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Regulator looking to issue ETF rules in the second half
April 2, 2012--THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) expects to release rules on listing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the second semester after regulators reportedly found a way to work within existing investment laws.
"[The lawmakers] didn’t really contemplate on ETFs... There weren’t any products like that during the time [the law] was enacted,” SEC Commissioner Maria Juanita E. Cueto yesterday told reporters, referring to hurdles posed by the Investment Company Act.
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Source: Business World
Morgan Stanley-ETF Weekly Update
April 2, 2012--- Weekly Flows: $4.4 Billion Net Inflows
ETFs Exhibited $51.6 Billion In Net Inflows in 1Q12
ETF Assets Stand at $1.2 Trillion, up 14% YTD
Five ETF Launches Last Week
PIMCO to Change Total Return ETF Ticker
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Flows by Market Segment
ETFs rebounded last week and posted net inflows of $4.4 bln
Last week’s net inflows were led by US Large-Cap ETFs which generated net inflows of $3.6 bln
ETF assets stand at $1.2 tln, up 14% YTD; US Large-Cap and Fixed Income ETFs make up 40% of ETF assets
13-week flows (1Q12) were mostly positive among asset classes; combined $51.6 bln net inflows
1Q12’s net inflows were the largest first quarter measured since we began reporting quarterly flows in 2004; typically the first
quarter’s flows are the weakest quarter of the year
Fixed Income ETFs have consistently generated weekly net inflows (33 straight weeks of net inflows)
Over the past 13 weeks, Currency ETFs have posted net outflows of $1.4 bln, the most of any ETF category that we measure; notably, a long USD ETF exhibited the largest net outflows in the space
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) posted net inflows of $2.6 bln last week, the most of any ETF
The top four ETFs to exhibit the largest net inflows last week were US equity based; they posted a combined $3.9 bln in net inflows
Despite generating a double-digit total return over the past 13 weeks, the iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA) posted net outflows of $2.4 bln, the most of any ETF; coincidentally, the Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETF (VEA) exhibited net inflows of $1.2 bln over the time period (both EFA and VEA track the same index)
US-Listed ETFs: Short Interest Data Updated: Based on data as of 3/15/12
iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM) posted the largest increase in USD short interest
IWM’s shares short are at their highest levels since 11/30/11
SPY had the largest decline in USD short interest since last updated; given SPY’s size and liquidity it is not unusual to see big
swings in its USD short interest
Retail ETFs make up the top two most heavily shorted ETFs (shares short/shares outstanding)
The average shares short/shares outstanding for ETFs is currently 4%
Based on multiple borrowings and the ability to continuously create new shares, short interest as a % of market cap can exceed 100%
US-Listed ETFs: Most Successful Recent Launches by Assets
Source: Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Research.
Data estimated as of 3/30/12 based on daily change in share counts and daily NAVs.
$9.0 billion in total market cap of ETFs less than 1 year old
Over the past 13 weeks, newly launched US Custom ETFs generated most net inflows at $864 mln
76 new ETF listings and 16 closures YTD; at this point last year, only 63 ETFs had come to market
Over the past year, many of the successful launches have an income/dividend orientation
Six different ETF sponsors and two asset classes represented in top 10 most successful launches
Schwab has had a number of meaningful launches over the past couple of years (including two over the past year) as their low-cost, beta strategy and incentives for Schwab clients has resulted in strong asset generation
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Source: Morgan Stanley
CBOE Holdings Reports March 2012 Trading Volume
CBOE Futures Exchange Posts Busiest Month in History
April 2, 2012--CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) today reported that March trading volume for options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and C2 Options Exchange (C2), combined, totaled 106.65 million contracts.
March's average daily volume (ADV) was 4.85 million contracts, even with March 2011 ADV and down five percent from February 2012 ADV of 5.08 million contracts. Futures trading on CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), home of CBOE Volatility Index futures, set a new all-time monthly volume record of nearly two million contracts in March.
In addition, first quarter 2012 options ADV was 4.82 million contracts, a 13-percent increase from fourth quarter 2011 ADV of 4.26 million contacts, and a four-percent decrease from first quarter 2011 ADV of 5.04 million contracts.
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Source: CBOE
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
March 30, 2012--The current reports for the week of March 27, 2012 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
BM&FBOVESPA celebrates the start of trading in benchmark equity index futures contracts of the BRICS exchanges
March 30, 2012--BM&FBOVESPA hosted an event today that marked the start of trading in the benchmark equity index futures contracts of the founding members of the BRICS Exchanges Alliance of the BRICS countries, representing the emerging markets bloc.
Invited to the traditional ringing of the opening bell were Ambassador Affonso de Alencastro Massot, head of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s representative office in São Paulo, as well as the consuls to Brazil Mikhail Troyanskiy (Russia), G.V Srinivas (India), Hy Ying (China) and Yusuf Omar (South Africa). Representing BM&FBOVESPA were Equity Products Officer Julio Ziegelman and the consultant Marta Alves (see photo).
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Source: BM&FBOVESPA
Agencies Clarify Effective Date for Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act
March 30, 2012--Three federal financial regulatory agencies on Friday issued guidance clarifying that the effective date of section 716, the so-called Swaps Pushout provision, of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is July 16, 2013.
The guidance is being issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency after receiving inquiries seeking clarification about the effective date.
Section 716 prohibits certain types of Federal assistance, such as discount window lending and deposit insurance, for certain uses to a swaps entity, subject to specified exceptions, with respect to its swap, security-based swap, or other activity.
Maple Group and TMX Group Announce Extension of Offer To TMX Group Shareholders To April 30, 2012
March 30, 2012-Maple Group Acquisition Corporation ("Maple"), a corporation whose investors comprise 13 of Canada's leading financial institutions and pension funds, and TMX Group Inc. ("TMX Group") (TSX:X),
today announced the extension of Maple’s offer to acquire a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 80% of the shares of TMX Group to 5:00p.m. (Eastern Time) on Monday, April 30, 2012, unless further extended or withdrawn. The offer is part of an integrated acquisition transaction, valued at approximately $3.8 billion, to acquire 100% of TMX Group shares. The TMX Group Board of Directors continues to unanimously recommend that shareholders accept and tender their shares under the Maple offer.
Today’s announcement follows progress announced by Maple and TMX Group on March 15, 2012 that the Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”) intends to approve the Maple transaction and that the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) has informed Maple that it has requested its staff to develop draft recognition orders with detailed terms and conditions required by the OSC. The draft orders will be published for a 30-day public comment period in the near future.
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Source: TMX
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
March 30, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The shareholders of Minefinders Corporation Ltd. (TSX:MFL) have accepted the cash and share exchange offer from Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA).
Minefinders will be removed from the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX SmallCap and Equity SmallCap, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and Global Gold, the S&P/TSX Composite Equal Weight and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Indices effective after the close of Wednesday, April 4, 2012.
Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA) has announced the closing of the acquisition of Minefinders Corporation Ltd. As a result of the issuance of shares, the relative weight of Pan American Silver will increase in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Capped Materials, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend indices. These changes will be effective after close on Wednesday, April 4, 2012.
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 & Poor's
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
March 30, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The shareholders of Minefinders Corporation Ltd. (TSX:MFL) have accepted the cash and share exchange offer from Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA).
Minefinders will be removed from the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX SmallCap and Equity SmallCap, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and Global Gold, the S&P/TSX Composite Equal Weight and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Indices effective after the close of Wednesday, April 4, 2012.
Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA) has announced the closing of the acquisition of Minefinders Corporation Ltd. As a result of the issuance of shares, the relative weight of Pan American Silver will increase in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Capped Materials, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend indices. These changes will be effective after close on Wednesday, April 4, 2012.
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 & Poor's
U.S. swaps pushout rule to kick in July 2013
March 30, 2012--Banking regulators said on Friday that the controversial rule requiring banks to spin off some of their swap trading into affiliates will not take effect until July 16, 2013.
The rule was mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and seeks to create distance between the part of a bank that receives government backstops such as deposit insurance and the part that engages in more risky activity.
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Source: Reuters
