Global ETF News Older than One Year
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
February 23, 2010--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Tuesday, February 23, 2010:
Gleichen Resources Ltd. (TSXVN:GRL) will be removed from the index. The company will graduate to TSX where it will trade under the same ticker symbol.
Castle Gold Corporation (TSXVN:CSG) will be removed from the index. The company will be delisted from TSX Venture Exchange at the request of the Company.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Source: Standard & Poors
Eurekahedge-Industry Review: February 2010
February 23, 2010--Eurekahedge Highlights for the month:
The size of global hedge fund industry currently stands at just under US$1.5 trillion – assets expected to hit US$1.68 trillion by the end of 2010.
Distressed debt hedge funds returned 2.51% for January, making it the 10th consecutive month of positive returns, gaining 44.01% over this period.
European long/short equity hedge funds delivered 0.76% in January, outperforming regional markets by 6.71%.
Source: Eurekahedge
S&P adds Asia infrastructure and natural resources to risk control indices
January 23, 2010--Standard & Poor’s has expanded its family of risk control indices with a series of launches based upon the S&P Asia Infrastructure Index and the S&P Global Natural Resources Index.
The S&P Asia Infrastructure and S&P Global Natural Resources Daily Risk Control Indices integrate a volatility control within the index rules and are designed to offer investors a way to gain exposure to infrastructure and natural resource investments while controlling the level of risk.
Source: ETF Express
February 2010 Monthly Preliminary Performance Report Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes
February 22, 2010--The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index was up 4.48% for the month of February. The Dow Jones-UBS Single Commodity Indexes for Lead, Cotton and Zinc had the strongest gains with month-to-date returns of 16.41%, 12.57% and 11.91%, respectively. The three most significant downside performing single commodity indexes were Sugar, Cocoa and Tin, which were down -10.62%, -3.34%, and -1.26% respectively, in February.
Year to date, the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index is down -3.12% with the Dow Jones-UBS Nickel Sub-Index posting the highest gain of 11.57% so far in 2010. Dow Jones-UBS Corn Sub-Index has the most significant downside YTD performance, down -13.13%.
Source: Mondovisione
SIFMA Securitization Group Stresses Need for Coordinated, Comprehensive and Measured Regulation
February 22, 2010--In a comment letter filed today with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Securitization Group (SSG) expresses its support for coordinated, comprehensive and measured regulation to improve the safety and soundness of the securitization market and for an insolvency safe harbor to provide certainty to market participants and investors
However, SIFMA stresses the need for regulation to be coordinated within the broader context of regulatory reform, and to base criteria for a safe harbor on the legal principles of isolation of assets in insolvency.
“We support reasonable efforts to restore and reshape the securitization market, but we do not believe the proposed safe harbor is an appropriate means of regulation,” said Chris Killian, vice president at SIFMA. “Securitization is a key component to ensuring credit availability to consumers and businesses, and therefore plays a critically important role in the economic recovery. Changes to regulation of the securitization market must be done in a coordinated manner which incorporates the views of various market participants, regulators and policymakers, and is mindful of the impact of the sum total of the changes on the ability of institutions to utilize securitization to fund credit creation.”
The comment letter was filed in response to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) advance notice of proposed rulemaking, which would amend the current safe harbor treatment. SIFMA does not believe the proposed safe harbor is the appropriate means to regulate the securitization market for two reasons:
Source: SIFMA
Research Confirms Shifts in Global Foreign Exchange Trading Patterns and Reactions to Credit Constraints
February 22, 2010--CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today released results from its third annual Global Foreign Exchange (FX) Market Study of both cash and exchange-traded FX products. Overall, concerns over counterparty risk remain high, albeit reduced slightly from last year.
"This year's study with our partner ClientKnowledge illustrates that there continues to be a fundamental shift in the global FX market towards risk mitigation," said Derek Sammann, Managing Director of Financial Products, CME Group. "Investors continue to look for alternative ways to mitigate counterparty risk in both the over-the-counter (OTC) and futures markets. By offering liquidity, transparency and credit risk mitigation, we provide investors with the solutions they need to manage their risk on exchange. In addition, we plan to offer a post-execution clearing service for OTC FX trades through CME ClearPort giving market participants increased security, efficiency and flexibility."
view summary of Third Annual Global FX Market Study: 2009
Source: CME Group
IOSCO publishes Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities
February 22, 2010--The Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) has published a final report ¡V Principles for Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities (Periodic Disclosure Principles) ¡V that includes a set of recommendations for disclosures that could be provided in the periodic reports, particularly annual reports, of listed entities whose securities are listed or admitted to trading on a regulated market in which retail investors participate.
The Periodic Disclosure Principles also cover other issues related to periodic disclosure, such as the timeliness of disclosures, disclosure criteria and storage of information.
The report is available on the IOSCO website.
Summary
The Periodic Disclosure Principles are intended to provide a useful framework for securities regulators that are reviewing or revising their regulatory disclosure regime for periodic reports.
The Periodic Disclosure Principles provide guidance to securities regulators for use in developing or reviewing their disclosure regimes for the periodic reports of listed entities with securities listed or admitted to trading on a regulated market in which retail investors participate. These periodic reports enhance investor protection by providing relevant information which facilitates investor decision-making, allow investors to compare the performance of the same company over regular intervals and enable investors to make comparisons between different companies.
These principles form part of IOSCO¡¦s ongoing work to develop principles for disclosure by issuers of listed securities to investors in the public capital markets. These proposed principles complement IOSCO¡¦s existing disclosure principles which provide guidance for:
International Disclosure Standards for Cross-Border Offerings and Initial Listings by Foreign Issuers, September 19981
International Disclosure Principles for Cross-Border Offerings and Listings of Debt Securities by Foreign Issuers, March 20072; and
„h Principles for Ongoing Disclosure and Material Development Reporting by Listed Entities, October 20023.
Principles for the Periodic Disclosure by Listed Entities The following principles have been identified as essential for any periodic disclosure regime:
1. Periodic reports should contain relevant information;
2. For those periodic reports in which financial statements are included, the persons responsible for the financial statements provided should be clearly identified, and should state that the financial information provided in the report is fairly presented;
3. The issuer¡¦s internal control over financial reporting should be assessed or reviewed;
4. Information should be available to the public on a timely basis;
5. Periodic reports should be filed with the relevant regulator;
6. The information should be stored to facilitate public access to the information;
7. Disclosure criteria;
8. Equal access to disclosure; and
9. Equivalence of disclosure.
1 International Disclosure Standards for Cross-Border Offerings and Initial Listings by Foreign Issuers, Report of IOSCO, September 1998, available at http://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD81.pdf.
2 International Disclosure Principles for Cross-Border Offerings and Listings of Debt Securities by Foreign Issuers, Final Report, Report of the Technical Committee of IOSCO, March 2007, available at http://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD242.pdf.
3 Principles for Ongoing Disclosure and Material Development Reporting by Listed Entities, Statement of the Technical Committee of IOSCO, October 2002, available at http://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD132.pdf.
Source: International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO)
UAE banks have $15bn Dubai exposure
February 22, 2010--Banks based in the United Arab Emirates have $15bn of exposure to Dubai World, Moody’s estimated in a report on Monday, as the group prepares to present a restructuring proposal to creditors next month.
The rating agency said 12 rated UAE banks and the regional entity of HSBC could probably absorb losses of 40 per cent.
The government denies the likelihood of losses on this scale. Under such a scenario, the lenders would incur losses of about 9 per cent of their capitalisation at the end of 2009, affecting profits but not threatening solvency.
Source: FT.com
NASDAQ OMX Builds Its Suite of Investor Relations Products With Launch of Dynamic Annual Reports
February 22, 2010--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. today announced the launch of its Dynamic Annual Report,
an enhanced NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions product providing companies
with paperless shareholder communications technology. The Report
features on-demand accessibility, social media sharing and embedded
video capabilities.
Dynamic Annual Reports meet the needs of the SEC's 2007 e-proxy notice and access guidelines, while increasing visibility, significantly reducing postage costs and supporting green sustainability initiatives.
"We're seeing more and more companies using video, social media, and dynamic online platforms to interact with their shareholders and improve the effectiveness of their communications strategies," said Demetrios N. Skalkotos, Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Services, NASDAQ OMX.
New features of Dynamic Annual Reports include embedded video to help companies tell their story and better connect with investors through dynamic content. Adobe Flash animation, a simulation akin to flipping pages, combined with a custom-branded interface increases audience interaction, while social media sharing via Twitter and Facebook allows visitors to organically increase distribution. Dynamic Annual Reports can also incorporate a scrolling RSS Feed to display the company's most recent news. The annual reports technology can be adapted to a range of marketing and communications materials, including retail catalogs, brochures and other collateral material. Dynamic Annual Reports is one of many investor relations and communications products from NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions, which services across communications, Intelligence, Visibility, and Governance Platforms.
For more information, please visit: http://www.shareholder.com/home/solutions/Webcasting-Video-AR.cfm
Source: NASDAQ OMX
Islamic finance eyes new regions
February 18, 2010--Muslim countries in Central Asia and Indonesia are seen as the next growth areas for the Islamic finance industry after hopes of expansion into Western markets faded and Gulf Arab markets remain fragmented.
Islamic banks are struggling to expand within the Gulf Arab region that due to shareholders’ sensitivities, a lack of transparency and national interests has seen hardly any acquisitions, forcing them to look elsewhere for growth.
Source: Todays Zaman
