Global ETF News Older than One Year
Founder of iShares' capital markets team departs
April 22, 2015--The founder of iShares' capital markets business has left after 15 years,
one of several recent senior changes at the exchange-traded funds provider that include a brace of sales promotions.
Source: Financial News
STOXX Limited And KRX Enter Into MOU
April 22, 2015--STOXX Limited, a leading provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, and The Korea Exchange, Inc. (KRX) today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to create a long-term cooperation between the two companies.
Under the MOU, STOXX and KRX intend to create a long-term business relationship to aid in the development of index projects. Furthermore, the companies will leverage one another's strengths in promoting the other parties indices as underlying for financial products.
"STOXX is honored to enter into this MOU with KRX, which is one of the leading global exchanges," said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited.
Source: STOXX
Basel Committee removes selected national discretions and replies to frequently asked question on funding valuation adjustment
April 21, 2015--The Basel Committee has agreed to remove certain national discretions from the Basel capital framework. National discretion allows countries to adapt the Basel standards to reflect differences in local financial systems.
However, the use of national discretions can also impair comparability across jurisdictions and increase variability in risk-weighted assets.
Source: BIS
IMF-The Elusive Pursuit of Inflation
April 17, 2015--Weak demand culprit for low inflation in advanced economies, panelists say
Signs that unconventional monetary policy is working
Emerging markets need smart policies and robust economies to withstand spillover effects
Having worked for years to tame inflation, the world's central banks are now facing an increasing challenge to reawaken it. In a Spring Meetings seminar, top economists discussed the causes of low inflation, the tools to raise it and implications for global currency movements.
With core inflation in Europe, Japan, and the United States well below their target levels, two out of three central banks are currently expanding quantitative easing and one is signaling a slower exit.
Source: IMF
IMF-Now Is the Time-Fiscal Policies for Sustainable Growth
April 17, 2015--Fiscal risks remain significant in both advanced and emerging market and developing economies. Fiscal policy continues to play an essential role in building confidence and, where appropriate, sustaining aggregate demand.
According to this issue of the Fiscal Monitor, strengthening fiscal frameworks-particularly to manage public finance risks and ensure debt sustainability-must be part of the fiscal policy response. Countries should seize the moment created by lower oil prices to start the process of energy taxation and energy subsidy reform. Finally, fiscal policy can contribute substantially to macroeconomic stability, through the workings of automatic stabilizers. By doing so, fiscal policy can also unlock significant growth dividends.
view the IMF-Now Is the Time-Fiscal Policies for Sustainable Growth
Source: IMF
DECPG Global Weekly- April 17, 2015
April 17, 2015--Taking Stock
Oil prices declined after a 6-day gain. Oil prices dropped for the first time in six days on Thursday and continued to fall early Friday as Saudi Arabia boosted its crude oil production to the highest level in three decades in March, adding to a global supply
glut.
Since closing at a 6-year low of $43.86 a barrel on March 17, the U.S. oil price had previously rallied on expectations that a drop in the number of active U.S. oil rigs may lead to a production slowdown that may ease the global surplus.
U.S. retail sales rose while industrial production fell. U.S. retail sales rose 0.9 (m/m) in March, the largest increase in a year, but still less than expected, following a revised 0.5 percent decline in February. The increase was partly due to a substantial rebound in sales of motor vehicles and parts. Meanwhile, industrial production declined 0.6 percent (m/m) in March, more than expected, as utilities output fell steeply.
Source: World Bank
ETF Securities Precious Metals Quarterly-Q1 2015-Gold Remains Resilient Facing Increasing Uncertainty
April 16, 2015--Gold remained unchanged despite anticipated Federal Reserve (Fed) tightening and the strong US dollar.
The correlation between Fed Funds futures and gold neared the highest ever.
Silver was the best performer1 staying unusually calm in the face of a spike in currency volatility.
Platinum and palladium appear fundamentally undervalued.
Precious metals were the best performing commodity sector2 in Q1.
Source: ETF Securities Research
Revealed: the Digital Poverty Holding Back Global Growth and Development
April 15, 2015--The Global Information Technology Report 2015 finds a growing digital divide within and across countries, with the full economic and social benefits of the internet only available to a minority of the world's population
Many countries are failing to implement basic reforms that could increase productivity, boost economic growth and raise living standards
Singapore tops the world ranking of network-ready countries in 2015; the United States and Japan are the only other non-European countries in the top 10
The world's developing and emerging economies are failing to exploit the potential of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to drive social and economic transformation and catch up with more advanced nations, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2015, published today.
Data from the report's Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which measures 143 economies in terms of their capacity to prepare for, use and leverage ICTs, suggest that the gap between the best and worst performing economies is widening.
view the report-The Global Information Technology Report 2015
Source: WEF (world Economic Forum)
World Bank-World Development Indicators 2015
April 15, 2015--The year 2015 is when the world aimed to achieve many of the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals.
Some have been met. The rate of extreme poverty and the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water were both halved between 1990 and 2010, five years ahead of schedule.
But some targets have not been achieved, and the aggregates used to measure global trends can mask the uneven progress in some regions and countries.view the report-World Development Indicators 2015
Source: World Bank
IMF Global Financial Stability Report
April 15, 2015--April 2015: Global financial stability risks have risen since October. Chapter 1 finds that these risks have also been pivoting away from banks to shadow banks, from solvency to market liquidity risks, and from advanced economies to emerging markets. In advanced economies, the key challenge is to enhance the traction of accommodative monetary policies, ensure a smooth normalization of monetary policy in the United States, and manage the undesirable side effects of low interest rates.
Emerging markets must address their own domestic financial vulnerabilities from weaker growth, lower commodity prices, and a stronger dollar, while strengthening their resilience to the changing global environment.
Chapters 2 and 3 examine developments in international banking and the potential risks stemming from the financial management industry. Analyzing developments since the global financial crisis, Chapter 2 highlights a shift from direct cross-border lending to local lending by foreign banks’ affiliates.
Source: IMF
