Global ETF News Older than One Year
World Gold Council-Latest World Official Gold Reserves
December 10, 2013--Information on each country's gold reserves and the proportion this represents of their total external reserves. Updated quarterly.
Source: World Gold Council
The Extra-territorial Impact of EMIR on Non-EU Swap Counterparties
December 10, 2013--On November 18, 2013, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published its final report on technical standards detailing how the regulation of over-the-counter ("OTC") derivative contracts in the European Union ("EU") will apply to contracts that are entered into or performed outside the EU or involve at least one counterparty that is not organised under the law of an EU Member State (the "November RTS").[1]
Given that derivatives markets are global in nature, firms that use OTC derivative contracts have been continuing to monitor the potential extra-territorial impact of the European Markets Infrastructure Regulations ("EMIR").[2] The November RTS provides international OTC derivative market participants with guidance regarding the circumstances in which OTC derivative contracts outside the EU will be considered to have a "direct, substantial and foreseeable effect" in the EU and thus be subject to EMIR.
Source: K&L Gates
BNY Mellon Launches AIFMD Regulatory Reporting Service
December 10, 2013--BNY Mellon reports that it has launched a new service for fund managers to help them identify, aggregate and manage the regulatory reporting requirements of the Alternative Investment Fund Manager's Directive (AIFMD).
Under AIFMD, Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) must file a specifically formatted report with their home member state's supervisory authority, or national competent authority (NCA). The report requirements are extensive and cover aspects of both the fund manager and the fund, such as investment strategies, exposures, portfolio concentration, total value of assets under management, principal markets and instruments in which investments are made, plus detailed information on the funds' risk profile.
Source: globalcustody.net
Vanguard to reign in ETF market?
December 10, 2013--Vanguard has always been something of a category killer. It changed the industry with its index funds way back when. Now, it is bent on shaking up the ETF industry.
Its "category-killing attributes" make it "the Wal-Mart of exchange-traded funds," pronounces Bloomberg.
"Since 2010, its market share has grown from about 15 percent to 20 percent, while that of its big rivals, BlackRock's iShares and State Street's SPDRs, has slightly declined," the article states. "And while all three have gained new assets this year, Vanguard leads with $51 billion, or 32 cents out of every dollar invested in an ETF, up from 28 cents last year.
Source: Fierce Finance
JPMorgan May Create a Virtual Currency That Rivals Bitcoin
The megabank tries to get in on the virtual cash craze
December 10, 2013--JPMorgan Chase has filed a U.S. patent application for a computerized payment system that resembles the virtual currency Bitcoin, the Financial Times reports.
As more people make their purchases online, banks, credit card companies and tech companies are all hoping to capitalize on the quickly expanding business of mobile and online payments.
Bitcoin rose this year as the most prominent virtual cash system, storing its users' cash in computer files.
The price of Bitcoin shares soared to over $1,240 the day after Thanksgiving (a 9,000% gain for the year), and its new virtual currency may one day challenge the traditional payment systems of big credit card companies and banks.
Source: TIME
World's biggest investor BlackRock says US rally nearing exhaustion
December 9, 2013--BlackRock, the world's biggest investor, has warned that central banks are poised to tighten monetary policy in the Anglo-Saxon countries and China, advising clients to be ready to pull out of global stock markets at any sign of serious trouble.
"2014 is the year to squeeze more juice out of risk assets. But investors should be ready to discard the fruit when it starts running dry," said Ewen Cameron Watt, chief strategist for the BlackRock Investment Institute.
Source: The Telegraph
Mutual funds look to gain ETF foothold
December 9, 2013--"To know your enemy, you must become your enemy" is an oft-quoted dictum for military and corporate strategists.
Mutual funds providers trying to grab a slice of the fast-expanding market for exchange-traded products are taking the tactic to heart.
Source: FT.com
SIX Swiss Exchange lures India to the Alps
December 9, 2013--SIX Swiss Exchange, Switzerland's principal stock exchange, is vying with Indian companies and investment bankers to raise capital through its platform.
Source: Business Standard
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-Gold Revisits US$1,200/oz Support as Strong Data Raises Early Tapering Risks
December 9, 2013--Market expectations rise on the FOMC signalling a reduction in bond buying this month. Better-than-expected economic data from the US reignited fears of early tapering by the Fed,keeping commodity price gains in check,particularly precious metals. Despite the US government shutdown,US economic data has been consistently positive. Economic indicators continue to point to a pick-up in US economy,with the November manufacturing and jobs data both surprising on the upside.
We expect the US Federal Reserve to begin to taper bond purchases in Q1 2014 as the employment picture continues to strengthen. Fed tapering is likely to provide support for the US dollar in the near-term - historically a headwind for gold price performance. The gold price has been under strong downward pressure in 2013,but last week the market appeared to draw a line-in-the-sand at the US$1,200/oz. level. There now appears to be an almost unanimous consensus belief that US economic growth,interest rates and the dollar will rise next year. This scenario is also now reflected in gold futures and ETF positioning. If there is any disappointment in US growth numbers or reduced confidence stemming from the brewing government budget fight,the tail risk event in 2014 could be a surprise counter-consensus rally of the gold price.
Source: ETF Securities
New research finds HFT improves market fairness-CMCRC
December 9, 2013-- New research from the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC) has found that the presence of high frequency traders improves market fairness by reducing end of day price dislocation. Professor Michael Aitken, CMCRC CEO, said that End of Day (EOD) price dislocations whether they occurred by fair means or foul were troublesome for markets and that any market structure change which mitigates the incidence of such changes should be seen as a positive outcomes for the marketplace.
“EOD prices are often used to determine the expiration value of directors' options, the price of seasoned equity issues, evaluate broker performance, calculate net asset values of mutual funds, and compute stock indices," he said. "So on the one hand there's clear incentive to manipulate the closing price by ramping end of day trading to push the closing price to an artificial level. However, EOD dislocation could also simply reflect price pressure brought on by the fact that the market is about to close for 18 hours. Either way, EOD dislocation of prices is not a good look for markets."
view the High Frequency Trading and end-of-day price Dislocation
Source: Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC)
