Global ETF News Older than One Year
Global Information Technology Report Highlights Emergence of a New Digital Divide
April 4, 2012--The 11th edition of The Global Information Technology Report 2012: Living in a Hyperconnected World was launched today with a special focus on the transformational impacts of ICT on the economy and society.
The report's evolved framework introduces a new set of impact-oriented metrics to measure networked readiness on country competitiveness.
Sweden ranks first among 142 economies, followed by Singapore and Finland; the Nordic countries lead the ICT revolution.
The United States, ranked 8th, benefits from strong ICT infrastructure, but weaknesses in the political and regulatory environment hinder its overall performance.
Despite recent improvements in overall competitiveness rankings, the BRICS, led by China at 51st, lag behind more advanced economies.
Despite efforts over the past decade to develop information and communications technologies (ICT) infrastructure in developing economies, a new digital divide in terms of ICT impacts persists, according to the latest rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2012: Living in a Hyperconnected World, released today by the World Economic Forum.
Sweden (1st) and Singapore (2nd) top the rankings in this year’s report in leveraging information and communications technologies to boost country competitiveness. Switzerland (5th), the Netherlands (6th), the United States (8th), Canada (9th) and the United Kingdom (10th) also show strong performances in the top 10.
However, ICT readiness in sub-Saharan Africa is still low, with most countries showing significant lags in connectivity due to insufficient development of ICT infrastructure, which remains too costly, and displaying poor skill levels that do not allow for an efficient use of the available technology. Even in those countries where ICT infrastructure has been improved, ICT-driven impacts on competitiveness and well-being trail behind, resulting in a new digital divide.
view the The Global Information Technology Report 2012
Source: World Economic Forum
Development: Aid to developing countries falls because of global recession
April 4, 2012--Major donors' aid to developing countries fell by nearly 3% in 2011, breaking a long trend of annual increases. Disregarding years of exceptional debt relief, this was the first drop since 1997. Continuing tight budgets in OECD countries will put pressure on aid levels in coming years.
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría encouraged donors to meet their commitments, “The fall of ODA is a source of great concern, coming at a time when developing countries have been hit by the knock-on effect of the crisis and need it most. Aid is only a fraction of total flows to low income countries, but these hard economic times also mean lower investment and lower exports. I commend the countries that are keeping their commitments in spite of tough fiscal consolidation plans. They show that the crisis should not be used as an excuse to reduce development cooperation contributions.”
Source: OECD
Industry Response to the European Banking Authority, European Securities Markets' Association and European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority Joint Discussion Paper on Risk Mitigation Techniques for Trades not Cleared by a Central Counterparty
April 3, 2012--A. Introduction
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association ("ISDA") together with members of the Financial Services Industry ("The Industry") welcome the opportunity to comment on the above Joint Discussion Paper ("the Paper").
The Industry is supportive of the Paper’s aims and objectives and understands the desire expressed by the G20 nations to require Over the Counter ("OTC") derivatives to be cleared where appropriate and for uncleared trades to be subject to robust operational processes and capital requirements.
In particular we agree with the concepts of Minimum Transfer Amounts (see question 14) and the requirement, where appropriate, to mark collateral to market daily. We believe that a very significant proportion of uncleared OTC trades will be covered by these requirements. In setting out the matters below where we feel that further discussion is needed, this should be seen in the context of a broad agreement as to aims and objectives and a willingness to work together with regulators to ensure that the proposals are sensitive to industry practice, risk sensitive and workable. Further we fully support the proposals in paragraph 15 of the paper to disapply the collateral requirements to Non Financial Counterparties which are not above the (clearing) threshold.
Source: ISDA
Dow Jones Indexes To Add Banco Santander Brasil S.A. To Dow Jones BRIC 50 DR Index
Thailand's Total Access Communication PCL To Join Dow Jones Emerging Markets Telecommunications Titans 30 Index
Telefonica Brasil S.A. Added To
Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Composite 100 Index
CPFL Eenergia S.A. Selected To Dow Jones Brazil Titans 20 ADR Index
April 3, 2012--The sale of Brazil's Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A. to Oi S.A. of Brazil has prompted Tele Norte Leste Participacoes to be removed from four of Dow Jones Indexes' market gauges.
Dow Jones Indexes, a global index provider, today announced that Tele Norte Leste Participacoes will be removed from:
the Dow Jones BRIC 50 DR Index and replaced by Banco Santander Brasil S.A. ADS;
the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Telecommunications Titans 30 Index and replaced by Total Access Communication Public Company Limited;
the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Composite 100 Index and replaced by Telefonica Brasil S.A. ADS; and
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
OECD annual inflation rate remains stable at 2.8% in February 2012
April 3, 2012--OECD area annual inflation was stable at 2.8% in the year to February, with diverging and offsetting movements in energy and food price inflation.
Energy prices accelerated to 7.9% in the year to February, up from 7.4% in January, while food price inflation slowed to 3.9% in the year to February, down from 4.3% in January.
Source: OECD
ETF sector agrees with ASIC report
April 2, 2012--Education is key to market confidence
April 2, 2012--providers have responded in favour of the corporate regulator's sector report.
Three of the largest Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) issuers have welcomed ASIC's report on the $4.3 billion sector, saying it will lift investor confidence.
State Street Global Advisors Asia Pacific head of SPDR ETFs Frank Henze said the emphasis on education was timely.
Source: Investor Daily
Europe's investors to feel pain of rising regulation costs
Firms wrestle with barrage of rules on how they manage money
Complying with changes is proving expensive
European sector may shrink to handful of huge players
EU is assessing impact but few expect slowdown or rethink
April 2, 2012--A raft of un-coordinated reforms demanded by the United States, the European Union and Britain threatens to
shrink Europe's investment industry to a handful of huge players, denting a campaign for lower fund fees and squeezing investor choice.
After surviving huge outflows triggered by the financial crisis, fund managers are wrestling with a barrage of new rules dictating how they attract, manage and earn money
Source: Reuters
STOXX MONTHLY INDEX REPORT-MARCH 2012 IN REVIEW
April 2, 2012--As of March 30, 2012 stock market indices in Europe, Asia, the U.S. and globally were up and down in March, according to global index provider STOXX Limited.
For the month of March, the Europe, Asia, U.S. and global markets were down -1.35% and -1.32%; and up 2.52% and 0.64%, respectively.
Source: Stoxx
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly: Futures Investors Turn Bullish Gold as Bernanke Hints at Further Easing, Palladium ETP Holdings Hit 6-Mth High
April 2, 2012--Gold price halts slide as Bernanke comments indicate potential QE3, and futures net speculative longs surge 15% from lows. While Bernanke's comments last week highlighting the
possibility that the US employment improvement may be temporary
boosted investor confidence that the Fed will keep interest rates
lower for longer and that some form of quantitative easing may still be on the cards, it was not enough to sustainably boost the gold price or turn net ETP selling into buying. Continued improvements in US economic data and the resulting rise in interest rate expectations and the US dollar remain headwinds to near-term gold price outperformance. However, the medium-term outlook remains constructive for gold with historically low interest rates, abundant global liquidity, inflation risks from persistently elevated oil prices and now questions about the sustainability of recent US employment improvements likely to be supportive of longer term gold price gains.
While ETP investors remained net sellers last week, futures investors appeared to take Bernanke’s comments to heart, with speculative net long positions on COMEX bouncing 15% off their 3-month low last week.
India’s jeweller strike enters third week, weighing on gold physical demand. Indian jewellers have continued their strike, protesting the doubling of government excise duties on imported gold from 2% to 4%. While the government has remained largely silent on the matter, trade groups appear unwilling to budge either, with the Bombay Bullion Market Association (BBMA) indicating that if ‘the excise duty is corrected, trade will be happy’. While the strike could be quite protracted, the BBMA noted it would not be ‘indefinite’ and would not hinder the gold accumulation ahead of the Indian wedding season in the fourth quarter.
Global palladium ETP holdings rise to 6-month high. ETP investors continue to increase their exposures to palladium, with global palladium ETP holdings reaching their highest level since early October 2011. The combination of continued broad US economic recovery, improving US auto sales (March sales estimated to remain in double-digits), continued strong China auto demand growth and signs Japan’s auto sector is recovering from last year’s tsunami, have kept investor interest in palladium ETPs strong. Platinum ETPs have also seen increased investor interest recently, but palladium’s greater exposure to the gasoline dominated markets of the US and China appears to be causing investors to build larger exposures to palladium.
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
Source: ETF Securities
Markit acquires Data Explorers
April 2, 2012--Markit has today acquired Data Explorers, a leading provider of global securities lending data tracking short selling and institutional fund activity across all global market sectors.
Established in 2002, Data Explorers’ data and analytics help clients identify investment opportunities, measure performance and manage risk. With content sourced directly from market participants including prime brokers, custodians, asset managers and hedge funds, Data Explorers has built a unique data set of more than 3 million intraday transactions, covering $12 trillion of securities in the lending programmes of over 20,000 institutional funds.
Source: Markit
