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Report to the Secretary of the Treasury from the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
November 1, 2011--Dear Mr. Secretary:
Since the Committee last met in August, economic activity indicators have firmed and real GDP in the third quarter expanded at a 2.5% annual rate, a noticeable acceleration from the 0.8% growth rate experienced in the first half of the year.
Real final sales reached a 3.6% growth pace in the third quarter, an even greater acceleration from its modest 0.8% growth pace in the first half. Economic activity has received support recently from a rebound in motor vehicle production and an easing in energy prices. Early indications suggest the economy continues to expand at a reasonable pace in the fourth quarter. Despite some progress recently, the ongoing debt crisis in Europe remains a downside risk to domestic economic activity. As was the case at the last meeting, the outlook for fiscal policy remains considerably uncertain, and expectations regarding budget deliberations continue to shape the outlook for next year.
The third quarter rebound in growth was driven by a pick-up in domestic final sales which accelerated to 3.2% annual growth rate, up from 1.3% the prior quarter, as both households and businesses quickened their pace of purchases. Net exports contributed 0.2%-point to growth last quarter, a surprisingly large gain, as imports expanded at only a 1.9% annual rate despite a large rebound in auto imports following earlier supply disruptions. Real inventory accumulation slowed markedly to only $5.4 billion at an annual rate last quarter subtracting 1.1%-point from real GDP growth. Industrial activity has been robust lately and the unexpected strength in third-quarter final sales and weakness in third-quarter inventory investment improves prospects for continued solid growth in the fourth quarter.
BlackRock Praises Regulators’ Coordination on Hedge Fund Secrets
November 1. 2011--U.S. regulators were responsive to industry concerns over new disclosures for private-fund firms, changing the final rule to prevent unnecessary duplication, said Barbara Novick, co-founder and vice chairman of BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s biggest fund manager.
Private-equity and hedge funds will start reporting operational information to regulators next year as part of a government effort to prevent future financial crises. The reports they are required to file with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission will be substantially similar, according the text of the final rule released yesterday.
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Source: Bloomberg
CME Group Inc. Reports Strong Third-Quarter Financial Results Driven By Record Revenues And Operating Margin
November 1, 2011--CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today reported that third-quarter revenues increased 19 percent to a record $874 million and operating income increased 29 percent to $572 million compared with third-quarter 2010.
Third-quarter 2011 operating margin was 65 percent, the highest quarterly GAAP operating margin to date, and up from 60 percent in the third quarter of 2010. Operating margin is defined as operating income as a percentage of total revenues.
Third-quarter net income attributable to CME Group was $316 million, up 29 percent compared with the third quarter of 2010. Diluted earnings per share were $4.74, up 30 percent compared with the same period last year.
"CME Group's core business continued to perform very well, and during the quarter we delivered significant growth in revenue, operating income and earnings per share," said CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy. "On the regulatory front, we were pleased to see the CFTC rulemaking on position limits establish equivalent limits for physically and cash-settled contracts, other than natural gas. We will continue to work closely with regulators and market participants during this important rulemaking process."
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Source: CME Group
ISE Reports Business Activity for October 2011
November 1, 2011 –ISE is the largest equity options exchange in October with market share of 20.1%, excluding
dividend trades.
Dividend trades made up 1.2% of industry volume in October 2011.
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 3.4 million contracts
in October 2011. This represents an increase of 16.9% compared to October 2010. Total options volume
for the month was 72.1 million contracts.
ISE was the largest U.S. equity options exchange in October
with market share of 20.1%*. ISE market share has gained steadily for the past four months, due in part
to the completion of the Optimise™ rollout and its related enhancements, including lower latency, new
functionality and improved reliability and stability. ISE’s new trading rights program for Competitive Market
Makers has also benefitted the exchange by adding new liquidity providers.
Business highlights for the month of October include:
On October 5, ISE announced that UBS had launched the ETRACS Monthly 2xLeveraged ISE Cloud Computing Total Return Index ETN (Ticker: LSKY). This exchange-traded note (ETN) is
based on the ISE Cloud Computing Index™, a benchmark tracking companies actively involved in the cloud computing industry.
On October 25, ISE introduced the ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks FeedTM, a joint offering from ISE and Hanweck Associates. Powered by Hanweck Associates’ high-performance VoleraTM
engine, this feed provides real-time, low-latency, tick-level options analytics for all equity, index
and ETF options traded on the nine U.S. options exchanges.
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Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
Start of trading for two new ETFs on BM&FBOVESPA: IT Now ISE and IT Now IGCT
November 1, 2011--Trading starts on BM&FBOVESPA on Monday (October 31) for two new Exchange Traded Funds, (ETFs): the IT Now ISE Index Fund and the IT Now IGCT Index Fund, which respectively track the BM&FBOVESPA Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) and BM&FBOVESPA Corporate Governance Trade Index (IGCT).
The ticker symbol for the IT Now ISE Index Fund is ISUS11 and for the IT Now IGCT Index Fund is GOVE 11.
Source: BM&FBOVESPA
iShares files with the SEC
November 1, 2011--iShares has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Energy Sector Capped Index Fund.
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Source: SEC.gov
iShares files with the SEC
November 1, 2011--iShares has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the iShares MSCI All Country Asia Information Technology Index Fund.
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Source: SEC.gov
CFTC-SEC Statement on MF Global
October 31, 2011--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission today made the following joint statement:
“For several days, the SEC, CFTC and other regulators had been closely monitoring developments affecting MF Global, Inc., a jointly registered futures commission merchant and broker-dealer, in anticipation of a transaction that would include the transfer of customer accounts to another firm. Early this morning, MF Global informed the regulators that the transaction had not been agreed to and reported possible deficiencies in customer futures segregated accounts held at the firm. The SEC and CFTC have determined that a SIPC-led bankruptcy proceeding would be the safest and most prudent course of action to protect customer accounts and assets. SIPC announced today that it is initiating the liquidation of MF Global under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA).”
Source: CFTC.gov
CFTC and SEC Approve Confidential Private Fund Risk Reporting
October 31, 2011--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today approved a final rule requiring certain advisors to private funds that are dually registered with the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to report information to the SEC for use by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in monitoring risks to the U.S. financial system.
The SEC approved the joint rule on October 26, 2011.
The Commissions’ final rules, which implement Sections 404 and 406 of the Dodd-Frank Act, require SEC-registered investment advisers and dually registered CFTC registrants with at least $150 million in private fund assets under management to periodically file a new reporting form (Form PF). The information reported on Form PF will remain confidential.
Private fund advisers are divided by size into two broad groups – large advisers and smaller advisers. The amount of information reported and the frequency of reporting depends on the group to which the adviser belongs. Both the CFTC and the SEC anticipate the relatively limited number of large advisers providing more detailed information will represent a substantial portion of industry assets under management. As a result, these thresholds will allow FSOC to monitor a significant portion of private fund assets while reducing the reporting burden for private fund advisers.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Treasury Announces Marketable Borrowing Estimates
October 31, 2011-- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced its current estimates of net marketable borrowing for the October – December 2011 and the January - March 2012 quarters:
During the October – December 2011 quarter, Treasury expects to issue $305 billion in net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-December cash balance of $60 billion. This borrowing estimate is $21 billion higher than announced in July 2011. The increase in borrowing relates to lower receipts, higher outlays, and changes in the cash balance assumptions partially offset by higher net issuances of State and Local Government Series securities.
During the January - March 2012 quarter, Treasury expects to issue $541 billion in net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-March cash balance of $60 billion.
During the July - September 2011 quarter, Treasury issued $286 billion in net marketable debt, and ended the quarter with a cash balance of $58 billion. In July 2011, Treasury estimated $331 billion in net marketable borrowing and assumed an end-of-September cash balance of $110 billion. The decrease in borrowing was related to lower receipts offset by lower outlays and cash balance adjustments that lowered the estimated end-of-quarter cash balance.
Additional financing details relating to Treasury’s Quarterly Refunding will be released at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2011.
Source: US Department of the Treasury
