If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
August 16, 2013--The current reports for the week of August 13, 2013 are now available.
view more
Source: CFTC.gov
Regulators Issue Joint Staff Review of Firms' Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning
August 16, 2013--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight today joined the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in issuing a staff advisory on business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
The advisory follows a joint review by regulators in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which caused widespread damage to Northeastern states and closed U.S. equity and options markets for two days in October 2012. The CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), and FINRA issued the advisory to encourage firms to review their business continuity plans so as to improve responses to and reduce recovery time after significant large-scale events.
view more
Source: CFTC.gov
Emerging Global Advisors Launches EGShares EM Dividend High Income ETF (Ticker: EMHD)
EGA and FTSE collaborate to design an index that targets high dividend yield
August 15, 2013-- Emerging Global Advisors (EGA) today launched the EGShares EM Dividend High Income ETF (Ticker: EMHD), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed for income-oriented investors.
EMHD tracks an index that has a dividend yield of 8.8%1 (as of 7/31/2013) and screens for emerging market (EM) companies that have consistently generated high income for their shareholders.
“The rise of emerging market-based multinationals has greatly expanded the number of companies with the capacity to sustain high dividend payments,” said Marten Hoekstra, CEO of EGA. “EMHD applies our firm’s emerging market expertise to create a high income solution that can provide investors with a global approach to diversifying income streams."
read more
Source: Emerging Global Advisors (EGA)
'Alternative' Investments Draw Flak
Investors Flock to New Risky Products, and Regulators Are Raising Concerns
August 15, 2013--Individual investors are pouring tens of billions of dollars into a new generation of complex investment products, and regulators are raising concerns that not all buyers understand the costs and risks.
Outside scrutiny is intensifying on securities firms' sales practices and whether so-called alternative products—ranging from certain types of mutual funds to vehicles that invest in highly indebted companies-are suitable for all of the Americans flocking to them.
view more
Source: Wall Street Journal
FTSE-linked ETFs reach 100 mark in North America
August 15, 2013--The number of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking a FTSE benchmark in North America has passed 100, following a series of recent listings.
New York-based asset manager Emerging Global Advisors today listed the EGShares EM Dividend High Income ETF on NYSE Arca. The new fund tracks the FTSE Equal Weighted Emerging All Cap ex Taiwan Diversified Dividend Yield 50 Index. The listing follows the launch of two equity ETFs with Vanguard Investments Canada for which FTSE has licensed two indices: FTSE Canada All Cap Index and the FTSE Developed ex North America Index.
view more
Source: FTSE
Fitch and Fed warn on risks from ETFs
August 14, 2013--Parts of the booming market for exchange traded funds risk worsening broader market sell-offs or triggering crashes, according to two studies released this week.
The reports, from the Federal Reserve and Fitch Ratings, come weeks after a sharp sell-off in fixed income sparked scrutiny of certain ETFs and the structure of the industry, which has grown to a market worth more than $2tn.
view more
Source: FT.com
S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Changes To The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices-A Deletion From The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
August 14, 2013--S&P Dow Jones Canadian Index Services will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The shares of Balmoral Resources Ltd. (TSXVN:BAR) will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Thursday, August 15, 2013. The company will graduate to trade on TSX under the same ticker symbol.
Source: S&P Dow Jones Canadian Index Services
Global X Top Guru Holdings Index ETF (GURU) Crosses $100 Million
August 14, 2013--Global X Funds, the $2 billion New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), today announced its Top Guru Holdings Index ETF (GURU) has crossed the $100 million threshold. It has also been ranked the second best-performing out of 938 large cap core mutual funds and ETFs by Lipper, the fund information and fund ratings company.
A unique fund that invests in the largest equity holdings of established hedge funds, GURU serves as a core domestic equity allocation, providing investor access to investment ideas gathered from some of the industry's top hedge funds.
view more
Source: Global X
Fitch: Rising Prominence of ETFs in the U.S. High Yield Market
August 14, 2013--Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are playing a more significant role in U.S. fixed income markets, particularly the corporate high yield segment, according to a Fitch Ratings report.
Although U.S. corporate bond ETF assets total less than 2% of the U.S. corporate bond market, their influence on trading activity is relatively more significant. Average daily trading volumes (on a weekly basis) for the five largest high-yield corporate bond ETFs more than tripled from about $470 million in early May to more than $1.5 billion in early June.
view more
Source: Fitch Rating
CFTC Issues Proposed Rules for Derivatives Clearing Organizations to Align with International Standards
August 13, 2013--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed rules to establish additional standards for systemically important derivatives clearing organizations (SIDCOs) that are consistent with the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMIs) and address all of the remaining gaps between part 39 of the Commission's regulations and the PFMIs.
These rules, together with the existing derivatives clearing organizations rules, would establish standards that are consistent with the PFMIs and would allow SIDCOs to continue to be Qualifying Central Counterparties (QCCPs) for purposes of international bank capital standards.
view more
Source: CFTC.gov