Global ETF News Older than One Year
Continued Egyptian Revival
March 12, 2015--The more I read about Egyptian President Sisi, the more I'm impressed with the reforms he is instituting, and as an investor, none more important than economic.
I have written previously about the investment conference being hosted later this week in Sharm el-Sheik to attract foreign direct investment, and now days before the conference the government has decided to lower the top tax rate for both corporations and individuals from 25% to 22.5%.
Source: Peter Kohli of DMS for Nasdaq.com
World Bank-Building a New Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction
March 12, 2015--Last year, torrential rainfall and landslides in the Balkans affected more than 1 million people, setting back the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina by about 15 percent of GDP.
As temperatures warm, the frequency and intensity of storms of that magnitude and droughts is expected to rise.
In this context, over 9,000 people are gathering in Sendai, Japan, this week for the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction with the goal of launching a new international framework to guide implementation of disaster risk management efforts worldwide in years to come.
Source: World Bank
BIS-CPMI and IOSCO begin review of CCP stress testing
March 11, 2015--The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) announced today that they are undertaking a review of stress testing by central counterparties (CCPs).
Stress testing is an essential component of risk management by CCPs. The Principles for financial market infrastructures (PFMI), published by the CPMI and IOSCO in 2012, require CCPs to carry out rigorous stress testing to determine the financial resources they need to manage both credit and liquidity risk, including a wide range of stress scenarios covering a variety of extreme but plausible market conditions.
Source: BIS
Eurex Supervisory Board member and ISE Holdings Chairman inducted in FIA Hall of Fame
March 11, 2015--David Krell, Chairman of ISE and a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Börse AG, and Jürg Spillmann, member of the Supervisory Board of Eurex Frankfurt AG and member of the Board of Directors of Eurex Zürich AG, have been inducted into the Futures Industry Association (FIA) Hall of Fame at the yearly FIA Boca derivatives conference.
This honor recognizes a lifetime of outstanding contributions of members of the futures and options community.
Source: ISE (International Securities Exchange)
CPMI-IOSCO Begins Review of Stress Testing by Central Counterparties
March 11, 2015--The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) announced today that they are undertaking a review of stress testing by central counterparties (CCPs).
Stress testing is an essential component of risk management by CCPs. The Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI), published by the CPMI and IOSCO in 2012, require CCPs to carry out rigorous stress testing to determine the financial resources they need to manage both credit and liquidity risk, including a wide range of stress scenarios covering a variety of extreme but plausible market conditions.
Source:IOSCO
Deutsche Boerse and BSE extend cooperation
March 10, 2015--Eurex and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have further extended their strategic cooperation offering connectivity services of Deutsche Börse to certain overseas market participants.
As of Q2 2015, participants of BSE will be able to use Deutsche Börse's resilient and low latency N7 network services to connect to BSE back-ends in India via the respective Deutsche Börse Access Points (data centers) in the two major financial centers Hong Kong and Singapore.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Global ETF assets approach $3 trillion as industry turns 25
March 10, 2015--Assets invested in ETFs/ETPs globally are just shy of the $3 trillion mark, having reached a new record high of $2.92 trillion at the end of February 2015, according to data from ETFGI.
There were $50.7 billion in net new asset inflows in February, the second largest month on record.
Source: etfstrategy.co.uk
ETF Securities Research-Precious Metals WeeklyPunchbowl Takeaway Risk Deflates Most Assets-
March 9, 2015--Precious metals (PMs) decline with most asset classes on increased fed tightening fears. Good news for Main Street was bad news for investors as better than expected US
unemployment data bucked the weaker than expected data trend, increasing fed tightening expectations. Only palladium gained on the week, as gold declined 3.9%, giving back its
2015 gain.
Fed funds futures 12-months out, dropped to the lowest level since April 2010, increasing FOMC tightening expectations to about 70bps by the end of March 2016 (chart below). Before Friday's unemployment number, the Citi US Economic Surprise Index reached the lowest level since July of 2012, despite a widely expected boost from lower oil prices. Adding to PM pressure was strength in the US dollar, which reached the highest level since Sept. 2003 (US Dollar Index). Accentuating increasing currency volatility, in Euro currency terms, gold declined only 0.7% last week as ECB QE will commence this week. US QE supported the stock market rally which now appears rather vulnerable. Although gold and silver remain under pressure, they should be primary beneficiaries if stock market volatility continues to normalize, notably if fed rate hike expectations turn out to be a misfire.
Source: ETF Securities Research
UPDATE 1-EU court upholds blocking of Deutsche Boerse/NYSE Euronext merger
March 9, 2015--A European Union court upheld on Monday the European Commission's decision in 2012 to block a planned merger of Deutsche B€erse and NYSE Euronext.
The Commission blocked the deal to create the world's biggest stock exchange because it said it would have created a "near monopoly" in European financial derivatives.
Source: Reuters
NYSE, LSE seen as possible targets for China's Stock Connect
March 9, 2015--Industry experts expect that exchanges in London, New York and elsewhere have been in talks with China about establishing Stock Connect-type trading links.
"I would find it amazing if the [New York Stock Exchange] and [London Stock Exchange] are not way down the line with conversations with China in terms of Connect..
Source: SmartBrief
