regime for the calculation of the global exposure. The specific approach adopted by ESMA consists of the calculation, for each scenario to which investors can be exposed at any one time, of the global exposure using the commitment approach. Under this approach, each scenario must comply at all times with the 100% global exposure limit.
The guidelines, when they take effect, will supplement the guidelines published by the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) in July last year on Risk Measurement and the Calculation of the Global Exposure and Counterparty Risk for UCITS (Ref. CESR/10-788).
ESMA considers that the scope of this alternative approach must be clearly defined. Therefore, a list of all the criteria with which structured UCITS should comply in order to be able to benefit from this specific approach is set out in Guideline 1 of the report. A number of examples have also been included to illustrate how the optional regime should be applied in practice. Guideline 2 in the report, meanwhile, sets out additional disclosure obligations on UCITS that make use of the optional regime.
