Europe ETP News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
Denmark sets bar on transparency
July 6, 2010--Denmark’s banking industry does not have a large global reach – something made clear in the efforts of its mortgage banks to lobby other countries’ regulators to be heard in Basel.
But the industry’s officials could in fact have their own kind of global clout if recently introduced transparency laws are taken up elsewhere.
Last week the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority published the first round of reports into individual banks and will do so regularly, extending the number of banks until all are covered annually.
AMF publishes the report of the working group on the MiFID review
July 6, 2010--For the review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), which will assess the directive's
impact on the development and organisation of European equity markets, the AMF Board set up a working
group chaired by Jean-Pierre Pinatton and Olivier Poupart-Lafarge in December 2009. The group,
composed of all stakeholders, has now published its findings, which will contribute to ongoing discussions at
domestic and European levels.
The report addresses three main themes:
- Improving transparency
Pre-trade transparency: the report outlines several proposals, which include keeping pre-trade
transparency waivers based on order size, as well as the requirements for negotiated transactions, which existed pre-MiFID, while clarifying the scope. Concerning the so-called
reference price waiver, which allows a multilateral trading facility (MTF) to operate as a dark pool
if the transactions it executes are based on a price imported from another trading system, the
report recommends regulating these arrangements by setting a maximum trading volume beyond
which the MTF is no longer eligible for the waiver.
Post-trade transparency: the group supports mandatory introduction of a consolidated tape system in Europe. It also recommends that trades executed on crossing networks and by systematic internalisers should be identified by a generic identifier and that, more generally, transactions not subject to pre-trade transparency requirements should be identified when made public. Another recommendation is to reduce trade publication delays, notably by cutting the maximum delay from 3 minutes to 60 seconds, and to shorten the deferral periods currently authorised for some types of transactions. The group acknowledges the need to harmonise trade flags1 on trading venues throughout Europe. And it stresses the importance of clarifying the notion of over-the-counter (OTC) trading, which at present is defined solely by default, and determining a suitable way of regulating OTC trades, notably by flagging them.
EU bank supervision project stalls over powers
July 6, 2010--An EU project to create pan-European watchdogs to police the financial sector hit a snag Tuesday as negotiations between EU lawmakers and states stalled over how much power to give them.
The European Parliament postponed a vote on the plan until September to give negotiators more time to reach a deal on what authority to grant to the agencies, which would oversee banks, insurers and markets.
EU states want power to ultimately rest in the hands of national agencies while the European parliament seeks to give the new cross-border authorities enough influence.
Britain, fearful that supervision of the London financial centre by Brussels would end up costing it taxpayers' money, secured in December safeguards that would give states a de facto veto on decisions made by the new bodies.
db x-trackers steigert verwaltetes Vermögen auf 28,7 Milliarden Euro
July 5, 2010--db x-trackers, die Index-Tracking-Plattform der Deutschen Bank, hat ihr Wachstum
fortgesetzt. Bis Ende Juni 2010 verzeichnete db x-trackers in den beiden
Fondsgesellschaften db x-trackers und db x-trackers II insgesamt Nettomittelzuflüsse von 1,2 Milliarden Euro, das verwaltete Vermögen stieg auf 28,7 Milliarden Euro. In
Europa nimmt db x-trackers damit die dritte Position unter den ETF-Anbietern ein und ist weltweit die Nummer fünf (Quelle: Deutsche Bank Research, Stand Juni 2010). Das Produktangebot von db x-trackers umfasst nun 156 ETFs aus allen
Asset-Klassen.
Nach aktuellen Zahlen der Deutschen Bank ist der Markt für ETFs sowie für ETCs(Exchange Traded Commodities) in Europa weiter deutlich gewachsen. Beide
Produktgruppen verwalten nach dem ersten Halbjahr 2010 rund 197,6 Milliarden Euro, 16 Prozent mehr als Anfang des Jahres. Die Mittelzuflüsse bzw. neu eingesetztes Kapital betrugen 2010 in Europa 15,7 Milliarden Euro bis Ende Juni. Nach Asset-Klassen gewichtet stieg das verwaltete Volumen bzw. eingesetzte Kapital am stärksten bei Alternativen Investments (plus 81 Prozent) und Rohstoffen (plus 41 Prozent). In den USA stieg das verwaltete Volumen weniger stark, um 5
Prozent auf 829 Milliarden US-Dollar im ersten Halbjahr 2010. Auch der asiatische Markt für börsengehandelte Indexprodukte hat eine kritische Masse erreicht, mit einem verwalteten Volumen von 69,3 Milliarden US-Dollar.
Laut einer kürzlich veröffentlichten Studie von Deutsche Bank Research ist auch zukünftig mit Volumenszuwächsen vor allem bei Rohstoffen und Alternativen Investments zu rechnen. „Nach einer aktuellen Umfrage planen nahezu zwei Drittel der befragten Investoren, in diesem Segment künftig ETFs verstärkt zu nutzen“, sagt Thorsten Michalik, verantwortlich für db x-trackers. Weiterhin scheinen Investoren bezüglich Schwellenländer-Aktien sowie Short- und Hebel-Produkten hohes Interesse ausgedrückt zu haben. Um auf die gestiegene Nachfrage von Seiten der Investoren zu reagieren, hat db x-trackers 2010 insgesamt weltweit bereits 40 neue ETFs aufgelegt. Davon bilden 17 Produkte Indizes aus dem Bereich Schwellenländer-Aktien ab, bei 10 Neuauflagen handelt es sich um Short-oder Hebel-ETFs.
Um das große Interesse an Rohstoffinvestments zu bedienen, wird die Deutsche Bank 2010 das Geschäftsfeld db ETC weiter ausbauen. Bei db ETC – ExchangeTraded Commodities handelt es sich um besicherte Schuldverschreibungen. Bis Ende Juni wurden durch die beiden Emittenten DB ETC Index plc bzw. die DB ETC plc bereits 23 db ETC aufgelegt, die die Entwicklung einzelner Rohstoffe oder definierter Rohstoffkörbe abbilden. Als jüngste Ergänzung wurde eine Produktpalette mit ETCs aufgelegt, die die Entwicklung von Edelmetallen abbilden. Sie werden von der DB ETC plc emittiert und tragen die Bezeichnung db Physical Precious Metal ETC (db Physical PM ETC). Entsprechende Produkte für Gold und Silber sind bereits an der London Stock Exchange gelistet, in Deutschland aber nur institutionellen Investoren zugänglich. Im Juli werden weitere db Physical PM ETC für Platin und Palladium aufgelegt und sollen auch in Deutschland gelistet werden. Stark vereinfacht dargestellt, erfolgt eine Besicherung der db Physical PM ETC Wertpapiere durch Barren des jeweiligen Edelmetalls, die physisch eingelagert werden. Die Entwicklung des Wertes des db Physical PM ETC ist unter Berücksichtigung einer Produktgebühr an den Kassakurs des Edelmetalls gekoppelt.
Eine Innovation die bislang ebenfalls institutionellen Investoren vorbehalten ist, sind
die währungsgeschützten Edelmetall ETCs. Für Ende Juli ist das Listing der db Physical Euro Hedged ETCs auf Gold, Silber, Palladium und Platin an der Deutschen Börse geplant. Damit steht Anlegern eine neue Investitionsmöglichkeit zur
Verfügung, denn bisher konnten Edelmetall-ETCs nur in US-Dollar und mit dem damit verbundenen Währungsrisiko gehandelt werden. Die jährlichen Kosten
betragen aktuell nur 0,29 Prozent für den db Physical Gold ETC sowie 0,45 Prozent für die anderen db Physical PM ETC. Die Währungssicherungsgebühr beträgt dabei für die währungsgeschützten Varianten derzeit 0,30 Prozent p.a..
Over 50 Tons of Gold at Deutsche Börse Commodities
Record fund inflows and trading volumes for Xetra-Gold
July 5, 2010--Deutsche Börse Commodities' gold reserve backing the Xetra-Gold bearer bond has grown to 50.038 tons. Each unit of the security is backed by exactly one gram of physical gold held in the vaults. At a price of €32.54 (Xetra price on 30 June) per unit of Xetra-Gold or per gram of gold, the current value of gold in custody is more than €1.6 billion.
Xetra-Gold achieved record fund inflows in the second quarter. A total of 9.6 tons of gold were sold between April and June. The strongest day of sales since Xetra-Gold was launched in December 2007 was 12 May 2010. On this day, investors bought 2.5 tons of physical gold via the Xetra-Gold security. In terms of months, May 2010 also recorded the most sales of any month thus far with 7.2 tons.
On Xetra, the Xetra-Gold trading volume totaled €757.3 million in the second quarter and thus rose by 55 percent over the first quarter (€489.2 million). Xetra-Gold is therefore by far the best-performing security from the around 170 exchange traded commodities (ETCs) available on Xetra. Its share of total order book sales in the ETC segment is around 37 percent.
Xetra-Gold provides investors with one of the most favorable opportunities of acquiring and trading physical gold. The bid/ask spread is generally only around 0.1 percent. No ongoing management fees are charged for Xetra-Gold, as opposed to fund trading and other ETCs.
Xetra-Gold is largely purchased by private investors. Growing interest is also noted among institutional investors as the product meets the European UCITS directive.
Twelve New Currency ETNs Issued by ETF Securities launched on Xetra
First emerging market currency ETNs with long or short exposure tradable on Xetra
July 5, 2010--Eight additional euro-based currency ETNs and the first four emerging market-based currency ETNs, all issued by ETF Securities, are tradable on Xetra.
“We are pleased to be further expanding Deutsche Börse’s ETP segment with ETF Securities’ innovative products. The currency ETNs newly listed on Xetra enable investors to further diversify their portfolios,” said Rainer Riess, Managing Director of Xetra Market Development at Deutsche Börse.
"With currency ETNs, investors now have a broad variety of tactical and strategic currency investment opportunities. Of particular interest will be the Emerging Market currency ETNs, which offer investors the opportunity to participate in both the potential currency appreciation and a more dynamic interest rate environment. Both investment strategies, potential currency appreciation and changing interest rates are possible with Currency ETCs, either long or short," said Michael Geister, Senior Executive at ETF Securities.
With the 12 new currency ETNs, ETF Securities allows investors to participate in the performance of more currency indices. The underlying indices track the exchange rates of the euro to the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar and US dollar. Investors can profit from a rising or falling euro rate depending on the ETN they choose.
Moreover, they can invest in emerging market-based currency ETNs for the first time. The underlying indices track the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Chinese renminbi and Indian rupee. Investors can also choose to profit from rising or falling US dollar rates with these ETNs.
Deutsche Börse combines the ETC and ETN asset classes in its Exchange Traded Products segment (ETPs). Deutsche Börse’s ETF and ETP range currently comprises 674 ETFs, 171 ETCs and 31 ETNs.
Action to tackle unfunded spending commitments
July 5, 2010--The Chief Secretary to the Treasury today announced that four Departments have agreed to reductions in unfunded spending commitments totalling £1.5bn.
As set out in the Chief Secretary’s statement to Parliament on 17 June, the Government had identified inherited spending plans whose funding was reliant on underspending across Government through the End Year Flexibility (EYF) system or additional funding from the Reserve.
The Government does not believe it was realistic to expect that underspending on the scale necessary to meet all of these commitments would have occurred. The urgent remedial action taken today will help ensure that there is no additional borrowing this year and that there is sufficient contingency in the Reserve to meet any unexpected pressures that might arise over the course of the year.
UK Official holdings of international reserves-June 2010
July 5, 2010--This monthly press notice shows details of movements in June in the UK’s official holdings of international reserves, which consist of gold, foreign currency assets and International Monetary Fund assets. These reserves are maintained primarily so that the UK Government’s reserves could be used to intervene to support Sterling, or the Bank of England’s reserves could be used to support the Bank’s monetary policy objectives. If such interventions were to occur, then they would be shown and explained in this release. The Background note at the end of this release explains more about the reserves, and about these statistics.
In summary this month’s release shows that, in June 2010:
No intervention operations were undertaken.
Movements in reserves and levels of reserves were as follows:
Majority of hedge funds see ‘trying’ year in 2010
July 5, 2010--Hedge fund managers feel they aren’t out of the woods quite yet. Seven out of 10 said they expect a ‘trying’ year as the industry faces regulatory oversight and competition picks up with more funds likely chasing investment dollars, according to a survey by accounting and audit firm Rothstein Kass.
“It is no surprise that the outlook for 2010 echoes the concerns of 2009 rather than the unbridled optimism of years past and reflects a more conservative approach to the future,” Rothstein Kass consultants wrote. Hedge funds rebounded last year from 2008’s deep losses with an average 19 percent return. But this year’s market gyrations highlight the pitfalls that are still present two years after the financial crisis.
CESR updates the list of measures recently taken by Members regarding short-selling.
July 5, 2010--CESR published on 22 September 2008 a statement that facilitates an overview of actions taken by CESR Members in relation to short-selling. The statement paper includes either the statements or links to the statements published by CESR Members explaining the measures taken. This paper is not a comparison of the measures taken.
CESR updates the list of measures recently taken by Members regarding short-selling. The documents will be updated on a continuous basis; the latest update has been provided by the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission.
View the Measures adopted by CESR Members on short selling- Updated -
