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Vanguard: Blacks and Hispanics More Likely to Borrow from 401(k), But at Roughly Same Dollar Amount as Whites and Asians; Vanguard Recommends Limiting Plan Loans for All Participants
Vanguard: blacks and Hispanics take more loans and hardship withdrawals from their 401(k) accounts than whites and Asians. But they borrow only slightly more, so all four groups put similar assets at risk.
May 01, 2012--New Vanguard research, a second report in a series on diversity and retirement savings, indicates that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to take loans and hardship withdrawals from their 401(k) plan accounts than whites and Asians.
At the same time, blacks and Hispanics borrow only slightly more of their retirement account balance, so members of all four groups put roughly the same amount of their assets at risk by borrowing from their retirement plan.
The study, Diversity and Defined Contribution Plans: Loans and Hardship Withdrawals, also notes that a 401(k) loan feature encourages some people to participate and save in their 401(k) plan. Thus, employees who participate in a plan and take a loan or hardship withdrawal are likely to be better prepared for retirement than their fellow workers who don’t participate and have no retirement plan savings.
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Source: Vanguard
BNY Mellon wins dismissal in Virginia FX fraud case
May 1, 2012--A Virginia state judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that accused BNY Mellon Corp of overcharging on foreign exchange trades for pension funds in that state.
Terrence Ney, a state judge in Fairfax County, said the pension funds, including the Virginia Retirement System, did not show evidence that they submitted claims for payment in connection with their allegations of overcharging on forex trades. A claim for payment is an essential part of proving a fraudulent action under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, the judge said in his ruling.
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Source: Reuters
April Trading at CBOE Futures Exchange Up 103% Over Year Ago
Average Daily Volume for Month is Second-Highest All-Time
May 1, 2012----The CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE) today announced that trading volume during April 2012 totaled 1,692,624 contracts, an increase of 103 percent from the 834,892 contracts traded in April 2011.
April 2012 ranks as the third busiest month in CFE history and marked the seventh time that total monthly volume surpassed the one million contract benchmark at CFE.
Average daily volume (ADV) at CFE during April 2012 was 84,631 contracts, the second-highest monthly ADV ever at CFE, and a gain of 103 percent from the 41,744 contracts traded per day a year ago.
When comparing trading activity in April to March 2012, the most-active trading month in CFE history, total monthly volume declined by 14 percent from the record 1,971,632 total contracts traded in March. April 2012 average daily volume fell six percent from the record 89,620 contracts per day during the previous month.
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Source: CBOE
FINRA Sanctions Four Firms $9.1 Million for Sales of Leveraged and Inverse Exchange-Traded Funds
May 1, 2012--The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced that it has sanctioned Citigroup Global Markets, Inc; Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC; UBS Financial Services; and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC a total of more than $9.1 million for selling leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs) without reasonable supervision and for not having a reasonable basis for recommending the securities.
The firms were fined more than $7.3 million and are required to pay a total of $1.8 million in restitution to certain customers who made unsuitable leveraged and inverse ETF purchases.
FINRA sanctioned the following firms:
Wells Fargo – $2.1 million fine and $641,489 in restitution
Citigroup – $2 million fine and $146,431 in restitution
Morgan Stanley – $1.75 million fine and $604,584 in restitution
UBS – $1.5 million fine and $431,488 in restitution
Brad Bennett, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, said, "The added complexity of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded products makes it essential that brokerage firms have an adequate understanding of the products and sufficiently train their sales force before the products are offered to retail customers. Firms must conduct reasonable due diligence and ensure that their representatives have an understanding of these products."
read more Market Vectors Reduces Expense Cap for Indonesia Index ETF (IDX)
IDX seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Indonesia Index (MVIDXTR), a rules-based, modified market capitalization-weighted, float-adjusted index intended to give investors exposure to Indonesia. As of March 31, the fund had approximately $537 million in assets under management. read more ETFs Growing Faster Than Mutual Funds read more NASDAQ OMX Launches New Options Based on MSCI Indexes read more OIC Announces April Options Trading Volume Decreased 5%
Equity options volume (options on individual stocks and ETFs) for April came in at 295,433,916 contracts, down 5.94 percent compared to April of last year when 314,102,867 contracts were exchanged. On average, 14,771,696 contracts changed hands each day in April, which is 5.94 percent lower than daily average from the previous April of 15,705,143 contracts. Equity options year-to-date volume came in at 1,279,941,692 contracts, down 7.72 percent compared to the 1,387,063,516 contracts traded throughout the same period last year. ISE Reports Business Activity for April 2012 On April 26, 2012, ISE was named “Most Proactive Exchange for ETF Options/Derivatives” at the
8th Annual Global ETF Awards® Dinner and Workshop. Hosted by exchangetradedfunds.com,
the Global ETF Awards are awarded to ETF industry participants for outstanding achievements in
2011 and recipients are selected by ETF industry professionals representing over 520 organizations worldwide. view more Statement of Chairman Gary Gensler on the Proposed Interpretative Statement Regarding the Confidentiality and Indemnification Provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Source: FINRA
First U.S.-listed Indonesia-focused ETF reducing expense cap for the second time; Fund currently holds Morningstar 5-star ratings in both 3-year and overall categories
May 1, 2012--Van Eck Associates Corporation is lowering the expense cap for its Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSE Arca: IDX) from 60 basis points (bps) to 57 bps, effective today.
This marks the second time in IDX’s more than three-year history that its expense cap has been lowered.
Source: Van Eck Global
Five Star Equities Provides Stock Research on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF and the Daily Small Cap Bull 3X Shares ETF
May 1, 2012--ETFs have been gaining popularity among investors as a result of the poor performance of actively managed funds. The low costs, transparency, liquidity, and better tax efficiency are some of the major reasons ETFs are being chosen over mutual funds.
"That's what makes us the best game in town for investors and it is the reason why ETFs are growing faster than mutual funds," Jonathan Steinberg, founder & CEO of WisdomTree, said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for Exchange Traded Funds and provides equity research on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF and the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3X Shares ETF.
Source: Five Star Equities
MSCI Emerging Markets and EAFE Index Options are the Only Cash-Settled Options Available in the U.S. on These Major Global Indexes
May 1, 2012--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NDAQ - News) announced today the launch of MSCI Emerging Markets (EEMIQ) and MSCI EAFE (EAFEQ) Index Options, which will be the latest U.S. options listings offered at NASDAQ OMX PHLX. They are the first and only listed cash-settled options available in the U.S. on these major global indexes.
Beginning today, these listings are available to investors who seek direct exposure to a previously untapped market with a cash-settled options offering that exactly tracks the performance of the index. NASDAQ OMX PHLX market participants will be among the first to trade this offering and may use MSCI EM and MSCI EAFE Index Options to track the performance of the index, employ additional trading strategies for cash-settled index options and gain more opportunity to hedge.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
May 1, 2012--The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 319,640,606 total options contracts changed hands in April, 4.71 percent less than the 335,425,947 contracts traded in April 2011.
Average daily trading volume in April was 15,982,030 contracts, 4.71 percent lower than the 16,771,298 contracts in the same year ago period. Year-to-date volume for April stood at 1,380,749,815 contracts, which is 7.04 percent lower than the 1,485,309,264 contracts traded at the same point last year.
Source: OIC
May 1, 2012--ISE was the second largest equity options exchange in April with market share of 18.3%, excluding dividend trades.
Dividend trades made up 4.5% of industry volume in April 2012.
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 2.6 million contracts
in April 2012.
This represents a decrease of 10.7% compared to April 2011. Total options volume for the
month was 52.0 million contracts. ISE was the second largest U.S. equity options exchange in April with
market share of 18.3%*.
Business highlights for the month of April include:
Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
Chairman Gary Gensler
May 1, 2012--Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler today issued the following statement:
"I support the proposed interpretative statement regarding the application of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) indemnification provisions for swap data repositories (SDRs). The Commission is working closely with international regulators on a collaborative approach regarding how data may be accessed by regulators.
The proposed guidance, which benefited from international input, states the Commission’s view that foreign regulators will not be subject to the indemnification provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act if the SDR is registered, recognized or otherwise authorized by foreign law and the data to be accessed is reported to the SDR pursuant to foreign law. The public will now have an opportunity to comment on the proposed guidance, and I look forward to the public’s input.”
Source: CFTC.gov
