Global ETF News Older than One Year
Qatar to sell down stake in LSE
July 9, 2014--The Qatar Investment Authority is to sell down a third of its stake in the London Stock Exchange Group ahead of the bourse's $1.6bn rights issue to help purchase Frank Russell, the US index compiler.
The sovereign wealth fund has instructed Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup to sell a near 5 per cent stake in an accelerated bookbuild, said two people familiar with the situation.
Source: FT.com
Brics bank set to launch next week
July 9, 2014--Leaders of the Brics nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- will launch their long-awaited development bank at a summit next week and decide whether the headquarters should be in Shanghai or New Delhi, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.
The Brics' creation of a $100bn bank to finance infrastructure projects has been slow in coming, with disagreements over its funding, management and headquarters.
Source: FIN24
Eurex Clearing publishes White Paper on the systemic role of central counterparties
Central Counterparties (CCPs) reduce systemic risk in financial markets/ Specific recovery and resolution frameworks for Financial Market Infrastructures support the benefits of the CCP model
July 8, 2014--Central clearing significantly reduces systemic risk and their amplifying factors in financial markets. This is a key finding of the White Paper "How central counterparties strengthen the safety and integrity of financial markets" which was published today by Eurex Clearing, the CCP of Deutsche Börse Group.
Hence, the regulatory agenda to broaden the use of CCP clearing together with high regulatory requirements makes financial markets more robust and transparent and benefits the wider economy. In particular central clearing reduces risks in bilaterally negotiated products such as OTC derivatives and allows to mitigate systemic risks in these markets.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Deutsche to scrap db X-trackers name
July 8, 2014--Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management is scrapping the db X-trackers and DWS fund names as part of its efforts to develop a "global brand identity".
The firm will replace db X-trackers, the name used for its exchange traded fund business, with Deutsche x-trackers in 2015, according to a company spokesperson.
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Why Complementarity Matters for Stability-Hong Kong SAR and Singapore as Asian Financial Centers
July 8, 2014-- Summary: There is much speculation regarding a "race for dominance" among financial centers in Asia, arising from the anticipated financial opening up of China. This frame of reference is, to an extent, a predilection that results from a traditional understanding of financial centers as possessing historical, geographic, and scale economy advantages.
This paper, however, suggests that there is an alternative prism through which the evolution of financial centers in Asia needs to be viewed. It underscores the importance of "complementarity" rather than "dominance" to better serve regional and global financial stability. We posit that such complementarity is vital, through network analysis of the roles of Hong Kong SAR and Singapore as the current leading financial centers in the region. This analysis suggests that a competition for dominance can result in de-stabilizing levels of interconnectivity that render the global "network" as a whole more susceptible to rapid propagation of shocks. We then examine the regulatory and policy challenges that may be encountered in furthering such complementary coexistence.
Source: IMF
Fund managers hold the potential for systemic risk
If they amplify market cycles they contribute to broad-based risk
July 8, 2014--Could fund managers pose a systemic risk? Regulators round the world started to ask the question, and answered "perhaps".
Fund managers' response was: "Cherchez la leverage." Downturns turn into crises when companies have too much leverage, and a small loss can render them incapable of paying their debts. Lehman Brothers would not have gone bankrupt if it had not had so much leverage-and its demise would not have been so damaging had it not inflicted credit losses on others
Source: FT.com
Good returns bring investors back to commodity ETFs
July 8, 2014--The best commodities performance in years has rekindled interest in exchange traded funds that allow investors to trade the price of energy, metals and grains on stock markets.
At one time, some ETFs were so large that critics contended they distorted wholesale markets for food and energy, Assets held in many of the biggest funds have shrunk from their peaks.
Source: FT.com
State Street Global Advisors Appoints Chief Operating Officer of US Intermediary
July 8, 2014--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the asset management business of State Street Corporation, has announced the appointment of Nick Good to senior managing director and chief operating officer of the US intermediary business. Good joins from BlackRock, where he served as head of strategy and business development for the Asia-Pacific region.
In this newly created position, Good will be responsible for overseeing sales and business strategy, as well as driving intermediary business growth through new and existing channels.
Source: State Street Global Advisors
Germany Gets 80 Billion-Yuan Investor Quota for China
July 7, 2014--China awarded Germany a quota of 80 billion yuan ($12.9 billion) that will allow domestic investors to buy securities in China under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program.
The quota was announced during a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to China to meet Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping, according to a Chinese government website statement today.
Bloomberg
State Street moving ETF range from France to Ireland
July 7, 2014--State Street Global Advisors is set to redomicile 13 of its exchange traded funds from France to Ireland, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The US giant registered 15 ETFs in Ireland in May, which include 13 funds already authorised in France, Ignites Europe has learnt.
Source: FT.com
