Global ETF News Older than One Year
Credit Suisse ETF sale could raise $150m
October 25, 2012--The sale of Credit Suisse's exchange traded funds business could raise around $150m for the Swiss bank, according to Citi.
Credit Suisse put its ETF business, which has $17bn in assets, up for sale earlier this year, drawing interest from BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors, the world’s two largest ETF providers.
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Oil and the World Economy: Some Possible Futures
October 25, 2012--Summary: This paper, using a six-region DSGE model of the world economy, assesses the GDP and current account implications of permanent oil supply shocks hitting the world economy at an unspecified future date.
For modest-sized shocks and conventional production technologies the effects are modest. But for larger shocks, for elasticities of substitution that decline as oil usage is reduced to a minimum, and for production functions in which oil acts as a critical enabler of technologies, GDP growth could drop significantly. Also, oil prices could become so high that smooth adjustment, as assumed in the model, may become very difficult.
view the IMF Working paper-Oil and the World Economy: Some Possible Futures
Source: IMF
IMF Working paper-The Global Impact of the Systemic Economies and MENA Business Cycles
October 25, 2012--Summary: This paper analyzes spillovers from macroeconomic shocks in systemic economies (China, the Euro Area, and the United States) to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as outward spillovers from a GDP shock in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and MENA oil exporters to the rest of the world.
This analysis is based on a Global Vector Autoregression (GVAR) model, estimated for 38 countries/regions over the period 1979Q2 to 2011Q2. Spillovers are transmitted across economies via trade, financial, and commodity price linkages. The results show that the MENA countries are more sensitive to developments in China than to shocks in the Euro Area or the United States, in line with the direction of evolving trade patterns and the emergence of China as a key driver of the global economy. Outward spillovers from the GCC region and MENA oil exporters are likely to be stronger in their immediate geographical proximity, but also have global implications.
Source: IMF
Japan Banks Hedge Bets Over New US Swap Rules
Japanese banks may reduce trading of derivatives with U.S. banks to skirt new Dodd-Frank rules, bank officials say
Officials add that banks will consider registering U.S. subsidiaries with U.S. regulators
Japanese banks remain cautious about taking clear stance until rules finalized
October 25, 2012--Japanese banks appear to be hedging their bets in response to new U.S. rules tied to the Dodd-Frank market overhaul,
with officials saying they may cut back on trading financial derivatives with their U.S. counterparts while stopping short of not registering with U.S. regulators at all.
Banks outside the U.S. have criticized the new proposals requiring them to register with U.S. regulators if they trade a certain amount of swaps with U.S. banks or for U.S. clients.
Banks in other parts of Asia are already pulling back on trading derivatives with U.S. counterparts while two large banks in Asia and Europe--Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and Sweden's Nordea Bank AB--recently declared they wouldn't register under the rules.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Progress note on the Global LEI Initiative
October 24, 2012--This is the third of a series of notes on the implementation of the legal entity identifier (LEI) initiative. The first progress note is available here and the second note here
Following endorsement of the FSB 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 through a Private Sector Preparatory Group (PSPG) of some 300 members from 25 jurisdictions across the globe. Charter for the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC): The IG has prepared a draft Charter for the Regulatory Oversight Committee for review and endorsement by the FSB and G20. The draft was supported by the FSB at its recent meeting in Tokyo for submission to the early November G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting for final endorsement. Approval of the Charter will initiate the process for the ROC to be formed. ROC membership will be open to public authorities from across the globe that assent to the Charter. Authorities will also be able to apply for Observer status. The objective is to launch the ROC as the permanent governance body for the global LEI system in January 2013.
Source: FSB
The Future of Computer Trading in Financial Markets
October 23, 2012--Advances in technology continue to transform how our financial markets operate. The volume of financial products traded through computer automated trading taking place at high speed and with little human involvement has increased dramatically in the past few years.
For example, today, over one third of United Kingdom equity trading volume is generated through high frequency automated computer trading while in the US this figure is closer to three-quarters.
A new two-year Foresight study The Future of Computer Trading in Financial Markets - An International Perspective, sheds new light on technological advances which have transformed market structures in recent years.
view the The Future of Computer Trading in Financial MarketsAn International Perspective
Source: BIS
World Bank Online: World Bank & IFC Report Finds Developing Countries Made Significant Progress in Improving Business Regulations
October 23, 2012—Local entrepreneurs in developing countries are finding it easier to do business than at any time in the last 10 years, highlighting the significant progress that has been made in improving business regulatory practices across the globe, according to a new report released today by the World Bank and IFC.
The report, Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, marks the 10th edition of the Doing Business series. Over the past decade, these reports have recorded nearly 2,000 regulatory reforms implemented by 180 economies. The reforms have yielded major benefits for local entrepreneurs across the globe. For example:
Since 2005, the average time to start a business has fallen from 50 days to 30—and in low-income economies the average has been reduced by half.
view the Doing Business Report 2012
Source: World Bank
IMF Working paper-The Differential Effects of Oil Demand and Supply Shocks on the Global Economy
October 23, 2012--Summary: We employ a set of sign restrictions on the generalized impulse responses of a Global VAR model, estimated for 38 countries/regions over the period 1979Q2-2011Q2, to discriminate between supply-driven and demand-driven oil-price shocks and to study the time profile of their macroeconomic effects for different countries.
The results indicate that the economic consequences of a supply-driven oil-price shock are very different from those of an oil-demand shock driven by global economic activity, and vary for oil-importing countries compared to energy exporters. While oil importers typically face a long-lived fall in economic activity in response to a supply-driven surge in oil prices, the impact is positive for energy-exporting countries that possess large proven oil/gas reserves. However, in response to an oil-demand disturbance, almost all countries in our sample experience long-run inflationary pressures and a short-run increase in real output.
Source: IMF
Barclays launches RDR share classes as it courts advisers
October 23, 2012--Barclays is to launch retail distribution review (RDR)ready share classes across its fund ranges, alongside its discretionary offering available on platforms, as the bank seeks to gain traction with advisers.
Barclays will offer RDR share classes to the intermediary market across its GlobalAccess range, which includes single asset funds accessing third-party managers, alongside its GlobalMarkets range.
Source: CityWire
BlackRock Has Edge for Credit Suisse Unit, Citigroup Says
October 23, 2012--BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world's largest exchange-traded fund provider, has an "edge" over State Street Corp. in buying Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN)'s ETF business, according to Citigroup Inc. analysts.
An acquisition would allow BlackRock to bolster the presence of its iShares ETF unit in Europe, Citigroup analysts led by William Katz wrote in a note today to clients. BlackRock has a history of integrating smaller asset managers and it has stronger financial flexibility, while State Street is more focused on returning capital to shareholders and could be restricted as a result of activist investors, according to the note.
Source: Bloomberg
