Global ETF News Older than One Year
Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs
November 4, 2010--In the past year, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, policy makers around the world continued to improve business regulation and empower entrepreneurs, according to Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs.
The IFC–World Bank report, which ranks 183 economies on key aspects of business regulation for domestic firms, discloses that 117 economies carried out 216 regulatory reforms aimed at making it easier to start and operate a business, strengthening transparency and property rights, and improving the efficiency of commercial dispute resolution and bankruptcy procedures.
The report also pioneers a new measure showing how much business regulation has changed in 174 economies since 2005.
Highlights:
Kazakhstan took top honors for the most-improved business environment in 2009/10
Singapore leads the world in the ease of doing business for the fifth year running
About 85 percent of the world’s economies have made it easier for entrepreneurs to operate in the past five years
Source: World Bank Group
Impact of Regulatory Reforms on Large and Complex Financial Institutions-Postition paper
November 4, 2010--EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Financial sector reforms are being considered to address the risks posed by large and complex financial institutions (LCFIs). The vast majority of global finance is intermediated
by a handful of these institutions with growing interconnections within and across borders.
Common trends that contributed to the recent global crisis included sharp increases in leverage, significant reliance on short-term wholesale funding, growth of off-balance-sheet activities, maturity mismatches, and increased share of revenues from complex products and trading activities.
view Impact of Regulatory Reforms on Large and Complex Financial Institutions position paper
Source: IMF
Fiscal Exit: From Strategy to Implementation
November 4, 2010--Summary:
With increasing fiscal challenges in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, multilateral surveillance of fiscal developments, a key part of the IMF's surveillance responsibilities, has gained further importance. In response, the Fiscal Monitor was launched in 2009 to survey and analyze the latest public finance developments, update fiscal implications of the crisis and medium-term fiscal projections, and assess policies to put public finances on a sustainable footing.
The Fiscal Monitor is prepared twice a year by the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department. The Monitor's projections are based on the same database used for the October 2010 World Economic Outlook (WEO) and Global Financial Stability Report.
view the Fiscal Exit: From Strategy to Implementation
Source: World Bank
Consumer Prices, OECD - Updated: 3 November 2010
November 3, 2010--OECD annual inflation rate edges up to 1.7% in September 2010
Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 1.7% in the year to September 2010, up from 1.6% in August. This small pick-up in inflation mainly reflects higher food and energy prices, which increased by 2.3% and 5.2% respectively in September, compared with 1.4% and 4.8% in August.
Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate held steady for the third consecutive month at 1.2% in the year to September 2010.
Source: OECD
Major study reveals that private equity’s center of gravity is shifting toward emerging markets as returns in these markets accelerate
November 3, 2010--Emerging markets’ share of private-equity deals has increased from 5 percent to 30 percent over the last decade, rivaling the proportion of deals in the United States and Europe—and it is expected to increase.
Returns from emerging markets have more than tripled since the 1990s to more than 17 percent today.
The most attractive markets combine economic scale and favorable socioeconomic conditions, such as Brazil, Turkey, and Malaysia. Other high-profile markets such as Russia and Argentina appear to offer less potential.
Western investors will have to rethink their business models to succeed, including accepting minority rather than majority stakes in businesses, and generating value via operational improvements rather than leverage.
Local private-equity firms in emerging markets could be tomorrow’s giants.
Emerging markets are generating increasingly attractive returns for private-equity investors and could soon account for the lion’s share of deals, according to research from BCG and IESE Business School. But which markets offer the greatest potential for investors? And what are the key success factors? In New Markets, New Rules: Will Emerging Markets Reshape Private Equity?, BCG and IESE address these questions by analyzing the largest data set of its kind and applying a novel framework for assessing the attractiveness of markets.
view New Markets, New Rules: Will Emerging Markets Reshape Private Equity? report
Source: The Boston Consulting Group
Sugar soars to 30-year high as supply fears grow
November 2, 2010--The price of sugar has jumped to a 30-year high as the Brazilian harvest has tailed off sharply, hardening expectations of a shortage.
Traders believe that prices could soar over the coming months as the market faces a supply shortfall driven by smaller-than-forecast crops in important growing countries from Brazil to Russia and western Europe.
Source: FT.com
Dow Jones Indexes Named Best Islamic Index Provider In IFN Award Poll
November 1, 2010--Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that it has been named “Best Islamic Index Provider” in the Islamic Finance News (IFN) award poll for the 4th consecutive year.
The Best Service Providers award poll is conducted annually by the Malaysia-based weekly e-newsletter Islamic Finance News. For this 2010 edition, more than 1,900 votes from Islamic finance institutions, issuers, investors and government bodies from around the world determined the leaders in 13 categories.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award for the fourth year in a row. The Dow Jones Islamic Market index series is one of our finest achievements in terms of innovation, design and market acceptance,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes. “As Islamic finance grows and evolves worldwide, we are committed to continue providing meaningful, new Islamic indexes.”
Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes were the first indexes intended to measure the global universe of investable equities that pass screens for Shari’ah compliance. With more than 100 indexes, the series is the most comprehensive family of Islamic market measures and includes regional, country, and industry indexes, all of which are subsets of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index. An independent Shari’ah Supervisory Board counsels Dow Jones Indexes on matters related to the compliance of index-eligible companies.
In the past 6 years, the Dow Jones Islamic Market index series has won 21 industry awards by organizations, research institutions and magazines around the world; amongst them are the International Islamic Finance Forum, the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum, the Islamic Center of Southern California, Global Finance Magazine, Islamic Business & Finance Magazine and Incisive Media.
There are currently more than 150 licensees with more than US$7 billion in assets benchmarked to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes. For more information on the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, please visit www.djindexes.com.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Average Daily Volume of 9.2 Million Contracts at Eurex and ISE in October
November 1, 2010--At the international derivatives markets of Eurex, an average daily volume of 9.2 million contracts was traded in October (October 2009: 10.4 million). Thereof, 6.3 million contracts were traded at Eurex (October 2009: 6.4 million) and 2.9 million contracts were traded at the International Securities Exchange (October 2009: 4.0 million). In total, 193.7 million contracts were traded on both exchanges (October 2009: 228.8 million); thereof, 132.0 million contracts at Eurex and 61.7 million contracts at ISE.
At Eurex, the equity index derivatives segment was the most active segment, totaling 57.7 million contracts (October 2009: 67.4 million). Futures on the EURO STOXX 50 reached 24.6 million contracts and options on this index recorded another 22.5 million contracts. The futures on the DAX index reached a turnover of 2.9 million contracts, the DAX option recorded another 5.7 million contracts.
The Eurex segment of equity-based derivatives (equity options and single stock futures) recorded 28.0 million contracts (October 2009: 29.9 million). Thereof, equity options totaled 24.2 million contracts, single stock futures 3.8 million contracts.
Eurex’s interest rate derivatives segment grew by 4 percent and reached 45.7 million contracts, compared with 44.0 million in October 2009. Approximately 18.7 million contracts were traded in the Euro-Bund-Future, 10.0 million contracts in the Euro-Bobl-Future, 10.4 million contracts in the Euro-Schatz Future and around 78,400 contracts in the Euro-BTP-Future. The Short Term Euro-BTP-Future recorded more than 21,000 contracts.
Source: Eurex
BlackRock ETF Landscape Industry Review, End Q3 2010
October 29, 2010--This report provides an overview of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) industry through the end of Q3 2010.
At the end of Q3 2010 the global ETF industry had 2,379 ETFs with 5,204 listings, assets of US$1,181.3 Bn from 129 providers on 45 exchanges around the world.
Additionally, there were 878 other Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) with 1,445 listings and assets of US$146.9 Bn from 49 providers on 20 exchanges.
Combined, there were 3,257 products with 6,649 listings, assets of US$1,328.2 Bn from 158 providers on 48 exchanges around the world at the end of Q3 2010.
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
IOSCO Publishes Comments Received in Response to Consultation Reports on Issues Pertaining to the Audit of Publicly Listed Companies
October 29, 2010--IOSCO has published the Comments Received in Response to Consultation Reports on Issues Pertaining to the Audit of Publicly Listed Companies.
Source: IOSCO
