Americas ETP News
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CFTC To Hold Open Meeting To Consider Two Final Rules And One Proposed Amendment
October 11, 2011--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., on the following topics:
(1) Final Rule on Derivatives Clearing Organization General Provisions and Core Principles;
2) Final Rule on Position Limits for Futures and Swaps; and
(3) Consider a Notice of Proposed Amendment to Effective Date for Swap Regulation.
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Source: CFTC.gov
SEC Announces Agenda and Panelists for Roundtable on Microcap Securities
October 11, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the panelists and final agenda for a public roundtable on microcap securities to be held next week.
The October 17 roundtable, announced last month, is being sponsored by the SEC’s Microcap Fraud Working Group and will feature three panels discussing key regulatory issues, including anti-money laundering monitoring, compliance challenges, and potential changes to the microcap regulatory framework.
The event will begin at 1 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at the SEC’s Washington D.C. headquarters, with public seating on a first-come, first-served basis. The event also can be viewed by live webcast, and will be archived on the website for later viewing.
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Source: SEC.gov
Financial Stability Oversight Council Takes Critical Step to Carry Out Wall Street Reform, Prevent Future Financial Crises
October 11, 2011--The Financial Stability Oversight Council (“the Council”) today took a key step forward to monitor and mitigate potential threats to U.S. financial stability and protect the American taxpayer by releasing details on the proposed process it will follow to determine whether a nonbank financial company should be subject to enhanced supervision.
In the recent financial crisis, financial distress at certain nonbank financial companies contributed to a broad seizing up of financial markets. An important component of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“the Dodd-Frank Act”), this authority provided to the Council is one of a number of tools now available to help prevent a future financial crisis.
In its tenth meeting, the Council approved the following documents put forward during today’s session: a second notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) and proposed interpretive guidance on the Council’s authority to require supervision and regulation of certain nonbank financial companies; Council budget information for FY2012; and the minutes of the July 18, 2011, August 8, 2011 and September 15, 2011 Council meetings.
Second NPR and Proposed Interpretive Guidance on the Authority to Require Supervision and Regulation of Certain Nonbank Financial Companies
Section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the Council to require a nonbank financial company to be supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and be subject to prudential standards if the Council determines that material financial distress at the nonbank financial company, or the nature, scope, size, scale, concentration, interconnectedness, or mix of the activities of the nonbank financial company, could pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
Dow Jones Indexes And UBS Announce 2012 Weights Of Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index
Brent Futures Contract Added to WTI Futures Contract to Comprise Index’s Crude Oil Component
October 11, 2011--New target weightings for the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index and the addition of the Brent futures contract as part of the index’s crude oil component were announced today by Dow Jones Indexes andUBS Investment Bank.
Changes to the index, scheduled to be effective in January 2012, were determined and approved by the Dow Jones-UBSCommodity Index (DJ-UBSCI) Supervisory Committee following consultation with the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Advisory Committee.
The Supervisory Committee cited several factors for adding the Brent futures contract to the WTI (West Texas Intermediate) futures contract in comprising the crude oil component of the index: acknowledgment of Brent’s economic significance as a global benchmark, the liquidity of the Brent futures contract and the actual production of the commodity itself. WTI will comprise approximately two-thirds of the index’s crude oil weighting, with Brent accounting for the remainder.
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Source: Dow Jones
Dow Jones Indexes to Distribute Index-Constituent Data Through Morningstar Direct
Additional Data Enables Morningstar Direct to Expand Its Suite of Key Dow Jones Indexes Information
October 11, 2011--Dow Jones Indexes today announced that Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, is now including constituent data on a range of Dow Jones Indexes' gauges through Morningstar DirectSM, its global web-based institutional investment analysis platform.
Morningstar Direct already provides Dow Jones Indexes' end-of-day index values; with the addition of constituent data, Morningstar Direct is now able to offer clients an expanded suite of key Dow Jones Indexes information.
"The addition of constituent data from Dow Jones Indexes allows Morningstar Direct subscribers access to a broader package of index constituents from a highly respected source," said Xiaohua Xia, president of institutional software for Morningstar. "By making our database more comprehensive, institutional investors, asset managers and investment consultants can now perform more in-depth performance and risk analysis of portfolios against a wider range of benchmarks."
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Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Federal Reserve Board Seeks Comment On Proposal To Implement Volcker Rule requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act
October 11, 2011--The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday requested public comment on a proposed regulation implementing the so-called "Volcker Rule" requirements of section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 619 generally contains two prohibitions. First, it prohibits insured depository institutions, bank holding companies, and their subsidiaries or affiliates (banking entities) from engaging in short-term proprietary trading of any security, derivative, and certain other financial instruments for a banking entity's own account, subject to certain exemptions.
Second, it prohibits owning, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with, a hedge fund or private equity fund, subject to certain exemptions.
The act also prohibits banking entities from engaging in an exempted transaction or activity if it would involve or result in a material conflict of interest between the banking entity and its clients, customers, or counterparties, or that would result in a material exposure to high-risk assets or trading strategies, in each case as defined by the rule. The act similarly prohibits banking entities from engaging in an exempted transaction or activity if it would pose a threat to the safety and soundness of the banking entity or to the financial stability of the United States.
The proposal, which was developed jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, clarifies the scope of the act's prohibitions and, consistent with statutory authority, provides certain exemptions to these prohibitions. It is anticipated these agencies will issue a comparable proposal today or in the near future.
Transactions in certain instruments, including obligations of the U.S. government or a U.S. government agency, the government-sponsored enterprises, and state and local governments, are exempt from the statute's prohibitions. Consistent with the statute, other activities exempted include market making, underwriting, and risk-mitigating hedging. The statute also permits banking entities to organize, offer, and invest in a hedge fund or private equity fund subject to a number of conditions.
The proposed rule would require banking entities that engage in these activities to establish an internal compliance program that is designed to ensure and monitor compliance with the statute's prohibitions and restrictions, and implementing regulations. The proposed rule provides commentary intended to assist banking entities in distinguishing permitted market making-related activities from prohibited proprietary trading activities.
view the Prohibitions and Restrictions on Proprietary Trading and Certain Interests In, and Relationships With, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds
Source: Federal Reserve Board
DB Global Equity Research: US ETF Market Weekly Review--ETP AUM up $12bn driven by market rally
October 11, 2011--Net Cash Flows Review
Equity markets in the US (S&P 500) had a decent rally last week and gained 2.12%. Other developed and emerging markets outside the US were also positive, the MSCI EAFE (in USD) and the MSCI EM (in USD) rose by 2.01%, and 0.42% during the week, respectively.
Moving on to other asset classes, the 10Y Treasury yield rose by 18bps; while the DB Liquid Commodity Index was up by 1.89% aided by strong gains in WTI Crude Oil (+4.8%) and Silver (+4.1%). Last but not least, Volatility (VIX) was down by 15.7% for the week.
The total US ETP flows from all products registered $0.68bn of outflows during last week vs $3.8bn of inflows the previous week, setting the YTD weekly flows average at +$1.9bn.
In spite of the equity market rally last week, ETP flows still resemble a risk off trade. Equity, Fixed Income, and Commodity ETPs experienced flows of -$2.6bn, +$2.1bn, and -$0.4bn last week vs. +$3.8bn, +$1.6bn, and -$1.3bn the previous week, respectively.
Within Equity ETPs, Leveraged products experienced the largest inflows (+$555m), followed by Short products (+$486m), while Large Cap vehicles experienced the largest outflows ($2.0bn).
Within Fixed Income ETPs, Sovereign products experienced the largest inflows (+$1.4bn), while Sub-Sovereign vehicles experienced the largest and only outflows (-$44m).
Within Commodity ETPs, Energy products experienced the largest inflows (+$134m), while Precious Metals vehicles experienced the largest outflows (-$259m).
New Launch Calendar: ETP launches keep the momentum
There were 10 new ETPs and 1 new ETN listed during the previous week. Seven of these products were listed on the NYSE Arca, while the remaining four were listed on NASDAQ. The new products cover four different asset classes offering access to a diverse range of exposures and return streams.
Turnover Review: Equity ETP turnover rose by $75bn
Total weekly turnover increased by 14.9% to $555bn vs. $483bn in the previous week. The largest increase was on Equity ETP turnover, which rose by $75bn or 17.8% to $498bn. Fixed Income ETP turnover increased by $6.0bn to $26.2bn last week. Finally, Commodity ETPs products turnover decreased by $10.6bn, totaling $26.1bn at the end of last Friday.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Review: market rally added close to $12bn US ETP AUM experienced an increase of $11.9bn or 1.2% in assets during last week. Total ETP assets were 2.4% down YTD by the end of last week, ending up at $981 billion. Assets for equity, fixed income and commodity ETPs rose by $8.5bn, $1.3bn, and $1.8bn during last week, respectively.
to request report
Source: Deutsche Bank - Global Equity Research
Georgetown Investment Management files with the SEC
October 11, 2011--Georgetown Investment Management (formerly Georgetown ETF Trust, has filed a amended application foe exemptive with the SEC for actively-managed ETFs.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
ETF Assets Fall Below $1 Trillion
October 10, 2011-Assets in U.S. based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) fell below the $1 trillion mark in September, the lowest level since November 2010, according to a new report from Birinyi Associates.
Market pullback during the period caused overall assets to fall 8.3 percent to $972 billion. However, a net $4.5 billion in new money was added to a variety of ETFs in September.
"Even though the assets fell the money is still flowing into ETFs", says Kevin Pleines, an analyst at Birinyi Associates. "The market continues to grow."
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Source: CNBC
NASDAQ OMX to Launch UltraFeed
North American Equity, Options, Futures and Index Data Combined in a Single Feed
October 10, 2011--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. today announced it will introduce UltraFeedSM, a highly-efficient data feed that aggregates all North American equity, options, futures and index data feeds.
Employing NASDAQ OMX state-of-the-art technology, UltraFeed will first be delivered to QUODD Financial Information Services – a full service market data provider. QUODD Financial Information Services will provide UltraFeed to its approximately 550 downstream client firms who, in turn, feed thousands of end-users.
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Source: NASDAQ OMX
