Pension funds win reprieve from European derivatives regulation
May 25, 2011--Pension funds have won a reprieve from the derivatives regulation passing through Brussels, at least for a period of three years, with further extension possible.
This follows acceptance of a relevant amendment that cleared through the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (Econ) yesterday.
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Source: IP&E
All German banks have passed EU stress tests: report
May 25, 2011--All 13 German banks submitted to European stress tests have passed, the weekly Die Zeit said in its edition to appear on Thursday, citing financial sources.
Hypo Real Estate, which failed tests last year, is in better shape since it transferred toxic assets to an external entity known as a "bad bank," with government help.
Two state-owned regional banks that came close to failing last time, Nord/LB and Helaba, have taken measures to ensure their capital meets criteria set out by the European Banking Authority.
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Source: EUbusiness
Strong demand for EU bail-out bond sale
May 24, 2011--The European Union enjoyed strong demand for its third bond to raise money for the rescues of Portugal and Ireland, in a sign of investors’ confidence that the eurozone can survive the debt crisis.
Despite rising concern over contagion, and the single currency coming under pressure this week, banks, pension funds, insurers and other investors from Europe and Asia, including some big sovereign wealth funds, bought the debt.
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Source: FT.com
EFAMA replies to FSB: The UCITS framework provides high levels of risk mitigation and investor protection for ETFs
May 24, 2011--EFAMA’s reply to the Financial Stability Board’s Note on potential financial stability issues arising from recent trends in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) stresses that a large majority of European ETFs are UCITS, and the UCITS Directive provides a robust regulatory framework for investment funds, with strong risk mitigation provisions.
The UCITS Directive is one of the world’s most respected and widely recognized regulatory regimes for investment funds, and it largely addresses the concerns expressed by the FSB. Asset segregation, risk management, conflict of interest rules, investment limits, collateral rules for OTC derivatives and disclosure requirements are key elements of the UCITS regime, and will be even further strengthened by the UCITS IV Directive from 1 July 2011.
EFAMA fully supports initiatives to increase the understanding of ETFs, but the areas of concern in the Note are not unique to ETFs, and regulators should look at other products as well, especially when focusing on systemic risks.
Eurex to launch new access point in Hong Kong
May 24, 2011--Eurex announced today that it will launch its new access point in Hong Kong in June. This will be the second Eurex access point in Asia. Access points offer Eurex member firms direct, high-speed and cost-effective network access to Eurex’s highly liquid trading platform. Currently, Eurex has five members based in Hong Kong – the newest member is Nanhua Futures (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., which joined as a trading participant in April 2011.
Michael Peters, member of the Eurex Executive Board, commented: “We are pleased to offer our customers a high-performance connection to our exchange in this fast-growing region. The launch of our new access point in Hong Kong underpins our strategy of expanding in one of the most important Asian market.”
One of Eurex’s core strategic objectives is the expansion of its business activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Eurex has been operating an access point in Singapore since 2006. Representative offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo were opened in 2009. Altogether, there are 19 members connected from the Asia-Pacific region, and several companies are in the admission process. The volume generated by members located in Asia has increased by 50 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 2010.
With the launch of this new access point, Deutsche Börse and Eurex operate 14 access points in major international financial centers around the world: Amsterdam, Chicago, Frankfurt, Gibraltar, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, Singapore, Vienna and Zurich.
Source: Eurex
Basel III: a roadmap to better banking regulation and supervision
Remarks by Nout Wellink Chairman, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
President, De Nederlandsche Bank
May 24, 2011--Introduction
First of all, I would like to thank Josef Tošovský, Chairman Ignatiev and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for hosting this high-level meeting. Since becoming Basel Committee chairman in 2006, I have participated in as many as 10 of these events in all parts of the world.
We have discussed topics such as Basel II and Basel III; the Core Principles; “back to basics” and the future of supervision; and, of course, the financial crisis and the Committee’s response. I have always been impressed by the quality of discussions and exchange of information that take place among the senior officials that participate in these meetings. These are the cornerstones of supervisory cooperation and coordination.
Since 2006, it has been a long five years – a challenging five years – and, for both good and bad reasons, a memorable five years. On the regulatory side, much has been achieved. These policy responses to the crisis must now be implemented fully, consistently and globally. This is going to require much more work. Much of this work now shifts to the supervisory side and, as I will discuss this morning, I think we are moving in the right direction.
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Source: BIS
Three new SPDR ETFs launched on Xetra
May 24, 2011--Another three exchange-listed index funds issued by SPDR (State Street Global Advisors) have been tradable on Xetra since Tuesday.
ETF name: SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Bond ETF
Asset class: bond index ETF
ISIN: IE00B41RYL63
Total expense ratio: 0.20 percent
Distribution policy: distributing
Benchmark: Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Bond Index
ETF name: SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ETF
Asset class: bond index ETF
ISIN: IE00B3T9LM79
Total expense ratio: 0.20 percent
Distribution policy: distributing
Benchmark: Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond Index
ETF name: SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Government Bond ETF The three new SPDR bond-index ETFs from the SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Bond Index Series are based exclusively on bonds denominated in euros. The SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Bond ETF enables investors to participate in the performance of the Barclays Capital Euro Aggregate Bond Index. The index invests in corporate bonds, treasury bonds and government bonds. The SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Corporate Bond ETF includes corporate bonds issued by companies in the industrial, utilities and financial sectors. For both ETFs, the criterion for including bonds in the index is their denomination in euros and not the country in which the issuer is based. In addition, only investment-grade bonds with a fixed coupon are selected.
The SPDR Barclays Capital Euro Government Bond ETF invests in government bonds from the following euro-zone countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The bonds are weighted according to market capitalisation, so the index accurately tracks the performance of the euro-denominated government-bond market.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment currently comprises a total of 806 exchange-listed index funds, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges. STOXX Changes Composition Of Benchmark Indices
Effective as of the open of European markets on June 20, 2011, the following stocks will be added to and deleted from the STOXX Europe 600 Index and its respective size and sector indices: read more New ETC from db ETC Index plc launched on Xetra iShares launches sustainable ETFs on NYSE Euronext
Roel Thijssen, managing director of BlackRock and head of iShares Benelux: ‘’I am excited to introduce the first Dutch ETFs based on sustainable criteria. As a market leader we have taken our responsibility to be the first in the market to respond to the increasing demand of sustainable financial products in The Netherlands. I am proud our innovation power gives Dutch investors the opportunity to invest in sustainable companies in Europe and on a global level.’’ read more If you are looking for a particuliar article and can not find it, please feel free to contact us for assistace.
Asset class: bond index ETF
ISIN: IE00B3S5XW04
Total expense ratio: 0.15 percent
Source: Deutsche Börse
Results Of The Second Regular Quarterly Review To Be Effective On June 20, 2011
May 24, 2011--STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced the new composition of the STOXX Global 1800 Index, STOXX Europe Total Market Index, STOXX Europe 600 Index, STOXX Americas 600 Index,
STOXX Asia/Pacific 600 Index, STOXX EU Enlarged Total Market Index, STOXX Eastern Europe Total Market Index, STOXX Eastern Europe 300 Index and their sub- and sector indices, as well as that of the STOXX Europe Football Index and STOXX Europe Private Equity 20 Index.
Source: STOXX
May 24, 2011-- A new exchange-traded commodity issued by db ETC Index plc has been tradable on Xetra since Tuesday.
ETC name: db Brent Crude Oil Booster ETC (EUR)
Asset class: Commodities
ISIN: DE000A1KYN55
Total expense ratio: 0.45 percent
Benchmark: db Brent Crude Oil Booster USD Index
The new ETC from db ETC Index plc offers investors the additional chance to participate in the performance of Brent Crude Oil, in this case without currency protection. Collateral for the db ETC is provided by physically deposited gold bars in allocated form.
Deutsche Börse’s ETC segment product range currently comprises 180 instruments. The monthly trading volume of ETCs on Xetra averages around €550 million.
Source: Deutsche Börse
May 24, 2011--– NYSE Euronext is pleased to announce that iShares, the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) platform of BlackRock, Inc. today has listed two sustainable equity ETFs on the Amsterdam market of NYSE Euronext. The launch of the new products is in response to demand for funds which invest according to environmental, social and governance criteria.
The new launched iShares ETFs are:
iShares Dow Jones Global Sustainability Screened;
iShares Dow Jones Europe Sustainability Screened;
The ETFs allow investors cost efficient and liquid access to European and Global companies which operate in a sustainable manner. The ETFs aim to track the performance of the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. There is an element of negative screening, choosing to exclude companies with involvement in alcohol, tobacco, gambling, armaments & firearms and adult entertainment.
Source: NYSE Euronext