RBS crisis report: Knight and Walker to conduct review
May 5, 2011--Lawyer Bill Knight and City grandee Sir David Walker appointed to help scrutinise Financial Services Authority report into what went wrong at bank before it was rescued by government.
A Financial Services Authority report into what went wrong at Royal Bank of Scotland before the £45bn taxpayer bailout is facing further delay after leading lawyer Bill Knight and City grandee Sir David Walker were drafted into help scrutinise the document.
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Source: Guardian.co.uk
FSA welcomes announcement of independent reviewers for RBS report
May 5, 2011--The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today welcomed the statement from the Treasury Select Committee Chairman Andrew Tyrie which confirms that in agreement with the FSA, the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) has asked Sir David Walker and Bill Knight to conduct an independent review of the report which the FSA is producing into the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The FSA report will include analysis of the causes of RBS’ failure, a summary of the findings of the FSA investigation into matters relating to RBS’ decisions, risk controls and governance processes and an assessment of the FSA’s regulation and supervision of RBS identifying any deficiencies.
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Source: FSA.gov.uk
EU bids to strip away trade incentives from China, India
May 5, 2011-- European Union trade chiefs are planning to strip away special export advantages granted to China, India, Indonesia and scores of other fast-growing economies, an EU source said Thursday.
In total, more than 80 emerging economic players also including the likes of Morocco would lose from 2014 benefits gained under a special regime when exporting to Europe's single market of half a billion consumers, 20 million companies and major state buyers.
The European Commission is discussing a plan to prune radically "to around 90 countries" its existing list of General System of Preferences (GSP) beneficiaries, which currently numbers 176 territories "not classified by the World Bank as high-income countries and which are not sufficiently diversified in their exports."
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Source: EUbusiness
EPEX Spot / EEX Power Derivatives: Power Trading Results in April
May 5, 2011--In April 2011, a total volume of 113.8 TWh was traded on
the Power Spot and Derivatives Market operated by EPEX Spot SE and EEX Power
Derivatives respectively (April 2010: 166.2 TWh).
In April 2011, power trading on the day-ahead auctions on EPEX Spot accounted for a total of 23,998,906 MWh (April 2010: 21,954,563 MWh) and can be broken down as
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Source: European Energy Exchange (EEX)
BME expands its IBEX 35® index family
May 5, 2011--The new indices will be calculated and disseminated in real time as of 19th May
Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) expands its IBEX 35® index family with three new tradable indices, all of which are based on the IBEX35®. The new indices, called IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE GROSS, IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE NET
and IBEX 35® CAPPED NET RETURN will start to be calculated and disseminated in real time from May 19th.
The IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE GROSS, which offers double exposure to the daily return on the IBEX35® TOTAL RETURN, through the investment of an initial capital plus an equivalent loaned capital. A positive daily return on the IBEX35® TOTAL RETURN yields an also positive return, but double that amount for the IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE GROSS and viceversa.
The IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE NET which offers double exposure to the daily return on the IBEX35® NET RETURN through the investment of an initial capital plus an equivalent loaned capital. A positive daily return on the IBEX35® NET RETURN yields a positive return, but double that amount for the IBEX 35® DOUBLE LEVERAGE NET and viceversa.
The IBEX 35® CAPPED NET RETURN incorporates the changes in the price of the index constituents as well as the return, net withholding tax, resulting from dividend payments and other shareholder remuneration. This index has the same composition as the IBEX 35® NET RETURN index, and the same index methodology is applicable, furthermore the individual weight of the securities will be limited to 18% in this index.
These new indices are intended to serve as underlying assets for financial products, such as certificates or Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). These new indices provide investors with a broad range of investment strategies.
Source: Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME)
Portugal becomes third eurozone bailout case
May 4, 2011--Portugal is now the third eurozone country to do a debt-rescue deal with the European Union and IMF, announcing a three-year package worth 78 billion euros.
But the reforms required in return are still under wraps and the package is tied to approval by the opposition which has already precipitated an early election by rejecting cutbacks to fight the debt mountain.
A deadline looms on June 15, six weeks away, when Portugal must redeem old loans of nearly 5.0 billion euros ($7.3 billion).
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Source: EUbusiness
New product provider State Street Global Advisors has listed twelve Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on SIX Swiss Exchange
May 4, 2011--SIX Swiss Exchange welcomes State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) as a new issuer to the Exchange Traded Funds segment.
State Street Global Advisors launched the first ETF in 1993 and is therefore considered as a pioneer of the industry. Today, the company manages global ETF assets of USD 2551 billion (as at 31 December 2010) and is one of the world's leading asset managers for professional investors.
With the twelve new SPDR® ETFs based on European regional and sector indices, SIX Swiss Exchange's ETF segment now comprises 675 ETFs, of which 108 are also listed in an additional currency. State Street Global Advisors is planning to further expand its ETF offering on SIX Swiss Exchange in the future.
Commerzbank AG is acting as market maker for the SPDR® ETFs.
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Source: SIX Swiss Exchange
BlackRock ETF Landscape: European STOXX 600 Sector ETF Net Flows for Week Ending 29-Apr-2011
May 4, 2011--For the week ending 29 April 2011, there were US$409.5 Mn net inflows to STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs. The largest sector ETF net inflows last week were in food and beverage with US$152.2 Mn followed by automobiles and parts with US$82.9 Mn net inflows while basic resources experienced net outflows of US$16.1 Mn.
Year to date, STOXX Europe 600 sector ETFs have seen US$940.2 Mn net inflows. Oil and gas has seen the largest net inflows with US$510.4 Mn, followed by banks with US$333.7 Mn net inflows while basic resources experienced the largest net outflows with US$155.7 Mn.
As of 29 April 2011, there is US$11.9 Bn AUM invested in the STOXX sector ETFs which is almost double the US$6.4 Bn open interest in the sector futures. The ETF AUM is greater than the open interest in the corresponding futures contract in 17 out of 19 sectors.
to request report
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
French Bank Volunteers Tobin Tax
May 4, 2011--Inspired by the economist and Nobel laureate James Tobin, the French bank Crédit Coopératif has recently unveiled plans to impose its own voluntary contribution on foreign exchange transactions (CVTC) in a bid to fund international development aid.
Eager to persuade other financial institutions to follow suit, the bank is due to present its plans for the solidarity levy (CVTC – Change solidaire) at the forthcoming 2015 Convergence Forum in Paris.
In its official release, the Crédit Coopératif estimated that introducing a 0.01% tax on the total sum of its inter-bank foreign exchange operations will serve to generate in the region of EUR100,000 a year for development projects.
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Source: Investors Offshore
Clearstream and Euroclear Bank set higher standards for international securities
JOINT PRESS RELEASE * Launch of a new industry framework developed in collaboration with the International Securities Market Advisory Group * BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citibank N.A. Issuer Services, European Investment Bank and KfW as early supporters of the initiative and the associated best practice implementation process * Reducing inefficiencies, costs and risks in issuing and servicing international securities while increasing transparency on service quality and market performance
May 3, 2011--Euroclear Bank and Clearstream, the international central securities depositories (ICSDs), have developed jointly and in collaboration with the International Securities Market Advisory Group (ISMAG), a new industry framework to increase transparency and efficiency for the issuance and asset servicing of international securities. The framework sets standards for these securities issued in and primarily deposited with the ICSDs, with outstanding levels close to €9 trillion. Major issuers and industry participants like BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citibank N.A. Issuer Services, European Investment Bank and KfW are supporting the initiative and the associated best practice implementation process.
International securities issuance is becoming more complex, with increasing challenges to reconcile legal and operational requirements. The new international securities standards are the result of a three-year programme led under the auspices of ISMAG to identify and encourage best practices in issuance and asset servicing operations throughout the entire value chain. ISMAG’s recommendations aim to reduce the inefficiencies, costs and risks in issuing and servicing securities while increasing transparency on the use of the new standards for the benefit of the issuer and investor communities.
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Source: Deutsche Börse
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