Americas ETP News
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Vanguard ETF assets surge to top $200bn
March 25, 2012---Assets held in Vanguard's US exchange traded fund business reached the $200bn mark at the start of March and have since risen to $204bn, despite the Pennsylvania-based group being a relative latecomer to the ETF market.
Vanguard remains the third-largest ETF player globally, well behind longer established rival iShares, which had assets of $670bn at the end of February. But it could soon overhaul State Street Global Advisors, on $298bn.
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Source: FT.com
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
March 23, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (TSX:BPO) has announced that it will redeem for $CDN25.00 cash per share all of the outstanding shares of its Class AAA Preference Shares, Series "I" (TSX:BPO.PR.I) at the close on March 30, 2012.
The shares of this issue will be removed from the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index and the S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index after the close of trading on Friday, March 30, 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
Institutions Tipping the ETF Scale
March 23, 2012--When it comes to exchange-traded products, you either get it or you don't. And, according to Deutsche Bank, more institutional investors are getting it every day.
Analyzing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 13F filings, Deutsche Bank’s ETF research team summizes that 51.6% of all exchange-traded products in the United States were held by institutional investors, inlcuding brokers, registered investment advisers, hedge funds and, yes, mutual funds at the end of 2011.
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Source: Forbes
Treasury Report: Now is the Key Time to Invest in Infrastructure
March 23, 2012--A new report released today by the U.S. Department of Treasury with the Council of Economic Advisers finds that now is the key time to invest in infrastructure to create middle-class jobs, increase our long-term competiveness, and support a more secure energy future.
The President’s all-of-the-above strategy for American energy and his FY2013 Budget proposes a bold plan to renew and expand America’s infrastructure. The plan includes a $50 billion up-front investment connected to a $476 billion six-year reauthorization of the surface transportation program and the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank.
“This report highlights the need for critical investments in transportation to help ease the burden on middle-class families trying to make ends meet, create jobs where workers would especially benefit, and also strengthen our competitiveness and support business infrastructure over the long term,” said Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Jan Eberly.
view the NEW ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
A REPORT PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY WITH THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS
Source: US Department of the Treasury
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
March 23, 2012--The current reports for the week of March 20 2012 are now available.
view updates
Source: CFTC.gov
Statement: BATS Global Markets Withdraws Initial Public Offering
March 23, 2012--BATS Global Markets, Inc. ("BATS") today announced it has withdrawn its planned initial public offering (IPO), which was scheduled to close on March 28, 2012.
"Although our affected market has reopened, in the wake of today's technical issues, which affected the trading of certain stocks, including that of BATS, we believe withdrawing the IPO is the appropriate action to take for our Company and our shareholders," said Joe Ratterman, chairman, president and CEO of BATS Global Markets.
Source: BATS
Buenos Aires Futures and Options Exchange (MATba) And Uruguay’s Stock Exchange (BVM) To Create A New Derivatives Market
March 23, 2012--Mercado a Termino de Buenos Aires – MATba (Buenos Aires Futures and Options Exchange) and Bolsa de Valores de Montevideo- BVM (Uruguay's Stock Exchange) announced that they will create a Futures and Options Exchange in Uruguay.
The new exchange will operate under the name "MATba Rio de la Plata Bolsa de Valores S. A." and will be the first derivatives market in Uruguay. The two exchanges are waiting for Uruguay’s Central Bank approval to start working on the first contracts, which will probably be cattle and agricultural commodities, leaving currencies and other financial products for a second stage. All contracts will be cash settled and traded electronically.
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Source: hftreview.com
Bats withdraws IPO after errors pummel its stock, halt Apple
March 23, 2012--Bats Global Markets, the six-year-old equity exchange, canceled its initial public offering Friday, stunning Wall Street after errors on its own computer systems derailed trading in the stock and forced a halt in Apple.
“We believe withdrawing the IPO is the appropriate action to take for our company and our shareholders,” chief executive Joe Ratterman said in a statement. Asked whether that meant Bats is no longer going public, Randy Williams, a company spokesman, replied by e-mail, “Yes, that’s correct.”
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Source: Washington Post
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Hearing on International Harmonization of Wall Street Reform: Orderly Liquidation, Derivatives, and the Volcker Rule, Washington, DC
Director, Office of International Affairs Jacqueline H. Mesa
March 22, 2012--Good morning Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Shelby, and members of the Committee. I am Jacqueline Mesa, the Director of the Office of International Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding international aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). This morning, I will provide an overview of global commitments for over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives reform, an update on Dodd-Frank Act implementation efforts at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”), global initiatives to bring financial reform to OTC derivatives, and coordination with international regulators in regulating the swaps market.
G-20 Commitment for OTC Derivatives Reform
The financial crisis generated international consensus on the need to strengthen financial regulation by improving transparency, mitigating systemic risk, and protecting against market abuse. As a result of the widespread recognition that transactions in the OTC derivatives market increased risk and uncertainty in the economy and became a significant contributor to the financial crisis, a series of policy initiatives were undertaken to better regulate the financial markets.
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Source: CFTC.gov
CFTC's Division of Market Oversight Issues Letter to Market Participants Regarding Compliance with Large Trader Reporting System for Physical Commodity Swaps and Swaptions
Division to Provide Temporary and Conditional No-Action Relief for Less than Fully Compliant Reporting
March 22, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight today issued a letter to market participants providing temporary and conditional no-action relief for less than fully compliant reporting under the CFTC’s large trader reporting system for physical commodity swaps and swaptions.
Clearing organizations and clearing members began reporting under the system on November 21, 2011. This temporary relief is intended to provide sufficient time for the industry and the CFTC to transition to fully compliant reporting by July 2, 2012.
This no-action is only available to market participants making a good faith effort to comply with the new rules. In addition, parties relying on the no-action relief must submit month-end open interest reports to the Commission that cover the period from March 1, 2012, to June 30, 2012. Parties that wish to rely on the no-action relief must also submit an e-mail to the Division, at submissions@cftc.gov and SwapsLTR@cftc.gov no later than March 30, 2012, that includes information on arrangements being made to come into full compliance with the rules, as well as the expected date of such compliance.
