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Emissions trading: Member States approve list of sectors deemed to be exposed to carbon leakage
September 18, 2009--EU Member States today approved a draft Decision listing 164 industrial sectors and sub-sectors deemed to be exposed to 'carbon leakage'. Under the revised EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) which will apply from 2013, installations in such sectors will receive a higher share of greenhouse gas emission allowances free of charge than other industrial sectors. The final Decision should be adopted by the European Commission by the end of the year following scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council.
The issue of carbon leakage relates to the risk that companies in sectors subject to strong international competition might relocate from the EU to third countries with less stringent constraints on greenhouse gas emissions.
At a meeting of the Commission's Climate Change Committee, Member States gave a favourable opinion on a list of 164 sectors and sub-sectors which the Commission judges face a significant risk of carbon leakage. The list has been drawn up on the basis of detailed criteria on CO 2 costs and trade exposure set out in the revised EU ETS Directive agreed as part of the climate and energy package in December 2008 (see IP/09/628 ).
The draft Decision will now undergo three months of scrutiny by the European Parliament and the Council with a view to its adoption by the Commission by the end of the year.
The risk of carbon leakage could be lessened by the international climate change agreement due to be concluded at the Copenhagen U.N. climate conference in December. The Commission will therefore review the list in the light of the Copenhagen agreement and may propose revisions.
If the list is not revised it will apply for five years, until 2014, but sectors can be added to the list during this period. A new list would apply for the period 2015-2019.
The sectors and sub-sectors judged at risk of carbon leakage are estimated to account for around a quarter of total emissions covered by the EU ETS and around 77% of the total emissions from manufacturing industry in the EU ETS. A large part of the emissions covered by the ETS come from the power sector which from 2013 will not receive any free allowances, subject to a limited exemption to aid modernisation of the electricity sector in some Member States.
The actual number of free allowances that industrial installations will receive will be decided in 2011. This will be done on the basis of common performance benchmarks which should be determined by the end of 2010. Under the Directive, industrial sectors will receive 80% of benchmarked allowances for free in 2013 decreasing annually to 30% in 2020. Those sectors which are deemed to be exposed to carbon leakage will receive 100% of the benchmarked allowances for free. The benchmarks will reflect the average performance of the 10% most efficient installations (in terms of their greenhouse gas emissions) in a sector or subsector in the EU over the years 2007-2008. The benchmarks will therefore create additional incentives for ETS installations to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiency. Given the stringency of the benchmarks, only the most efficient installations have a chance of receiving all of their allowances for free.
To prepare the draft Decision the Commission held several broad stakeholder consultations as well as a large number of bilateral meetings with industry, NGOs, academics and Member States. The work was carried out in close co-operation between the Commission's Directorate-General for Environment and the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry.
Further information: The draft decision on the list of sectors and sub-sectors proposed by the Commission will be put on the Commission's carbon leakage website:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission/carbon_en.htm
Amended ETS Directive and Frequently Asked Questions:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission/ets_post2012_en.htm
Source: EUROPA
db x-trackers list 6 news fixed income ETFs on the LSE
September 18, 2009--db x-trackers, Deutsche Bank’s ETF platform, has listed six fixed income ETFs on the London Stock Exchange. The new ETFs listed are linked to the following indices:
• iBoxx GBP Gilts Total Return Index - which represents the market for UK government bonds of various maturities denominated in GBP.
• iBoxx UK Gilt Inflation-Linked Total Return Index - which represents the market for inflation linked UK government bonds denominated in GBP.
• iBoxx USD Treasuries Total Return Index - which represents the market for US government bonds of various maturities denominated in USD.
• iBoxx USD Treasuries 1-3 Total Return Index - which represents the market for US government bonds with a maturity of 1-3 years denominated in USD.
• USD IG Inflation Linked Treasuries Total Return Index - which represents the market for inflation linked US government bonds denominated in USD.
• iBoxx Euro Sovereigns Eurozone Total Return Index - which represents the market for Eurozone governments bonds of various maturities denominated in EUR.
The new products are eligible for inclusion in self select Isas and Sipps.
Source: Online News
Vienna Stock Exchange Announces CEE Stock Exchange Group And Launch Of Two New Indices
September 17, 2009--Starting today, the Vienna Stock Exchange and the stock exchanges of Budapest, Ljubljana and Prague belong to the family brand “CEE Stock Exchange Group”. The CEE Stock Exchange Group launches two joint indices: The CEETX – CEESEG Traded Index and the CEESEG Composite.
The CEETX is a capitalization-weighted price index, which is made up of the 25 most actively traded and highest capitalized stocks of the member of the CEE Stock Exchange Group. The index will be calculated and disseminated in real-time in EUR and USD. CEETX is designed as a tradable index. Due to the excellent liquidity of the constituents, the index can be used as underlying for structured products and for standardized derivatives (futures & options).
The CEESEG Composite Index is a capitalization-weighted price index, which is composed of the constituents of the leading share indices of the member of the CEE Stock Exchange Group. Thus, the index comprises the stocks included in the ATX, BUX, PX and SBITOP. The index will be calculated and disseminated in real-time in EUR and USD. The CEESEG Composite Index serves as a representative benchmark for investors and represents the development of the capital markets of the whole group.
As a result of their many years of experience all four Stock Exchanges have gained a strong international standing as global experts in the field of index calculation. Due to the growing demand for financial instruments related to CEE indices, the CEE Stock Exchange Group has joined the forces of all the partners and their respective markets and is now selling worldwide index licences from one source. The Group offers top-level expertise in the fields of index know-how and innovation for the CEE market. Together, the four Exchanges calculate 52 indices (covering the region of CEE, CIS and also China).
With a market capitalisation of EUR128bn the CEE Stock Exchange Group accounts for half of the total market capitalization and with a joint average monthly turnover of 11bn Euro for around two-thirds of equity turnover in the CEE region (July 2009). From one single source, the Group offers both information and easy access to four attractive markets with long-term growth potential. Further information is available on the website www.ceeseg.com
Source: Wiener Borse
Launch of Collateral-Secured Structured Products
September 17, 2009--As of 28 September 2009, it will be possible for the first time to list collateral-secured instruments ”COSI” on SIX Swiss Exchange and trade them on Scoach Switzerland Ltd. Collateral for these instruments is placed with the Exchange, meaning that investors are covered should the issuer become insolvent.
At the initiative of Scoach Switzerland and the Swiss Structured Products Association, SSPA, an innovative service has been developed to minimize issuer risk by means of collateral security. The new service is being offered by SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd and build upon the tried-and-trusted securities lending infrastructure of SIX SIS Ltd and Eurex Zurich Ltd. Collateral security functions via a sophisticated collateralization mechanism which factors in an impartial valuation of the individual structured product, regardless of its issuer.
From the legal viewpoint, structured products are actually bearer bonds. Investors in structured products thus bear a default risk that depends on the creditworthiness of the issuer. The new collateralization service significantly reduces this issuer default risk. It involves the issuer or a designated guarantor depositing liquid securities as collateral with SIX Swiss Exchange. Only selected forms of security (SNB and ECB-eligible bonds, highly liquid equities and cash) are permitted as collateral. The collateral-secured instruments and the corresponding collateral are valued on each banking day. The guarantor is under an obligation to adjust the level of collateral to any changes in the value of the instruments. Should certain liquidation events occur in connection with the anticipated or actual failure of the issuer, the collateral will be realized and the net proceeds paid out pro-rata to the investors. The market risks associated with a structured product are not affected by collateralization and remain in full with the investor.
Bank Vontobel and EFG Financial Products will be launching the first collateralized structured products before the end of September. Further issuers are expected to follow in October.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.six-swiss-exchange.com/admission/cosi/cosi_overview_en.html
Source: SIX Swiss Exchange
Deutsche lists its first fixed income ETFs for UK investors
September 17, 2009--Deutsche Bank’s ETF platform, db x-trackers, is listing six new fixed income ETFs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Investment Week reports.
The products will provide investors with exposure to U.K. gilts, U.S. treasuries and Eurozone sovereign debt.
The new funds are being offered in the U.K. market for the first time.
Source: Online News
Scenario Calculation for German Equity Indices
September 17, 2009-With effect from 21 September 2009, new weightings will apply to companies in the Deutsche Börse equity indices. Deutsche Börse announced the fundamental parameters on Thursday. As announced in August, this follows a new and simplified process. The final weighting based on Friday’s Xetra closing prices will be published on the Deutsche Börse website on Saturday. (www.deutsche-boerse.com/indices)
Infineon will be admitted to DAX®, replacing Hannover Re.
Hannover Re’s share will join MDAX®, while Arcandor is leaving it due to the institution of insolvency proceedings. Aareal Bank will also be admitted to the MDAX and the Hypo Real Estate share will be removed. Moreover, the BayWa share will replace Kuka in the MDAX.
Kuka and Hypo Real Estate's shares will join SDAX®, replacing those of Aareal Bank and BayWa as they move to MDAX.
Dialog Semiconductor, Manz Automation and Drillisch are moving up to TecDAX® and Infineon, Singulus Technologies and Solon will be taken out of it.
Four stocks will be switched in DivDAX® as part of the adjustments. The index will now include K+S, Siemens, Metro and Deutsche Börse. Daimler, Merck, BMW and Deutsche Bank shares will be removed from the DivDAX.
The next equity indices review will be on 3 December 2009.
Further information:
The complete list for all indices can be found at www.deutsche-boerse.com in the section Market Data & Analytics/Indices/Statistics+Analytics/Weightings+Related Values. The final figures will be published in the same place on Saturday.
Source: Deutsche Börse
Deutsche Bank out of talks with ABN
September 17, 2009--Negotiations to buy commercial banking operations from ABN Amro collapse over a failure to agree terms. The breakdown represents a setback to the Dutch government
Fortis, the Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance group which has since been broken up, originally agreed to sell the assets to Deutsche for €709m in July last year.
read full story
Source: FT.com
FTSE drops Iceland from equity benchmarks
September 17, 2009--Iceland on Thursday fell off the global map for investors who track stock market indices when it was dropped from leading equity benchmarks in a further blow to the troubled Nordic
FTSE, the global equity index provider, has removed Iceland from the investable universe that make up its indices following the nosedive in its financial markets after the collapse of its three main banks.
view story
Source: FT.com
European ETF AUM Hit All Time High
Latest data from the ETF Research and Implementation Strategy team at Barclays Global Investors reveals European ETF Assets
have been pushed to an all time high of US$192.1 bn at end August 2009, driven by emerging market and fixed income ETFs.
September 17, 2009-European ETF assets have hit an all time high of US$192.1 bn at the end of August 2009 which is 5.3% above
the previous all time high of US$182.5 bn set in July 2009, and 20.2% above the high of US$159.9 Bn set in July 2008, according to the
latest figures from Barclays Global Investors. The European ETF industry had 751 ETFs with 1,889 listings, assets of US$192.1 bn from 33
providers on 19 exchanges at the end of August 2009. YTD assets have risen by 34.7% which is more than the 21.6% rise in the MSCI Europe
Index in US dollar terms.
Contrasting this to the latest data from Lipper FMI, net inflows to mutual funds (excluding ETFs) were US$60.2 Bn, while net sales of ETFs
were US$15.2 Bn during the first six months of 2009.
Emerging Market equity ETFs have seen the largest increase in assets growing by US$8.8 Bn YTD to reach US$16.3 Bn at the end of August 2009.
ETFs tracking European countries was the next most popular category in terms of absolute US$ growth, rising by US$8.4 Bn to reach US$34.8 Bn, followed by Fixed Income ETFs growing by US$6.1 Bn to reach US$46.9 Bn at the end of August 2009.
Deborah Fuhr, Global Head of ETF Research & Implementation Strategy at BGI said, “The net inflows of US$15.2 Bn in the past six months
shows demand for ETFs is still growing as clients view ETFs as useful tools to help them implement many types of exposures”.
European ETF assets by type of exposure, ranked by AUM, as at end August 2009
Source: ETF Research and Implementation Strategy team, BGI
Deutsche Börse announces price model for the pan-European trading segment
Attractive transaction fees for European equities trading/
Special incentive model for supplying liquidity/
Efficient clearing via Europe’s largest central counterparty, with
settlement in the respective domestic market
September 17, 2009--Deutsche Börse is promoting a price model for its pan-European trading
segment
“Xetra International Market” (XIM) that offers a considerable incentive to
supply liquidity. Xetra participants that place orders and achieve a
certain
percentage of the trading volume in their role as liquidity providers will
receive payment of 0.36 basis points (equivalent to 0.0036 percent) on the
volume executed. For all other orders executed, transaction fees amounting
to 0.12 basis points will be incurred.
0.06 basis points will be payable for
clearing positions.
Of all the trading venues in Europe, Xetra International Market therefore offers the lowest prices for the supply and demand of liquidity. Furthermore, XIM is the only trading platform in Europe offering purely value-based pricing for trading and clearing, i.e. there are no minimum fees.
The new trading segment uses the trusted Xetra infrastructure. Xetra International Market customers therefore benefit not only from the efficiency of one of the leading infrastructures for algorithmic trading on the cash market but also from the security, transparency and integrity that a regulated, monitored and neutral exchange platform with associated clearing provides.
Transactions executed on Xetra International Market will be efficiently offset via Eurex Clearing, Europe’s largest central counterparty. Eurex Clearing is a global leader in risk management standards and eliminates counterparty risk.
Clearstream forms the interface between Eurex Clearing and the domestic markets enabling it to use the latter’s settlement liquidity.
“The top market quality, the price model aimed at competition and the low set-up costs for Xetra participants will provide an excellent springboard for XIM in pan-European blue-chip trading. As hardly any additional costs will be incurred when operating the system, the new trading segment will enable Deutsche Börse to achieve economies of scale on Xetra and in its clearing house. Thus, we are expecting a sustainable business model for Xetra International Market”, said Frank Gerstenschläger, member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG and responsible for the cash market.
Xetra International Market will be launched in several stages. Trading and clearing participants, as well as vendors, have been in the simulation phase for the new segment since the beginning of September. In line with the starting phase the new segment will be up and running as of November, when the entire process chain, right up to settlement in the respective domestic market, will be available.
Until mid January 2010 each of the European markets (France,
Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Finland) will successively be
activated.
Source: Deutsche Boerse
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