Global ETF News Older than One Year
UBS Updates Its 2010 Financial Controls Assessment
October 25, 2011--Following the discovery of the unauthorized trading activities that UBS announced in September, management has determined that certain internal controls were not effective on December 31, 2010, but at the same time has reconfirmed the reliability of the financial statements included in UBS's 2010 annual report. The financial effect of the unauthorized trading activity is fully reflected in UBS's third quarter 2011 financial report.
As a US-listed company, UBS is required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to evaluate the effectiveness of its "internal control over financial reporting" and "disclosure controls and procedures" on an annual basis. Following the discovery of the unauthorized trading activities, management has determined that these controls were not effective on December 31, 2010. In a document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), we have identified two control deficiencies: (i) the control requiring bilateral confirmation with counterparties of trades within our Investment Bank's equities business with settlement dates of greater than 15 days after trade date was not operating, and, when such trades were cancelled, re-booked or amended, the related monitoring control to ensure the validity of these changes had ceased to operate effectively, and (ii) the controls in the inter-desk reconciliation process within the Investment Bank’s equities and fixed income, currencies and commodities businesses to ensure that internal transactions are valid and accurately recorded in our books and records, including controls over cancellations and amendments of internal trades that require supervisor review, intervention and resolution, did not operate effectively. We have taken and are taking measures to address these control deficiencies.
Source: UBS
Nasdaq plans European derivatives platform
October 25, 2011--Nasdaq OMX, the US exchange operator, is planning to set up a European derivatives trading platform based in London in a bid to compete against Deutsche Börse, NYSE Euronext and the London Stock Exchange, three people familiar with the matter said.
The move comes as the proposed combination of Deutsche Börse with NYSE Euronext, a bid by the LSE for LCH.Clearnet, the UK clearing house, and a raft of new European market regulations have thrown the exchange landscape into a state of flux.
Source: FT.com
Northern Trust makes new appointment to lead Alternatives Group unit
October 25, 2011--Northern Trust has hired Robert Morgan to lead a new unit, Northern Trust Alternatives Group, formed to develop and manage all alternative investment products, including hedge and private equity funds of funds, for institutional and personal clients.
In his role, Morgan, who had previously been director of private equity, will oversee approximately $3.5bn under management or advisory as managing director of the new group.
Morgan has more than 20 years of financial industry experience and has invested in more than 100 private equity funds covering the buyout, venture capital, real estate and international markets.
Source: BBR
EDHEC-Risk Institute study sheds new light on commodity investment and financialisation of commodity markets
October 25, 2011--A number of policy-makers have blamed the decade-long rise in commodity prices and recent market volatility on the growing influence of financial investors and called for new regulation restricting their participation in commodity markets. Market financialisation has also led investors to worry about higher integration between commodity and traditional financial markets weakening the portfolio benefits of commodity investment
EDHEC-Risk Institute Professor Joëlle Miffre addresses these concerns in a study released today entitled “Long-Short Commodity Investing: Implications for Portfolio Risk and Market Regulation”, produced with market data and support from CME Group.
The study first examines the performance and risk characteristics of long-only commodity index investments favoured by passive investors and of long/short commodity strategies of the kind implemented by hedge fund managers.
Over 1992-2011, strategies involving going long and short in commodity futures based on signals such as momentum, term structure or hedging pressure are found to dominate investment in long-only commodity indices, in terms of raw as well as risk-adjusted performance.
Source: EDHEC
Yen hits record high vs dollar on weak US economic news; Euro falls on rocky crisis talks
October 25, 2011--The Japanese yen rose against other major currencies Tuesday after U.S. consumer sentiment weakened and talks on Europe’s debt crisis appeared to break down.
The dollar fell to a record low against the yen after news that U.S. consumers’ views of the economy are the worst since the middle of the Great Recession. The Conference Board’s index of consumer sentiment was the worst since March 2009, far lower than analysts had expected.
Source: Washington Post
NASDAQ OMX Acquires Glide Technologies
First Exchange to Offer Integrated PR and IR Content Management, Monitoring and Analysis in a Single Product Set
October 24, 2011--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced that it has agreed to acquire Glide Technologies Limited, a leading London-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider specializing in corporate communications and reputation management solutions.
Glide Technologies will be integrated into NASDAQ OMX's Corporate Solutions to create the first and only fully-integrated workflow solution for investor relations and public relations professionals.
NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions helps public and private companies minimize risk, maximize efficiency and increase transparency with a suite of products that improves market intelligence, communications effectiveness with key constituencies, corporate governance and overall visibility.
NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions will integrate Glide Technologies' media monitoring, measurement, content management and newsroom offering with NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions' communications suite of services. This will provide public relations and investor relations professionals with a unified platform that allows them to easily plan and implement media and investor campaigns, build media lists, distribute press releases and closely monitor the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
RTS and MICEX Merger awarded "Deal of the Year"
October 24, 2011--MICEX and RTS were awarded "Company of the year" in the category "Deal of the year".
On its web-site the organizer of the competition, business weekly magazine "KOMPANIYA" (Rodionov’s publishing house), informs that the decision on awarding was made by a council of experts which includes famous journalists, independent experts, representatives of business associations and state bodies.
The deal between MICEX and RTS is estimated at one billion US dollars. The legal merger of two bourses will be finalized on December 19, 2011.
The merger of Russia’s major exchanges is aimed at establishing the integrated exchange which will be able to compete with leading global trading venues in terms of investors and issuers and meet high demands of an international financial center.
Source: MICEX and RTS
Global Exchange-Traded Derivatives: A Silver Lining Amid Dark Clouds?
Otober 21, 2011--Abstract
The exchange-traded derivatives market has been one of the few highlights of the post-financial crisis period. This has been a result of innovative products such as exchange-traded fund options and volatility index derivatives in the developed markets of the US and Europe, along with the boom in equity, currency, and commodity derivatives in the emerging markets such as Brazil, India, and China.
In a new report, Global Exchange-Traded Derivatives: A Silver Lining Amid Dark Clouds?, Celent looks at the development of the exchange-traded derivatives market after the financial crisis. Exchange-traded derivatives have seen healthy growth rates over the last few years. In terms of notional amount outstanding, futures grew by 14.95% between 2005 and 2010, with options growing by 14.67% over the same period. The markets have grown at similar rates, with futures market notionals having grown at a CAGR of 14.9%, and the options market notionals having a CAGR of 14.7% between 2006 and 2011.
Source: Celent
FSB publishes report on Financial Stability Issues in Emerging Market and Developing Economies, report to the G20 Finance Ministers and central Bank Governors
October 20, 2011--The Financial Stability Board (FSB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank published today a report on financial stability issues of particular interest to emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs).
The report, which was prepared in response to a request by G20 Leaders at the November 2010 Seoul Summit, focuses on five key financial stability issues in EMDEs.
It makes a number of recommendations on policy measures by national authorities in EMDEs to address these issues and on ways that the international community can support them in their efforts.
Application of international financial standards. The report recommends that EMDEs further strengthen supervisory independence, resources and capacity with guidance from international standard-setting bodies as well as targeted and well-coordinated technical assistance and other capacity building activities from donors and other relevant bodies. The report also recommends that the international community send a clear and consistent message on the appropriate pace of adoption of Basel II/III in EMDEs, and that the Basel Committee should provide guidance on the application of new measures included in Basel III to EMDEs that do not intend to adopt the advanced approaches of Basel II.
view the FSB
Source: Financial Stability Board (FSB)
IOSCO publishes recommendations on market integrity
The Report analyses the most significant technological developments that have arisen in financial markets in recent years and their impact on market integrity and efficiency, and sets out Recommendations to assist securities markets regulators in mitigating these effects. These are designed to:
help regulators to identify the practical impact that technological developments have had and the regulatory issues to which they may give rise;
promote a consistent approach amongst global regulators to the latest technological developments; and
mitigate the risk that technological change may pose to the integrity and efficiency of financial markets.
Source: IOSCO
October 20, 2011--The Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published its Final Report on Regulatory Issues Raised by the Impact of Technological Changes on Market Integrity and Efficiency, containing Recommendations aimed at promoting market integrity and efficiency and to mitigate the risks posed to the financial system by the latest technological developments including high frequency and algorithmic trading.
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