Global ETF News Older than One Year
ESMA identifies deficiencies in CRAs sovereign ratings processes
December 2, 2013--The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a Report identifying a number of deficiencies in the processes for producing and issuing sovereign ratings at the three largest credit rating agencies (CRAs), Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.
The Report follows an investigation carried out by ESMA into the sovereign rating processes at the three CRAs, between February and October 2013. The investigation was prompted by concerns about potential conflicts of interests, the impact of sovereign ratings on other types of ratings, CRAs' capacity to cope with the number of rating actions during a period of high volatility, the use of bulk rating actions, and issues around the confidentiality and timing of rating actions.
Source: ESMA
China's yuan surpasses euro as 2nd most-used currency in trade finance: SWIFT
December 2, 2013--China's yuan currency overtook the euro in October, becoming the second-most used currency in trade finance, global transaction services organization SWIFT said on Tuesday.
The market share of yuan usage in trade finance, or Letters of Credit and Collection, grew to 8.66 percent in October 2013. That improved from 1.89 percent in January 2012.
The yuan, also known as the renminbi, now ranks behind the U.S. dollar, which remains the leading currency with a share of 81.08 percent.
Source: Reuters
Hedge funds turn to 'long-only' investing in bid to grow
December 2, 2013--Half of hedge funds now sell products traditionally the preserve of mainstream asset managers such as "long-only" strategies, a study shows, reflecting how conservative investors have come to dominate the industry's client base.
Hedge funds have made their name wagering on asset prices both rising and falling, and often increase the risk of their bets with borrowed cash. By contrast, traditional long-only managers can only bet the price of a stock or bond will go up.
Source: Reuters
IMF Working paper-Aggregate Uncertainty and the Supply of Credit
December 2, 2013--Summary: Recent studies show that uncertainty shocks have quantitatively important effects on the real economy. This paper examines one particular channel at work: the supply of credit. It presents a model in which a bank, even if managed by risk-neutral shareholders and subject to limited liability, can exhibit self-insurance, and thus loan supply contracts when uncertainty increases.
This prediction is tested with the universe of U.S. commercial banks over the period 1984-2010. Identification of credit supply is achieved by looking at the differential response of banks according to their level of capitalization. Consistent with the theoretical predictions, increases in uncertainty reduce the supply of credit, more so for banks with lower levels of capitalization. These results are weaker for large banks, and are robust to controlling for the lending and capital channels of monetary policy, to different measures of uncertainty, and to breaking the dataset in subsamples. Quantitatively, uncertainty shocks are almost as important as monetary policy ones with regards to the effects on the supply of credit.
view the IMF Working paper-Aggregate Uncertainty and the Supply of Credit
Source: IMF
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-Precious Metals Stabilize on Strong Physical Demand from China
December 2, 2013--Chinese physical gold demand reaches second highest level on record.
Gold rallied last week supported by strong demand from Asia and a weaker US
dollar. China's net gold imports from Hong Kong were 129.9 tonnes in October,
just shy of the record 130 tonnes in March.
The gold price appears to be locked between good support at US$1,200/oz. and initial resistance at US$1,300/oz. Gold appears torn between the downward pull exerted from expectations that the Fed Reserve will reduce monetary stimulus and supportive physical demand. In the longer-term, ongoing physical demand, coupled with reserve depletion and a rising cost base is expected to lift precious metals prices, but in the shorter-term, outflows from gold ETP's continue to weigh on prices. Gold and silver prices will continue to react to growth data and perceptions of future Fed policy. However, downside appears limited with both metals near their respective cost of production. For longer term investors wishing to hedge against inflation, currency debasement and financial instability risks, we believe gold and silver prices are back at attractive accumulation levels.
Source: ETF Securities
NASDAQ OMX Trading Statistics November 2013
December 2, 2013--NASDAQ OMX today publishes monthly trade statistics for the Nordic1 and Baltic2 markets.
Below follows a summary of the statistics for November 2013:
The share trading increased by 22.6 % to a daily average of 2.113bn EUR, compared to 1.724bn EUR in November 2012. Compared to the previous month, October 2013, the daily average decreased by 6,8 %.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
State Street custodian bank delves into data mining
December 1, 2013--With low interest rates crimping its net interest margins, State Street is the latest custodian bank to attempt to drive its sluggish revenues higher by moving into data mining.
State Street's idea is to profit from helping asset managers exploit investment data to gain an edge against competitors. This cannot be described as an original thought, however, as BNY Mellon and other rival banks are pursuing similar strategies.
Source: FT.com
OPEC Monthly Oil Report November 2013
December 1, 2013--Oil Market Highlights
The OPEC Reference Basket declined by $2.04 to $106.69/b in October after four consecutive
months of gains. All Basket component values moved lower, but by varying degrees. Most
components were affected by high crude oil inventories, as refineries entered into autumn seasonal
turnaround and refining margins remained low.
Crude oil futures prices on both sides of the Atlantic moved lower in October with ICE Brent down $1.81 to $109.44/b and Nymex WTI declining by $5.68 to $100.55/b, which widened the Brent-WTI spread to $8.90/b. Downside pressure came on US futures due to the sharp climb in US crude inventories, even as the Federal Reserve left its economic stimulus intact following the US government shutdown. Easing geopolitical tensions also continued to deflate the risk premium in the market.
World economic growth forecasts for 2013 and 2014 remain unchanged at a moderate level of 2.9% and 3.5%, respectively.
Source: OPEC
London Stock Exchange to quit World Federation of Exchanges
November 28, 2013--London Stock Exchange Group is to resign from the World Federation of Exchanges, the main trade association for global bourses, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The highly unusual move for an exchange to leave the WFE comes only four years after the LSE withdrew from the Federation of European Securities Exchanges, an equivalent European association.
Source: FT.com
E-gold Founder Backs New Bitcoin Rival That Will Have Gold Reserves
November 28, 2013-- Now this is an interesting e-currency. FT reports:
The founder of one of the earliest virtual currencies has re-emerged with a rival to Bitcoin, more than five years after his first venture, e-gold, was shut down by the US Department of Justice.
Douglas Jackson is consulting for a membership organisation called Coeptis that hopes to launch a new version of his gold-backed currency, which attracted millions of users at its height.
Source: Economic Policy Journal
