Global ETF News Older than One Year
Emerging Markets Dump Euro Reserves
March 31, 2013--The euro's challenge to the international status of the U.S. dollar has been set back a generation as new data shows developing countries dumping the European currency from their official reserves.
Central banks in developing countries sold €45 billion of euros in 2012, according to data compiled by the International Monetary Fund, cutting their holdings of the currency by 8 percent.
Source: CNBC
Global economy is improving but Europe lags behind, says OECD
March 28, 2013--Global economic activity is picking up, but the continuing crisis in the euro area is delaying a meaningful recovery, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Assessment.
The Assessment, presented in Paris by Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan, says that the G7 economies are expected to grow at an annualised 2.4 per cent rate in the first quarter of 2013 and at a 1.8 percent rate in the second. It notes that financial markets are out-pacing real activity, which has been held back by weak business and consumer confidence, and highlights the risk that asset prices may rise beyond levels justified by fundamentals.
view the OECD Interim Economic Assessment
Source: OECD
Create Your Better Life Index
March 27, 2013-The Better Life Index allows citizens to compare well-being across 36 countries based on 11 dimensions in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life.
The updated version integrates data on gender and inequality and strengthens existing topics.
Source: OECD
Basel Committee issues consultative document on recognising the cost of credit protection purchased
March 22, 2013-- Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has today published a proposal that would strengthen capital requirements when banks engage in certain high-cost credit protection transactions.
The Committee has previously expressed concerns about potential regulatory capital arbitrage related to certain credit protection transactions. At that time it noted that it would continue to monitor developments with respect to such transactions and would consider imposing a globally harmonised minimum capital Pillar 1 requirement if necessary. After further consideration, the Committee decided to move forward with a more comprehensive Pillar 1 proposal.
Source: BIS
IOSCO Consults on Regulatory Issues Raised by Changes in Market Structure
March 21, 2013--The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published today a Consultation Report on Regulatory Issues Raised by Changes in Market Structure, which identifies possible outstanding issues and risks posed by existing or developing market structures.
It also provides recommendations to address these potential risks.
At its summit meeting in 2010, the G20 requested that IOSCO 'develop recommendations to promote markets' integrity and efficiency to mitigate the risks posed to the financial system by the latest technological developments.” This consultation report forms part of IOSCO´s response to that request.
view the Regulatory Issues Raised by Changes in Market Structure-Consultation Report
Source: IOSCO
Happiness is...
March 20, 2013--"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"-so wrote Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy at the start of his novel Anna Karenina in 1873. It is clearly a thought that resonates with people as it is one of the most quoted lines from the author.
But is it really true? Or are we all, as human beings, in fact happy in our own individual way? And if so, how can governments capture how we feel to guide their policy making?
An important question to ponder as we celebrate the world’s first “International Day of Happiness” on March 20, 2013. The economic, financial and social crisis that erupted in 2008 has led people to question the fundamental underpinnings of our societies and how they are governed. The discovery that the preceding boom years, far from benefiting everyone, in fact saw a widening gap between rich and poor in our societies, helped feed the idea that GDP is not an adequate measure of success in modern societies.
view the OECD report-OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being
Source: OECD
NASDAQ OMX Announces New CEO of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn
March 19, 2013--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announces that the Supervisory Council of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn approved Rauno Klettenberg as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn.
Mr. Klettenberg will serve as CEO of NASDAQ OMX Tallinn beginning on April 8, 2013. NASDAQ OMX Tallinn operates the main stock exchange in Estonia and owns the Estonian Central Securities Depository (CSD), where he will act as the Chairman of the Supervisory Council.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
BIS-March 2013 Quarterly Review: Markets grow confident on continued support
March 18, 2013--Market participants' renewed sense of optimism has accompanied further policy accommodation, but macroeconomic performance is lagging behind.
In the third quarter of 2012, BIS reporting banks posted their smallest increase in cross-border claims in 13 years. They increased their crossborder claims on non-banks located in the United States but cut their exposure to banks in the euro area.
Inflation expectations returned to pre-crisis levels as central banks started to implement asset purchase programmes in late 2008 and early 2009. But further analysis suggests that these programmes were probably not the main driver of these shifts.
Measures of financial conditions can improve our ability to explain movements in output, but they provide only limited information about future inflation.
Source: BIS
BNY Mellon expands global derivatives clearing team
Regulatory and market changes driving renewed demand for new services
March 18, 2013--BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, today announced it has expanded its global derivatives clearing leadership team with five new appointments in the United States and Europe.
Mark B. Gonzalez has been appointed as the US Chief Operating Officer for derivatives clearing services, based in New York.
Source: BNY Mellon
Innovation drives next generation of indices
March 18, 2013--If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Variously attributed to Albert Einstein, Mark Twain and Henry Ford, this aphorism is increasingly being adopted by the exchange-traded fund industry.
Innovation drives next generation of indices
In a world where it has become increasingly difficult to generate spectacular investment returns, innovation will play an important role in the years to come, according to index providers.
Source: Financial News
