Global ETF News Older than One Year
IMF Executive Board Discusses Monitoring Financial Interconnectedness, Including the Data Template for Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions
May 25, 2011--On May 18, 2011, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed progress in closing the identified data gaps related to financial interconnectedness, particularly with reference to the data template for the global systemically important financial institutions (G - SIFIs).
Background
The global financial crisis highlighted the need to strengthen the information relevant to ascertain risks and understand financial interconnectedness. The focus of the effort to meet this need has been the IMF/Financial Stability Board (FSB) work, in collaboration with other international institutions, on the Group of 20 Economies (G-20) Data Gaps Initiative,1 which was endorsed by the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors and by the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) in 2009, 2010, and more recently at the 2011 Spring Meetings.
A key component of the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative is better capturing in a consistent and comprehensive manner the activities of the G-SIFIs. In April 2011, following the work of the FSB Working Group on Data Gaps and Systemic Linkages, on which the IMF was represented, the FSB approved proposals to progress work on a consistent template for improving the collection, and sharing among relevant authorities, of data on G-SIFIs.
Source: IMF
Global recovery firmly underway but surrounded by risks, says OECD Economic Outlook
May 25, 2011--The global recovery is firmly under way, but is taking place at different speeds across countries and regions, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.
Historically high unemployment remains among the most pressing legacies of the crisis. It should prompt countries to improve labour market policies that boost job creation and prevent today’s high joblessness from becoming permanent, the report said.
World gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to increase by 4.2% this year and by 4.6% in 2012. Across OECD countries GDP is projected to rise by 2.3% this year and by 2.8% in 2012, in line with the previous forecasts of November 2010.
Source: OECD
Environment: Green and growth go together
May 25, 2011-- Governments must look to the green economy to find new sources of growth and jobs. They should put in place policies that tap into the innovation, investment and entrepreneurship driving the shift towards a greener economy.
Green growth makes economic as well as environmental sense. In natural resource sectors alone, commercial opportunities related to investments in environmental sustainability could run into trillions of dollars by 2050.
The OECD Green Growth Strategy, and the new report, Towards Green Growth, provide a practical framework for governments to boost economic growth and protect the environment.
Source: OECD
US, European banks invest billions in cluster bombs: NGOs
May 25, 2011-- US and European financial firms are still investing billions of dollars in cluster bomb producers despite a global ban on a weapon that maims and kills civilians, NGOs said Wednesday.
The US financial titans JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are joined by Royal Bank of Scotland, Germany's Deutsche Bank and China's Changjiang Securities in a "hall of shame" of investors in cluster munitions.
They are among 166 private and public financial institutions from 15 countries that have invested a total of $39 billion in eight cluster munition producers since May 2008, according to a report by two Dutch non-governmental organisations that are members of the Cluster Munition Coalition.
Source: EUbusiness
ETFs Don't Accentuate Market Drops – ETF Securities' Rhind
May 25, 2011--Precious metals and other commodity markets saw steep price declines in May but exchange-traded funds didn't accentuate the price drops, they only reflect the activity in the market, said the director for an exchange-traded fund.
Critics of ETFs, whether physically backed or ones that use derivatives, say these investment vehicles can influence the action in the markets. They suggested that ETFs push up prices higher than fundamentals allow, or by triggering sales when prices start to crumble, causing prices to fall further.
"I don't agree with that. We didn't see that pattern (of trading) in the market. If we saw massive liquidation of holdings perhaps… but that wasn't the pattern we saw. You see that in the futures market where there's more speculation going on there. The ETF investor is not setting the price discovery. That's being done in the futures and spot market," said William Rhind, managing director at ETF Securities.
Read more: http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2011-05/interview-etfs-dont-accentuate-market-drops-etf-securities-rhind(2).aspx?storyid=77539#ixzz1NiLC0XDc
Source: Kitco News
IMF Working Paper-Bank Behavior in Response to Basel III:
May 24, 2011--Summary: This paper investigates the impact of the new capital requirements introduced under the Basel III framework on bank lending rates and loan growth. Higher capital requirements, by raising banks’ marginal cost of funding, lead to higher lending rates. The data presented in the paper suggest that large banks would on average need to increase their equity-to-asset ratio by 1.3 percentage points under the Basel III framework.
GMM estimations indicate that this would lead large banks to increase their lending rates by 16 basis points, causing loan growth to decline by 1.3 percent in the long run.
The results also suggest that banks’ responses to the new regulations will vary considerably from one advanced economy to another (e.g. a relatively large impact on loan growth in Japan and Denmark and a relatively lower impact in the U.S.) depending on cross-country variations in banks’ net cost of raising equity and the elasticity of loan demand with respect to changes in loan rates.
view IMF Working paper-Bank Behavior in Response to Basel III: A Cross-Country Analysis
Source: IMF
FTSE4Good 10 Year Anniversary; Appointment of New FTSE4Good Policy Committee Chairman and Launch of 10 Year ESG Report
May 24, 2011--FTSE Group ("FTSE"), the award winning global index provider today announces the appointment of Sir Mark Moody-Stuart as Chairman of the FTSE4Good Policy Committee. The news follows the recent launch of the FTSE4Good Ratings service and is supported by the publication of a new report, 'FTSE4Good: 10 years of impact & investment’ following ESG (environmental, social & governance) investment over the last decade and providing exciting new analysis of global trends.
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart will assume responsibility for the committee, which oversees the globally recognised FTSE4Good Index Series. Sir Mark’s role in the FTSE4Good Policy Committee will be pivotal in the evolution of the FTSE4Good Index Series, which has provided investors with a transparent and measureable benchmark for ten years. Sir Mark brings a huge wealth of experience including having chaired the boards of two of the world’s largest companies, Royal Dutch Shell Group and Anglo American plc, and also brings ESG expertise from the board of the UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative, as well as from being the Chairman of Hermes Equity Ownership Services.
view the FTSE4Good: 10 years of impact & investment Report
Source: FTSE
OECD Launches Your Better Life Index
May 24, 2011--The OECD today unveiled a new, interactive index that will let people measure and compare their lives in a way that goes beyond traditional GDP numbers.
Called Your Better Life Index (watch video), the tool is part of a larger OECD Better Life Initiative that aims to measure well-being and progress.
The index allows citizens to compare lives across 34 countries, based on 11 dimensions -- housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, work-life balance -- giving their own weight to each of the dimensions.
“This index encapsulates the OECD at 50, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and understanding in a pioneering and innovative manner,” said OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría. “People around the world have wanted to go beyond GDP for some time. This index is designed for them. It has extraordinary potential to help us deliver better policies for better lives.”
Source: OECD
Dow Jones MAY 2011 "Market's Measure" Preliminary Report-
A Monthly Report from Dow Jones Indexes on the Performance of
U.S., European, Asia and other Global Stock Market Indexes
May 24, 2011--Dow Jones Industrial Average Posts 3.35% Loss in May, European Stocks Lose 8.48%,Asia Falls 5.76% and World Equities Fall by 5.41%
Health Care Sector Posts Biggest Gain for May in U.S. & Worldwide
Oil & Gas Sector Takes the Hardest Hit for May in Europe
May 24, 2011--As of May 23, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.35% in May, closing at 12381.26. Stock market indexes in Europe, Asia and globally were down in May, according to preliminary monthly figures from global index provider, Dow Jones Indexes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.35% in May, closing at 12381.26. Year-to-date, the index is up 6.94%.
The Dow Jones Europe Index fell 8.48% in May to 281.84. So far this year, the index is up 4.29%.
The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index fell 5.76% in May to 135.95. So far this year, the index is
down 6.70%.
The Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index fell 5.41% in May, closing at 181.77. Year-to-date, the
index is up 2.64%.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Gold: the bubble's popping will be nasty
May 23, 2011-The following news flash will only be controversial to a small, eccentric but vocal slice of the gold investing world: the bullion that backs wildly popular gold exchange-traded funds is real.
Ditto for what governments claim to hold. There is no vast conspiracy. What is more, the leading gold ETFs are well designed and have proved resilient even in volatile times.
Source: FT.com
