NASDAQ OMX Names Borje E. Ekholm Chairman
December 13, 2012--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), the inventor of the electronic exchange and the world's largest exchange company, today announced that its Board of Directors has selected Börje E. Ekholm as Chairman.
Ekholm has served as Interim Chairman of NASDAQ OMX since May 25, 2012, following the retirement from the board of Chairman H. Furlong Baldwin.
"This is an exciting time to be at NASDAQ OMX, and I am humbled by the confidence expressed in me by the Board of Directors," Mr. Ekholm said. "So much has been accomplished by this Board and under the leadership of Bob Greifeld and his team, and still there remain ample opportunities to continue to improve and grow the business profitably.''
Source: NASDAQ OMX
BlackRock Investment Institute-ETP Landscape: 12 Surprises for 2012
December 12, 2012--Overview
It's perhaps no surprise that the ETP industry is about to complete another year with strong asset growth.
Global ETP flows continued at a record-setting pace with $219bn through November 2012 in the face of global
trepidation over the impending US fiscal cliff and continued financial strains in the Eurozone.
Total assets have increased by 23% from 2011 to $1.9 trillion and some surprising trends in the ETP growth
story lie beneath the larger trend
12 Surprising ETP Trends in 2012
1. ETP flows maintained positive momentum throughout changing risk-on and risk-off market conditions. Strong inflows in buoyant equity markets are no surprise and overall 2012 has delivered double digit equity returns1, perhaps unexpectedly in a year characterized by global macro-economic headwinds.
However, within these positive results were downside stretches including a 13% decline from early April to
early June.2 Despite significant and pronounced risk-off periods, ETP flows were positive every month this
year– this for the first time since 2008.
But how are flows impacted during longer downside periods? Remarkably, the strongest year for ETP inflows was 2008, a year in which the MSCI All Country World Index was down 44%.3
Why have flows held up in risk-off markets?
Shifts in investor sentiment during risk-off periods can send money in search of lower risk exposures which are well represented by ETP offerings. Down markets also
draw in investors positioning for an upturn. Because ETPs still represent a small percentage of investable
assets, money in motion under any market scenario has often been favorable to the industry.
Source: BlackRock Investment Institute
IEA-Highlights of the latest Oil Market Report
December 12, 2012--Oil futures extended earlier declines in November, as persistent concerns about the economy and the looming US fiscal cliff appeared to eclipse those about political risks in Israel, Gaza, Syria and Iran. Benchmark crudes inched further down in early December, with WTI last trading at $85.90/bbl and Brent at $107.85/bbl.<
Global oil demand is projected at around 90.5 mb/d in 4Q12, 435 kb/d more than forecast last month, following stronger-than-expected October preliminary demand data and signs of improving Chinese sentiment. Relatively sluggish demand growth is forecast through 2013, as global economic expansion remains tepid.
Non-OPEC production bounced back by 0.7 mb/d in November on the month, to 54 mb/d, after fields in the North Sea and Brazil returned from maintenance. US output also rose steeply and will contribute to an aggregate non-OPEC increase of 0.9 mb/d to 54.2 mb/d in 2013, the highest growth rate since 2010.
OPEC crude oil supply inched up by 75 kb/d to 31.22 mb/d in November, led by higher output from Saudi Arabia, Angola, Algeria and Libya. Nigerian output remained constrained by severe flooding and sabotage. Iranian production edged lower under the weight of shipping constraints and stepped-up sanctions.
OECD commercial oil inventories drew by a seasonal 16.2 mb to stand at 2 722 mb in October, bringing to a halt seven consecutive months of stock building. Forward cover remains at 59.1 days, unchanged from a downwardly-revised September level. Preliminary data indicate a further draw in November.
Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)
HSBC GAM adds second market maker for ETFs
December 12, 2012--HSBC Global Asset Management has signed a deal with Susquehanna International Securities to act as a second market maker for its exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Market makers are firms which quote both buying and selling prices for assets in order to provide extra liquidity to markets.
Source: FT Adviser
IMF Working paper-Spring Forward or Fall Back? The Post-Crisis Recovery of Firms
December 12, 2012--Summary: This paper studies corporate performance in the aftermath of the global crisis by examining 6,581 manufacturing firms in 48 developed and developing countries in 2010, identifying factors of resilience as well as vulnerability.
Based on a cross-sectional analysis, the results show that pre-crisis leverage and short-term debt have had negative effects on the speed of the recovery, while asset tangibility has had positive effects. The negative effect of leverage is non-linear, being particularly strong in firms with high pre-crisis leverage. Furthermore, the effects are different for advanced and emerging market economies. The paper also shows that the macroeconomic framework critically matters for firm growth. In particular, in countries that have allowed the exchange rate to depreciate, firms have had a faster recovery in sectors highly dependent on trade.
view the IMF Working paper-Spring Forward or Fall Back? The Post-Crisis Recovery of Firms
Source: IMF
Eurex and Singapore Exchange to start market access linkage January 2013
December 12. 2012--Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Eurex will offer market access to their customers with their data center linkage available from January 2013.
SGX and Eurex announced in March 2012 a partnership to deliver enhanced market access and cost efficiencies to members of both exchanges by linking their co-location centers.
Eurex members hosted in SGX’s co-location data center can now directly connect to the Eurex access point hosted at SGX. Likewise,
Source: Deutsche Börse
NASDAQ OMX To Buy Thomson Reuters' Investor Relations, PR, Multimedia Businesses
December 12, 2012--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. ( NDAQ ) announced it has entered into an agreement with Thomson Reuters to acquire the Investor Relations, Public Relations and Multimedia Solutions businesses.
The businesses will be integrated into NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions.
NASDAQ OMX has made a binding offer to acquire Thomson Reuters Investor Relations, Public Relations and Multimedia Solutions businesses for $390 million in cash. Upon completion of the employee information and consultation process, NASDAQ OMX expects Thomson Reuters to enter into a definitive purchase and sale agreement.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
FSB fourth progress note on the global LEI initiative
December 11, 2012--This is the fourth of a series of notes on the implementation of the legal entity identifier (LEI) initiative.
Following endorsement of the FSB LEI report and recommendations by the G-20, the FSB LEI Implementation Group (IG) has been tasked with taking forward the planning and development work to launch the global LEI system by March 2013. The IG is collaborating closely with private sector experts with a wide range of experience from different sectors and fields through a Private Sector Preparatory Group (PSPG) incorporating members from 25 jurisdictions across the globe.
Source: FSB
Changes to swap costs prompt alarm
December 11, 2012--Off the peg or custom made? For some derivatives users, the choice could soon narrow sharply.
There are growing fears that specially-tailored swaps will become prohibitively expensive under new rules coming into effect from next year. Regulators want most users to pick only from the racks of standardised products.
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Global Financial Crisis, Financial Contagion, and Emerging Markets
December 11, 2012--Summary: The recent global financial crisis was the first in recent history that was triggered by problems in the financial system of the mature economies. Existing work on financial crisis in emerging market countries, however, almost exclusively focus on the role of financial frictions in the domestic economy.
In contrast, we propose a two-country DSGE model to investigate the transmission of a global financial crisis that originates from financial frictions in the rest of the world. We find that the scale of financial spillovers from the global to the domestic economy and trade openness are key determinants of the severity of the financial crisis for the domestic economy. Our results also suggest that the welfare ranking of alternative monetary policy regimes is determined by the degree of financial contagion, the degree of trade openness as well as the scale of foreign currency denominated debt in the domestic economy.
view the IMF working paper-Global Financial Crisis, Financial Contagion, and Emerging Markets
Source: IMF