Global ETF News Older than One Year
State Street Global Advisors Expands Intermediary Business with Key Appointments
June 2, 2014--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the asset management arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced five key appointments in the firm's intermediary business, which provides products supporting wealth management professionals, including SPDR ETFs and State Street mutual funds, for wirehouses, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), private banks, family offices and regional/independent broker dealers.
The appointments will bolster SSgA's competency across its intermediary business, which was created in 2001 to better access the firm's deep institutional experience and broad investment knowledge.
Source: State Street Global Advisors
Exchange-traded derivatives volume up 7% last year
May 30, 2014--An increase in activity in interest rates and commodity-based futures and options helped drive up the volume of exchange-traded derivatives around the world last year.
Listed derivatives trading likely will continue to grow in 2014 as regulatory changes shift more swaps trading on to exchanges...
Source: SmartBrief
IOSCO consults on strategic framework for Investor Education/Financial Literacy
May 29, 2014--The International Organization of Securities Commissions today published a consultation report on the Strategic Framework for Investor Education and Financial Literacy, which describes IOSCO's role in promoting investor education and financial literacy and its strategic approach to both.
IOSCO has long recognised investor education as a key strategy for enhancing investor protection, promoting investor confidence and fostering investor engagement in financial planning and decision-making. Investor education is complementary to the traditional tools of regulation, supervision and enforcement, and is included in IOSCO's Principles for securities regulation.
view the Strategic Framework for Investor Education and Financial Literacy-Consultation Report
Source: IOSCO
BlackRock CEO says leveraged ETFs could "blow up" whole industry
May 29, 2014--BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said on Wednesday that leveraged exchange-traded funds contain structural problems that could "blow up" the whole industry one day.
Fink runs a company that oversees more than $4 trillion in client assets, including nearly $1 trillion in ETF assets
Source: Reuters
Food Price Watch, May 2014: First Quarterly Increase Since August 2012; The Role of Food Prices in Food Riots
May 29, 2014--The May 2014 Issue of Food Price Watch finds that international prices of food increased by 4% between January and April 2014, putting an end to the declining trend of food prices sustained since August 2012. The thematic section of this report discusses the role that food prices and food shortages may have on food riots, a term widely used but poorly defined, and partially reflecting decades of overlooking the food-to-conflict nexus.
International food prices increased by 4 percent between January and April 2014, interrupting sustained declining trends in food prices observed since August 2012. Prices remain in sight of their all-time peak, some 16 percent below their historical record in August 2012.
International prices of wheat and maize increased sharply during the last quarter, in contrast with generally declining prices of rice. In the case of wheat, such a steep price increase has not occurred since the months leading to the historical peak in the summer of 2012.
view the World Bank Food Price Watch
Source: World Bank
Northern Trust Asset Management Strengthens Leadership Team for Funds and Institutional Clients
Shundrawn Thomas to Lead ETF and Mutual Fund Groups; Jason Tyler Appointed Head of Client Solutions
May 29, 2-014--Northern Trust Asset Management today announced two leadership appointments to strengthen its focus on strategic priorities and increase alignment of investment sales and servicing activities around key growth channels.
Shundrawn A. Thomas, who has led the successful launch of the Flexshares exchange-traded fund (ETF) business over the past three years, will expand his responsibilities to oversee all fund activities, including Northern Funds, Northern Institutional Funds and financial intermediary distribution.
Source: Northern Trust
IMF Working paper-Optimal Prudential Regulation of Banks and the Political Economy of Supervision
May 28, 2014--Summary: We consider a moral hazard economy in banks and production to study how incentives for risk taking are affected by the quality of supervision. We show that low interest rates may generate excessive risk taking.
Because of a pecuniary externality,the market equilibrium may not be optimal and there is a need for prudential regulation. We show that the optimal capital ratio depends on the macro-financial cycle,and that,in presence of production externalities,it should be complemented by a constraint on asset allocation. We show that the political process tends to exacerbate excessive risk taking and credit cycles.
Source: IMF
Implementation monitoring for the PFMIs: first update to Level 1 assessment report
May 28, 2014--The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have today published the first update to the Level 1 assessments of implementation monitoring for the Principles for financial market infrastructures (PFMIs).
Level 1 assessments are based on self-assessments by individual jurisdictions on how they have adopted the 24 Principles for FMIs and four of the five Responsibilities for authorities within the regulatory and oversight framework that applies to FMIs.
view the BIS Implementation monitoring of PFMIs: First update to Level 1 assessment report
Source: BIS
State & Trends Report Charts Global Growth of Carbon Pricing
May 28, 2014--STORY HIGHLIGHTS--Globally, 39 national and 23 sub-national jurisdictions have implemented or are scheduled to implement carbon pricing instruments, including emissions trading systems and taxes.
The world's emissions trading schemes are valued at about $30 billion, with China now housing the world's second largest carbon market, covering the equivalent of 1,115 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
The World Bank Group and others are encouraging countries, sub-national jurisdictions, and companies to join a growing coalition of first movers supporting carbon pricing.
The share of greenhouse gas emissions covered by domestic carbon pricing initiatives increased significantly over the past year, led by the launch of six carbon markets in China. Today, 39 national and 23 sub-national jurisdictions-responsible for almost a quarter of the global greenhouse gas emissions-have implemented or are scheduled to implement carbon pricing instruments, including emissions trading schemes and taxes, building the momentum for a bottom-up approach to climate action.
view the State and trends of carbon pricing 2014 report
Source: World Bank
DERIVATIVES: Data woes move front and center
May 27, 2014--Discrepancies in how the four main US swap trade repositories collect and store data is threatening to derail regulatory efforts to build a comprehensive view of the over-the-counter derivatives market-a key tenet of the 2009 G20 agreement on financial reforms.
CFTC Commissioner Scott O'Malia will outline a plan for reconciling the various forms of data being reported across the market at a Technology Advisory Committee meeting on June 3, but brokering a compromise is likely to be an uphill struggle.
Source: IFR
