FiNETIK – Asia and Latin America – Market News Network

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March 30, 2011 • 9:45 pm 0

Metabit Expands Asian Trade Connectivity

Tokyo/Hong Kong, 29 March 2011: In the past year, Tokyo-based Metabit has concentrated on building its connectivity across Asia.  The company aims to be the local face of execution destinations in Asia and over the past eight months, it has added an extra 13 domestic DMA destinations, expanding domestic and cross-border access to Asian markets.

“Metabit is at the heart of  connectivity in Asia” comments Daniel Burgin, CEO of Metabit, “not just for providing access to Asia for global players, but also in particular for the local and domestic  industry in this region.”

“For example, in India we have 20 execution destinations of which 10 are domestic Indian brokers.  We are similarly successful with increased connectivity in other countries such as Korea and Taiwan.”

Overall, Metabit’s trading access has been extended to many markets ranging from Indonesia to Pakistan and Mainland China to Australia.  The company now has access to over 250 execution destinations, across all active DMA markets in Asia, including Japan.

“We want to maximise connectivity to and within Asia for our client base, who can directly access all execution destinations across the major and emerging markets in Asia either through Metabit’s intuitive XiliX trading platform, or through our MLH via a single FIX connection.”

Burgin adds a final comment, “Situated where we are in Tokyo, with offices in Hong Kong, Dalian and Sydney, we understand the needs of Asia market players, whether they want to trade globally or locally. You could say the mindset of Asia is in our blood – we think Asia, so our clients can trade Asia.”

About Metabit

Uniquely placed in Asia, with global experience and a real knowledge of Asian markets, Metabit provides the technology and support to help clients trade and connect effortlessly and efficiently.  The company delivers an intuitive trading platform that encompasses a well-established trading community and unrivalled exchange connectivity solutions.

Metabit provides ultra low latency DMA trading solutions for Asian markets, serving buy side and sell side clients.  It specialises in comprehensive compliance controls, whilst reducing transaction times and facilitating trading opportunities across all major markets across 14 Asian countries, including Japan.

Metabit’s flagship solutions are XiliX intuitive buy side trading platform and MLH a vendor neutral Market Liquidity Hub.  Alpha provides ultra-low latency exchange connectivity and Exsim simulates Asian and Japanese exchanges.  All Metabit’s products are powered by the CameronFIX engine.

Source: Metabit, 29.03.2011

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Thailand, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 22, 2011 • 1:02 am 0

Mexico exchange lists first REIT after delays

Local pension funds took big stakes

MEXICO CITY, March 21 (Reuters) – Mexico‘s stock exchange listed the country’s first real estate investment trust last week, allowing investors to make big bets on the local property market.

The sale of shares in the first real estate investment trust (REIT) in Mexico came after years of frustration that saw the current deal stumble last month before finally reaching investors.

If Mexico’s REITs prove to be successful, the securities could give local property markets a big capital injection.

Fibra UNO (FUNO11.MX), the maiden REIT named for its acronym in Spanish, was rebuffed in February by investors unwilling to pay the asking price, but the deal was retooled and listed on the local exchange on Thursday.

“Mexico is taking on a new life, becoming more dynamic,” Luis Tellez, head of the Mexican Stock Exchange (BOLSAA.MX), told Reuters shortly after the security was listed.

Mexico financial markets are not as vibrant as those in Brazil where REITs have deep roots but Tellez said this week’s REIT listing was a sign of things to come.

“We are not at the level of Brazil but we are much more dynamic than we were,” he said.

The REIT sold roughly $300 million worth of shares with about a third bought by foreigners and the rest by domestic investors. The February book was roughly split between foreign and domestic investors.

Investors took hold of 43.7 percent of the trust – or 185,385,543 shares valued at 19.5 Mexican pesos each. The fund will hold a basket of 16 properties located in several states across the country.

REITs are seen as an efficient way to inject capital into property markets because they spread the risk and costs of long-term building projects across many tradeable shares.

Mexico’s 15 private pensions and their $115 billion in assets are likely to continue to be a source of funding for REIT investments. For an analysis on the Mexico pension funds and REIT

REIT AND RE-REIT

The local advisors behind the deal, Protego Asesores, went back to the drawing board after the first offer was rejected and eventually enticed investors with a 10 percent discount.

The property owners also agreed to swap some of their properties for equity in the REIT rather than get paid in cash, as another way to smooth the deal, Protego Asesores said.

Turmoil in North Africa and the earthquake in Japan made this a difficult time for the deal but the advisors wanted to conclude it quickly to put an end to 18-months of work.

“We’ve always said that the real estate market in Mexico cannot grow as it should without investment from the private market,” said Augusto Arellano, director of Protego Asesores.

“You cannot have healthy real estate growth if you simply rely on private funding, and we knew that was on our side.”

Source: Reuters 21.03.2011 by Patrick Rucker, additional reporting by Michael O’Boyle, Elinor Comlay

Filed under: BMV - Mexico, Exchanges, Latin America, Mexico, News, , , , , , ,

March 21, 2011 • 1:48 am 0

Webinar: Road to Brazil – DMA to BM&FBOVESP March 23, 2011

Join us for this interactive webinar on Wednesday, March 23rd to learn more about why BM&FBovespa is to become more than simply the largest exchange in Latin America.  As Direct Market Access technology has improved, co-location facilities have been set in place. As regulations for foreign investors become more attractive and commodity prices are soaring, trading firms from the US, Europe and Asia are seeking to access and trade Brazil.

Also, hear from our speakers why Brazil has been so successful in the past and how market participants are ramping up their offering to fully profit from Direct Market Access opportunities.

Key Topics will include:

  • Why Brazil?
  • Technology: Type of Market Access, Connectivity, Co-location and Trading Systems
  • Costs of Trading: Accounts, Regulation, Taxes, Custodian, Clearing and Settlement
  • Timeline and Key Milestones

Our webinar will be moderated by Chris Hall, Editor of THE TRADE.

Panelist will include:
 Lucy Pamboukdjian, International Business Development Manager, BM&FBovespa
Sergio Parodi, Market Data & DMA Team Leader,  BM&FBovespa
Evandro dos Reis, Jr., Director, Co-head Latin America, Clearing & PTG, Newedge Group
Timo Pentner, Managing Director, RTS Realtime Systems

Wednesday, March 23rd
11:00 am Chicago
12:00 am New York
1:00 pm Sao Paulo
4:00 pm London
5:00 pm Frankfurt

Filed under: BM&FBOVESPA, Brazil, Events, Exchanges, FIX Connectivity, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 21, 2011 • 1:37 am 0

Brazil: BVMF (BM&FBOVESPA) – News March 2011, Nr 24

BVMF March 2011 – Complete Report 

“Think London” includes BM&FBOVESPA as one of top 100 companies to watch in 2011
The Brazilian exchange was selected as an “Intelligent Optimiser” among the groups that Think London believes will come to define London’s role in the global economy.
BM&FBOVESPA and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation launch Index for the Real Estate Sector
The objective is to become a profitability reference for commercial real estate, contributing greater transparency to investors as regards price formation for buying, selling and rental.
BM&FBOVESPA has new trading hours as of March 14
BM&FBOVESPA announces its new trading hours for the equity and derivative markets, due to the end of daylight saving time in Brazil and its onset in the United States.
BM&FBOVESPA announces new selection process for Unsponsored Level 1 BDRs
The winner will issue 10 BDR programs that represent stocks issued by publicly-traded companies with headquarters overseas.
BM&FBOVESPA posts records for Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) in February
BM&FBOVESPA Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) had a record 33,804 trades in February, up 76.8% on the 19,120 of January and from a previous record of 30,059 in December 2010.
More than USD 2 billion of public offering and follow-ons in 2011
To March 10, BM&FBOVESPA registered more than USD 2 billion in public offerings and follow-ons.
2011 EVENTS
Join BM&FBOVESPA in the 2011 events
Volumes and trades by Direct Market Access (DMA)
BOVESPA Segment (Equities)
In February, BOVESPA* market segment transactions carried out through DMA via co-location registered a record financial volume of BRL 4,221,936,000.00 and a record 697,943 trades.
BM&F Segment (Derivatives)
In February, BM&F* market segment transactions carried out through order routing via DMA registered 21,597,076 contracts traded and 2,659,274 trades.
MARKET RESULTS
BM&F Segment 2010 (derivatives)
In February, derivatives markets in the BM&F segment (including financial and commodities derivatives) totaled 56,375,869 contracts.
BOVESPA Segment 2010 (equities)
In February 2011, equity markets (Bovespa segment) traded BRL 145.67 billion, in a record 10,897,755 trades, with daily averages of BRL 7.28 billion and 544,888 trades.

Filed under: BM&FBOVESPA, Brazil, Exchanges, Latin America, News, , , , ,

March 17, 2011 • 12:42 am 0

Data and Disaster: The Role of Data in the Financial Crisis

Motivation: Since 2007 a global financial crisis has been unfolding. The crisis was initially caused by defaults on subprime loans, aided and abetted by pools of asset-backed securities and credit derivatives, but corporate defaults, such as that of Lehman Brothers, and outright fraud have also contributed to the crisis. Little research has been published investigating the role of data issues in various aspects of the financial crisis. In this paper we illustrate how data that was available to underwriters, credit agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and fund managers could have been used to detect the problems that led to the financial crisis.

Francis_Prevosto: Data and Disaster: The Role of Data in the Financial Crisis

Method: In this paper we show that data quality played a significant role in the mispricing and business intelligence errors that caused the crisis. We utilize a number of relatively simple statistics to illustrate the due diligence that should have, but was not performed. We use the Madoff fraud and the mortgage meltdown as data quality case studies. We apply simple exploratory procedures to illustrate simple techniques that could have been used to detect problems. We also illustrate some modeling methods that could have been used to help underwrite mortgages and find indications of fraud.

Results: In both the Madoff fraud and the mortgage crisis a number of statistical tests could have been applied to uncover fraud and to provide a warning of the deterioration of the quality of mortgages underwritten.

Conclusions: Data quality issues made a significant contribution to the global financial crisis.

Source: Casulty Actuarial  Society, May 2010

Filed under: Data Management, News, Reference Data, Risk Management, Standards, , , , , , , ,

March 12, 2011 • 1:58 am 0

ETF Landscape: Industry Highlights de February/Febrero 2011 – En/Sp – BlackRock

ETF – 02.2011 Report/Reporte

English

At the end of February 2011, the global ETF industry had 2,557 ETFs with 5,802 listings and assets of US$1,367.4 Bn, from 140 providers on 48 exchanges around the world. This compares to 2,091 ETFs with 3,998 listings and assets of US$1,001.9 Bn from 115 providers on 40  exchanges, at the end of February 2010.

We expect global AUM in ETFs and ETPs1to increase by 20–30% annually over the next three years, taking the global ETF/ETP industry to approximately US$2 trillion in AUM by early 2012. Considering ETFs separately, AUM should reach US$2 trillion globally by the end of 2012, US$1 trillion in the United States in 2011 and US$500 billion inEurope in 2013.

Taking ETFs and ETPs together, United States AUM should reach US$2 trillion in 2013, with European AUM reaching US$500 billion in 2012.

In Latin America, the ETF sector remains with 26 ETFs, 365 listings and assets of USD $10.2 billion of four providers on three Exchanges. Compares 20 ETS, 223 listings and assests of USD$ 9.3 billions and three providers  at three exchanges in february 2010.

Español:

El reporte ETF Landscape: Industry Highlights da a conocer la situación de los Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) y Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) en el mes de febrero.

Se espera que los activos globales bajo administración de los ETFs y ETPs se incrementen de 20 a 30% anualmente durante los próximos tres años, llegando a aproximadamente USD $2 billones (trillion dollars) a principios de 2012.  A escala global, el sector de ETFs tuvo 2,557 ETFs con 5,802 listados y activos por USD $1,367.4 millones, de 140 proveedores en 48 mercados bursátiles en el mundo a finales de febrero de 2011, comparado con 2,091 ETFs con 3,998 listados y activos por USD $1,001.9 millones de 115 proveedores en 40 mercados a fines del mismo periodo del año pasado.

En Latinoamérica el sector de ETFs permanece con 26 ETFs, 365 listados y activos por USD $10.2 mil millones, de cuatro proveedores en tres bolsas, comparado con 20 ETFs, 223 listados y activos por USD$9.3 mil millones de tres proveedores en tres mercados a fines de febrero de 2010.

Source:BlackRock, March 10, 2011

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, News, Services, Singapore, , , , , , , , , , ,

March 5, 2011 • 9:45 am 0

Brazil – Increasing Risks Might Harm Markets- Monthly Allocation – March 2011

Political tension and increasing international commodity prices

We have seen the rise of commodities prices as a risk of inflation, which ultimately would pose a risk to interest rates. Rising inflation, pushed by costs that would then cause interest rate increases, is unwanted while economic activity does not pick up. Additionally, tensions in North African countries have sent oil prices up as well, which reinforces the scenario of an increase in costs.  Brazil – Monthly Allocation – March 2011

The tension in North African countries is likely to be the dominant international event during March. Following the movement started in Egypt, which led to the fall of a long established dictatorship, other countries, with similar political structures, have started having protests, with unpredictable outcomes.

In China, the celebrations of the local New Year halted release of economic data. However, from the data so far released, we see unchanged risks and believe the country suffers from the increase in commodities prices, as does the rest of the world.

Apart from these political and commodities problems, indicators continue to point to an improving economic activity for the US and Europe, although still at a slow pace.

Local risks still relate to inflation

If the political tension does not deteriorate much further, we believe that local problems in Brazil will dominate the mood of investors. The main local ST risks we see are the still unknown extent of the inflation surge and the efficiency of the measures taken.

After the initial optimism at the beginning of the year, we continue to see a deterioration of expectations, which should continue until the wave of price increases comes under control. Additional to these price increases, the minimum wage, an additional important price, is about to be formally indexed. The approval of this year’s minimum wage comes together with a formula for automatic future adjustments, which formalizes a hitherto informal methodology. With this measure, the government reinforces the need to control other sources of inflation. These include other possible budget costs, the increase in interest rates, credit expansion, etc.

The Government has attempted to control inflation through a reduction of economic activity. The risk here is that the measures may cause an excessive economic slowdown and, for instance, bringing GDP growth below 4% this year (while current expectations are of a GDP around 4.5%).

With this scenario, we have changed our portfolio to make it more defensive, more linked to inflation-adjusted revenue companies and less dependent on companies related to credit and GDP growth. We have included HRT with a weight of 5%, and increased Eletropaulo’s weight (to 10 from 5%). We have also reduced the weight of MRV (to 5% from 10%) and withdrawn Hering.

Source: BANIF, 01.03.2011

 

Filed under: Brazil, Latin America, News, , , , , , , , , , ,

March 3, 2011 • 9:15 am 0

ICE Futures Europe approved for Brazil screens

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, has announced the authorisation by Brazil’s financial regulator, the Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios (CVM), to provide access to ICE Futures Europe products via ICE’s trading screens in Brazil.

Direct access and Membership will be restricted to intermediary firms authorized by the CVM, and those accessing ICE Futures Europe’s electronic markets as clients may only do so if they are qualified investors and are executing via an approved Brazilian intermediary. ICE Futures U.S. has been approved to provide screen-based access to its markets in Brazil since October 2009.

Said David Peniket, President and COO of ICE Futures Europe: “We continue to pursue new jurisdictions to broaden our customer base and to access new markets. Brazil is one of the world’s most dynamic economies and an increasingly important producer of crude oil. We are delighted to be able to respond to demand for ICE products, particularly given the increased reliance on the benchmark ICE Brent Crude Oil futures contract.”

Source: Automated Trade, 03.03.2011

Filed under: Brazil, Exchanges, Latin America, , , , , , , ,

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