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December 7, 2011 • 11:36 pm 0

NYSE Technologies extends CameronTec FIX enginee relationship in Asia Infrastructure

 CameronTec, the global financial industry’s long-standing provider of FIX infrastructure and connectivity solutions and wholly owned subsidiary of Orc Group (SSE: ORC), today announced an agreement with NYSE Technologies to continue providing the CameronFIX and Catalys technologies for its Asian operations.  Signed in August, the agreement also covers reseller rights for CameronTec products in Japan and is based on CameronTec’s licensing subscription model.

NYSE Technologies recently acquired Metabit, the Tokyo-based provider of high performance market access products that includes a trading community of more than 140 trading firms throughout Japan and Asia.  Continuing the existing relationship between Metabit and CameronTec, CameronFIX has powered many of Metabit’s valued market assets and solutions since 2002.

“Japan and Asia are key priorities for NYSE Technologies and our global customers.  Our products are built in Asia for the local market and CameronFIX has been an important part of that strategic offering since 2002,” said Daniel Bürgin, Head of Asia Pacific, NYSE Technologies. “As a new product line within NYSE Technologies, Metabit will continue to work with CameronTec to provide high performance connectivity to Japan’s exchanges while offering local market participants access to and support for Cameron’s suite of solutions.”

“We are especially pleased to be working alongside NYSE Technologies to continue to deliver FIX technology as part of the Metabit product suite and have them support our products throughout such a critical market as Japan,” says Anders Henriksson, CEO, CameronTec. “CameronTec is continuously working to improve the standard in FIX infrastructure and to provide our markets with cutting edge innovation for which we are renowned. These developments are a further demonstration that CameronTec continues to lead the industry in FIX innovation.”

At the core of CameronTec technology is a unique understanding of the FIX world that comes from a concentration of the world’s largest FIX deployments. With a host of industry-firsts, Catalys and CameronFIX technology provide unprecedented levels of flexibility and innovation that firms need to sustainably differentiate in today’s markets.

Source: NYSE Technologies, 07.12.2011

Filed under: Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, , , , , , , , , , ,

October 19, 2011 • 9:16 am 0

Brazil: BM&FBOVESPA – News October 2011 – Nr.21

BRIC exchanges announce alliance

The exchanges of the BRIC emerging markets bloc announced a joint initiative on October 12, during the 51st AGM of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in Johannesburg, to offer investors access to their dynamic economies. Initially the exchanges – which accounted for over 18% of all exchange-listed derivative contracts traded by volume worldwide as of June this year – will cross-list benchmark equity index derivatives on the boards of other alliance members. Following this, the alliance will develop innovative products to track the BRIC exchanges.

The seven exchanges are:

  • BM&FBOVESPA – Brazil
  • MICEX – Russia
  • RTS – Russia
  • Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) – China
  • Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) – South Africa
  • The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) – India
  • BSE Ltd (formerly known as Bombay Stock Exchange) – India

These seven exchanges represent a combined listed market capitalization of USD9.02 trillion, equitymarket trading value/month of USD422 billion and 9,481 companies listed.

BM&FBOVESPA new trading hours

In view of the start of daylight saving time on October 16, 2011, since October 17, 2011, the new trading hours (Brasília Time) for the BM&FBOVESPA markets – BOVESPA and BM&F segments – will be as follows:

Regular session: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

- After-Market: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (pre-opening phase to trading phase);

- Blocking / Exercise on the stock options market
Days prior to expiration: 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (exercise of holder position).
Expiration date: 11:00a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – trading of the expired series to the offset of the position, that is, the sale for the holder of the position and purchase for blocking for the writer of the position / 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: exercise of the holder position;

- Blocking / Exercise on the Index Options Market:
Days prior to expiration: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (exercise of holder position).
Expiration date: 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – trading of the expired series to the offset of the position, that is sale for the holder of the position and purchase for blocking for the writer of the position / After 6:00 p.m. – automatic exercise of the expired series which fit the following situations: call option (settlement index higher than the exercise price; and put option (settlement index lower than the exercise price).

- Over-the-Counter Market: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

> Complete information of the new trading hours (Circular Letters 009-2011-DO-Ofício Circular)

The trading hours for the BOVESPA and BM&F segments are available at this link

Market Makers for Options on the Stock of Banco Bradesco, Gerdau and Banco do Brasil

BM&FBOVESPA announced on August 3rd the start of the bidding process to select up to three market makers for options on stock of Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBDC4), Gerdau S.A. (GGBR4) and Banco do Brasil S.A. (BBAS3). This is the third stage of the Competitive Bidding Process to select market makers in equity options and BOVESPA Index (Ibovespa) options, developed by BM&FBOVESPA. The institutions (including nonresident) that wish to participate have until November 29, 2011 to deliver proposals and the winners will be announced on December 14, 2011.

> More info

Market Makers for Options on Ibovespa and on Stocks of BM&FBOVESPA and Usiminas

BM&FBOVESPA announced on October 11 the winning institutions in the second selection process for market makers for options on stocks and on the BOVESPA Index (Ibovespa). The market maker obligation shall last twelve (12) months as of December 12, 2011. Banco Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Banco Itaú BBA S.A. and Timber Hill LLC shall be market makers for options on the BOVESPA Index (IBOV), complying with a maximum volatility spread of half a percentage point (0.5%). The institutions selected for options on stocks in BM&FBOVESPA S.A. (BVMF3) were Citadel Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Morgan Stanley Uruguay Ltda, which shall be market makers complying with a maximum volatility spread of four percent (4%). Meanwhile, the institutions selected for options on stocks in Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. (USIM5) were Banco BTG Pactual S.A. and Morgan Stanley Uruguay Ltda, which shall be market makers complying with a maximum volatility spread of twenty percent (20%).

> More info

Options on OGX Petróleo and Itaú Unibanco rise with Market Maker activity

The trading volume for options on the stocks of OGX Petróleo and Itaú Unibanco rose significantly in September, strongly influenced by the fact that they have had Market Makers since September 9. The Exchange launched the Market Maker program for stocks this year in order to encourage trading in options and increase their liquidity, as well as to stimulate longer expiries on these contracts. Options on the stocks of OGX Petróleo and Itaú Unibanco now have three Market Makers.

Comparing the average daily volume in September to that of January to August, there were the following increases: OGX Petróleo ON 51.9% (BRL 13.7 million against BRL 20.8 million) and Itaú Unibanco PN 205.6% (BRL 1.7 million against BRL 5.1 million).

ETF financial volume more than doubles in the past two months

BM&FBOVESPA Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) reached BRL 1.4 billion financial volume in August and September, at 78,809 and 75,740 trades respectively. This is more than double the BRL 668 million financial volume and 31,997 trades in July.

Common Shares in Desenvix Energias Renováveis start trading on BOVESPA MAIS

The shares of electricity company Desenvix Energias Renováveis S.A. begin to be traded on October 3 on the BOVESPA MAIS segment of the BM&FBOVESPA Organized OTC Market, under the DVIX3M ticker symbol.

USD11 billion in public offerings and follow-ons in 2011

In the year to October, 15, BM&FBOVESPA registered USD11 billion in public offerings and follow-ons. There were eleven Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in 2011: AREZZO&CO (ARZZ3), SIERRA BRASIL (SSBR3), AUTOMETAL (AUTM3), QGEP PART (QGEP3), IMC HOLDING (IMCH3), TIME FOR FUN (SHOW3), MAGAZINE LUIZA (MGLU3), BR PHARMA (BPHA3), QUALICORP (QUAL3), TECHNOS (TECN3) and ABRIL EDUCAÇÃO (ABRE11).

BM&FBOVESPA on Twitter

BM&FBOVESPA launched its Twitter account in English last week. Please access this link

2011 EVENTS

 The World Cup of ETFs and Indexing Latin America

BM&FBOVESPA is lending its support to the World Research Group’s “World Cup of ETFs and Indexing Latin America.” The event aims at providing attendees with the best practices for ETF use, as well as a comprehensive analysis of market structure, regulations and current and future opportunities. The expected audience includes pension funds, hedge fund managers and investors, investment advisors, financial consultants, and other market participants. A BM&FBOVESPA representative will talk about the Exchange’s ETF products.

Location: São Paulo (TBC)
Date: October 17-18, 2011.
> Full Agenda and Registration

2nd FX Growth Markets Series: Brazil – Profit & Loss

BM&FBOVESPA will join the Profit & Loss FX Growth Markets conference on October 20, 2011 at the Tivoli Hotel in São Paulo. Profit & Loss has been operating its highly successful series of Forex Network and FX Growth Markets conferences for more than 10 years, with regular annual events held in London, New York, Chicago, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Shanghai and Toronto, and comes to Brazil for the second time. A BM&FBOVESPA representative will talk at the event.

Location: Tivoli Hotel São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Date: October 20, 2011.
> Full Agenda

2nd Brazil–China Capital Markets Forum

BM&FBOVESPA and the Shanghai Stock Exchange are coordinating the Second Brazil–China Capital Markets Forum. This event follows the First Brazil–China Capital Markets Forum, which occurred in February in São Paulo, Brazil. At the event, the Shanghai Stock Exchange shall bring 300 to 500 Chinese asset and insurance managers and representatives of listed companies.

Location: Xijiao State Guest House Shanghai, China
Date: October 27, 2011.

Volumes and trades by Direct Market Access (DMA)

BM&F Segment
In September, BM&F* market segment transactions carried out through order routing via Direct Market Access (DMA) registered 35,144,357 contracts traded and 4,311,865 trades. In August, the volume reached 41,417,494 contracts traded and 4,431,750 trades.

The volumes registered by each access modality in the BM&F segment were as follows:

  • Traditional DMA – 12,583,334 contracts traded, in 1,366,264 trades, in comparison to 17,540,231 contracts and 1,306,241 trades in August;
  • Via DMA provider (including orders routed via the Globex System) – 13,976,949 contracts traded, in 374,992 trades, compared to 14,088,756 contracts and 435,281 trades in August;
  • DMA via direct connection – 2,636 contracts traded in 447 trades, against 4,210 contracts and 830 trades in August;
  • DMA via co-location – 8,581,438 contracts traded, in 2,570,162 trades, compared to 9,784,297 contracts and 2,689,398 trades in August.

In September, transactions carried out by foreign investors presented by CME to BVMF (who use the Globex-GTS order routing system or access BVMF markets via co-location) totaled 4,685,186 contracts traded, in 1,164,510 trades, compared to 5,308,308 contracts and 1,235,349 trades in August.

BOVESPA Segment
In September, order routing via DMA in the BOVESPA* segment totaled BRL 111.41 billion and 14,298,483 trades, from BRL 138.52 billion and 17,021,408 trades the previous month.

Trading volumes per type of DMA in the BOVESPA segment:

  • Traditional DMA – Volume of BRL 95.77 billion and 11,763,618 trades from BRL 120.45 billion and 14,098,638 in August;
  • DMA via co-location – Volume of BRL 14.29 billion and 2,357,270 trades from BRL 16.69 billion and 2,755,498 in August;
  • DMA via provider – Volume of BRL 1.34 billion and 177,044 trades from BRL 1.37 billion and 167,272 in August.

* Direct access to the BM&FBOVESPA market segments is carried out through DMA models 1, 2, 3 and 4. In model 1 or traditional DMA, the client accesses the GTS or Mega Bolsa through technological intermediation of a brokerage house. In model 2 or via DMA provider, the client does not use the technological intermediation of a brokerage house, but rather connects to the system through an authorized access provider. DMA via order routing with CME Globex is also a form of DMA model 2. In model 3, the client connects to the system through a direct connection. In model 4 or via co-location, the client installs its own computer within the Exchange’s facilities.

Notes:

The volumes registered by access modality include both buy and sell sides of a trade.

The volumes by access modality for both the BM&F and the BOVESPA market segments have been reported in a consolidated manner in the BM&FBOVESPA statements since May 2009.

MARKET RESULTS

BM&F Segment September 2011

Derivatives markets in the BM&F segment (including financial and commodities derivatives) totaled 59,365,524 contracts and BRL 4.35 trillion in volume in September, compared to 78,606,873 contracts and BRL 5.23 trillion in August. The daily average of contracts traded in the derivatives markets in September was 2,826,930, in contrast to 3,417,690 in August. Open interest contracts ended the last trading day of September with 36,620,797 positions, compared to 37,821,302 in August.

BOVESPA Segment September 2011

In September 2011, the equity markets (BOVESPA segment) financial volume totaled BRL 131.437 billion, in 13,551,487 trades, with daily averages of BRL 6.25 billion and 645,309 trades. In August, financial volume totaled BRL 177.906 billion, the total number of trades 16,234,673, and the daily averages BRL 7.73 billion and 705,855 trades respectively.

Source: BM&FBOVESPA, 18.10.2011

Filed under: BM&FBOVESPA, Brazil, China, Events, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 15, 2011 • 11:03 pm 0

Brazil: BRIC exchanges form alliance

The exchanges of the Brics emerging markets bloc have announced plans to form an alliance in cross-listing and to expose foreign investors to their dynamic economies and to increase the liquidity of their trading venues (Brazil, Russia, India, Hong Kong (China), South Africa)

This initiative was announced at the 51st AGM of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in Johannesburg.

The initiative brings together BM&FBOVESPA from Brazil, MICEX from Russia (currently merging with RTS Stock Exchange), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx, China) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from South Africa. The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the BSE Ltd (India) have signed letters of support and will join the alliance after finalizing outstanding requirements.

At the first stage of this project the exchanges will begin cross-listing of financial derivatives on their benchmark equity indices. It is planned to launch cross-listed products by June 2012.

“Global investors are increasingly seeking exposure to leading developing markets,” says Ronald Arculli, chairman of HKEx and of the WFE. “Thanks to this alliance, investors will gain easier access to major equity index derivatives of the BRICS markets which will now be offered in local currency on the alliance exchanges”.

This is an important milestone in the history of developing countries, continues Mr Arculli. “The alliance enables more investors to gain exposure to the emerging economies of the BRICS group whose economic power is on the rise. From a global perspective this alliance highlights the growing significance of the BRICS economies and financial markets for the coming decade, and further underlines the importance of enhancing cooperation between the BRICS members”.

At the second stage of the project members of the alliance plan to jointly develop new products for cross-listing on their exchanges. “In addition to measuring market performance, equity indices may be used as underlying assets to create new products, which can be the next step in the alliance development”, says Russell Loubser, CEO of the JSE.

“The products designed at the second stage would then be cross listed and traded in local currencies,” says Edemir Pinto, CEO of BM&F BOVESPA. “They will also ensure easy access for investors to other emerging markets through locally listed products.”

The third stage may include further cooperation in joint products design and new services development.

“Apart from cross-listing products, there are other opportunities for growth and development within this alliance. For example, creation of joint products combining various underliers which will facilitate liquidity growth in the BRICS markets and improve the understanding of other developing markets by local investors,” says Ruben Aganbegyan, President of MICEX.

All the partnering exchanges estimate the potential for cooperation created by this alliance very positively.

“The BRICS exchanges alliance has a great potential as it will create avenues for Indian investors to diversify their portfolios and expand into other emerging markets. It will also provide unique opportunities to investors in other BRICS nations to participate and contribute in India’s growth. BSE will actively work towards bringing world-class products to India as well as developing new products for other BRICS markets.” says Madhu Kannan, CEO of BSE Ltd.

Interest towards the BRICS markets is supported by the above-average growth forecast for these regions, as well as the rising consumer power generated by growing middle classes in each of the participating economies” says Ravi Narain, MD of the National Stock Exchange of India.

According to the WFE these six exchanges represent a combined market capitalization of USD 9.02 trillion, the number of their ussuer companies totals 9.5 thousand.

As per the research by the Futures Industry Association these six exchanges accounted for 18% of the global turnover in financial derivatives in H1 of 2011.

Source: BM&FBOVESPA, FinExtra, 12.10.2011

Filed under: BM&FBOVESPA, Brazil, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, News, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

September 1, 2011 • 8:08 am 0

NYSE Euronext Completes Acquisition of Metabit

NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced September 2 the completion of its acquisition of Metabit, a leading Tokyo-based provider of high performance market access products with a trading community of more than 140 trading firms throughout Japan and Asia. As announced previously on Aug. 1, 2011, Metabit will operate as a product line within the NYSE Technologies portfolio (further enhancing service to the Asia-Pacific region). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Daniel Bürgin, formerly CEO of Metabit, will head the NYSE Technologies Asia business and report to Stanley Young, Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Technologies. Peter Tierney, Managing Director of NYSE Technologies will become the Chief Operating Officer of the combined business in Asia, and he, with Mr. Bürgin, will lead the Asian business operations.

Source: NYSE Technologies, 01.09.2011

Filed under: Asia, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, Japan, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 2, 2011 • 10:08 am 0

NYSE Euronext Accelerates Growth in Asia with Strategic Acquisition of Metabit, a Leading Provider of Market Access Products

– Strategically complements NYSE Technologies’ product portfolio and Asian offerings

– Addresses growing customer interest and expanding Asian financial marketplace

– In-line with NYSE Technologies’ strategy of building a global liquidity network

 New York and Tokyo – August 1, 2011 – NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Metabit, a leading Tokyo-based provider of high performance market access products throughout Japan and Asia. Metabit will operate as a product line within the NYSE Technologies portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in third quarter of 2011. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Skilled with in-depth experience and understanding of financial markets in Asia, Metabit specializes in streamlined, low-latency technology solutions that enable industry-leading access to financial markets across Asia. Metabit’s products connect buy-side order flow with sell-side exchange participants and are designed exclusively for low latency direct market access (DMA) and exchange connectivity to markets through-out Asia. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with offices in Australia and Hong Kong. Metabit has built a trading community of more than 140 trading firms in Asia.

“Metabit’s products are built in Asia for Asia, and this combination fits our strategy, our connectivity business and our customer interests,” said Stanley Young, CEO of NYSE Technologies. “Metabit has a highly experienced and respected management team, and we recognize and value the success Metabit has had in Asia, especially in Japan. We will continue the further development of this local focus while also maximizing the value of the NYSE Euronext brand and relationships.”

Mr. Young continued: “Furthermore, Japan and Asia are priorities for NYSE Euronext and we believe this is absolutely the right time to further invest in the region. We fully expect this transaction to accelerate our efforts as a leading technology provider across the Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to welcoming Metabit and its customers to NYSE Euronext, and to delivering the benefits of Metabit to our customer community.”

Daniel Burgin, CEO of Metabit, said: “Our combination with NYSE Technologies will be highly beneficial to delivering innovative solutions to our customers and to accelerate achieving our long-term business goals. We remain committed to our local business focus and service quality in Japan and throughout Asia, whilst being strengthened by NYSE Technologies’ product suite that is highly synergetic to our local solutions. The people and products of our combined companies will provide significant expertise and scale to NYSE Technologies’ business in the region. Joining forces represents a truly exceptional opportunity to build on our local success in order to increase our value proposition to our Japan and Asia customer base. We now have the opportunity to leverage our assets with NYSE Technologies and move to the next level. For the benefit of Asia-based customers, we will now expand our reach and capabilities globally.”

 Metabit’s Asia franchise has seen excellent growth as a result of a persistent product and client strategy and investments into Asia. Today, Metabit covers all DMA sectors outside Japan, ranging from China (“B” shares), India, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Metabit’s products, being built in Asia for Asia, focus to connect the local broker community in each country, in combination with the traditional group of global trading firms. Metabit will continue to resell and provide support to users of CameronFIX as they have since 2002.

 Upon closing, Mr. Burgin will head the NYSE Technologies Asia business and report to Mr. Young. Peter Tierney, Managing Director of NYSE Technologies will become the Chief Operating Officer of the combined business in Asia, and together they will lead the business operations.

Source; NYSE Tech, 01.08.2011

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

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 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, , , , , , , , , , ,

January 5, 2011 • 11:31 pm 0

2010 Top 10 Developments in Asia’s Electronic Trading Industry;Asia E-Trading

2010 was the year that Asia’s electronic trading industry focused on competition and services in what have traditionally been anti-competitive market places. We recorded over 1000 separate news items this year in Asia alone. We recognize that some of the developments that made our list will not be relevant to everyone but as a neutral third party observer we have come up with a list that we feel are the Top 10 Developments in Asia’s Electronic Trading Industry in 2010.

Original Article: Asia E-Trading 2010 Top Developments

10) The US CFTC now allows Malaysian futures brokers to deal directly with US customer. Perhaps individually not a Top 10 item as other brokers in Asia have been given the nod by the US regulator too. But when taken together with the recent Bursa Malaysia exchange technology upgrades in both the equity and futures segments, migration to the CME Globex platform and the record prices in the Crude Palm Oil contract Malaysia is now poised to take its place as a south-east Asian trading center. It will become a key anchor in the ASEAN link planned in the coming years.

9) China’s Index future launched April 16 after many years of delay was an important development not only for electronic trading but also for China’s budding algorithmic and hedge fund industry. The index has quickly become one of the largest index futures now traded in Asia. Though the back month doesn’t trade as much as it should it will only be a matter of time before that open interest picks up too. It shouldn’t be long before we see index options and an interest rate future for China as well.

8 ) Singapore Mercantile Exchange launched in late August this year. Asia is demanding more and more commodities as wealth and consumption grow around the zone. Generally, in Asia, commodity exchanges tend to offer just one product but the Singapore Merc is offering a basket of commodities to trade both physical and cash contracts. Trading is available in WTI crude, currency, gold and black pepper to name a few. Interestingly, though, is that the SMX is owned entirely by Financial Technologies Group (FTIL) an India based company that will see its exchange compete head on with SICOM, the SGXs commodities arm. Expect to hear more from the SMX this year.

7) The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC) began clearing trades for Proprietary Trading Systems (PTS) in August substantially reducing the costs in the post trade for alternatives in Japan. While the playing field still isn’t level with the Primary exchanges, this development at the JSCC was a boost for Japanese PTSs. SBI Japannext, a consortium PTS, has regularly traded 1 percent of daily volume on its venue as a result of this change. We expect fragmentation to accelerate in 2011 in Japan which is already around 3 to 5%.

6) The launch of Chi-east. The joint venture between the Singapore Exchange and Chi-X called Chi-east made it to our list of top 10 developments in Asia electronic trading industry in 2010. The venture is a big step for Singapore in terms of spurring exchange competition and becoming a regional one-stop-shop for trading in Asia. Chi-East is a broker to broker alternative that will offer off-shore crossing using different clearing facilities around Asia.

5) China is now the largest agricultural commodity market in the world with the Dalian Commodity Exchange seeing record volumes in Corn and the Soybean complex. Coupled with the Shanghai Futures Exchange and its metal products the opportunities and future for the electronic trading industry vertical in China and the rest of the world are huge.

4) Exchange competition in Australia. On March 31 the Australian government announced its support for Exchange competition in Australia. While we are still waiting the promise of competition is compelling. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has long held a monopoly over the industry with poor service and high trading fees (explicit and implicit). The ASX passed its supervisory duties to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) August 1 and with the Market Integrity Rules being finalized it shouldn’t be long before trading in Australia is much cheaper and better served. The ASX SGX merger could put a spanner in the works, however.

3) Smart Order Routing in India – SEBI finally permitted Smart Order Routing in India in August of this year much to the National Stock Exchanges chagrin. The Bombay Stock Exchange promptly offered this service to its customers in a bid to take market share from its larger rival. India has the tightest spreads in Asia of around 6bps and with SORs on offer we can expect spreads to tighten even further and volumes to shoot up. This long overdue regulation puts India on the road to offering best execution far ahead of its BRIC peer China. Deutesche equities was the first FII to receive approval for using SORs to both the NSE and BSE.

2) SGX / ASX Merger – We have seen it in the US and Europe and it has finally come to Asia, exchange consolidation. While the news of this reverberated around the world like a tsunami the reality, in AsiaEtrading’s view, is that this is a merger of survival. Both exchanges are very small and in aggregate are still quite small but would command the largest futures market in Asia (not including China’s commodities of course). The announcement is further evidence that Asia is moving to a more competitive industry and should be a wake-up call to the rest of the region. Our webinar on the topic had the panelists agreeing that the merger won’t happen. We’ll wait and see if this merger does indeed take place.

1) We ranked the Tokyo Stock Exchange Arrowhead upgrade as the most important development in Asia’s Electronic Trading industry in 2010. This was a significant and crucial development for one of the top exchanges in the world. Previously, order round trips were around 4 seconds and orders per second were on par with a Starbucks barista. The improved matching engine performance has tightened spreads, increased trading volumes and reduced order sizes. This in turn has attracted more sophisticated traders, reduced implicit trading costs and has generally benefited the Japanese trading industry significantly. Not only that, having come out of 2009 and the aftermath of the GFC, the successful upgrade was the turning point for what was a very activity business in 2010. To us it was the catalyst for the entire industry in Asia.

Source: www.asiaetrading.com, 02.01.2011

Filed under: Australia, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 4, 2010 • 10:24 pm 0

Metabit -Asia’s Trading Hub- Rebrand Marks 10th Anniversary

Metabit is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Tokyo on the 6th October 2010.  In acknowledgement of this milestone, the company which specialises in intuitive institutional trading platforms, exchange connectivity and a well established trading community, has commissioned a new corporate identity, website and advertising campaign.  These are to be launched at The FPL Japan Electronic Trading Summit 2010 on 6th October.

Daniel Bürgin, CEO of Metabit commented:

“We wanted to bring home to our clients and the market at large that our systems have been built out of Asia, for Asia.  It was important to demonstrate our intimate knowledge and understanding of Asian markets.“

“Metabit’s new brand image had to not only represent our commitment to Asia, but demonstrate our unique approach to client solutions and innate dynamism.  Our new positioning, Think Asia, Trade Asia, was developed to convey who we are and our area of speciality.”

A new advertising campaign will also be launched at the conference.  Metabit’s Metamorphosis Campaign, which features a butterfly with a map of Asia superimposed upon its wing, was chosen to symbolise the way in which the company operates. Bürgin continues:

“We wanted an original look that represents our approach. The metamorphosis theme was chosen to reflect the way we help clients transform and develop their business, enabling them to trade effortlessly and efficiently.”

Metabit has four offices in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and Mainland China.  For more information about Metabit, visit www.meta-bit.com or see the company at Stand 9 at the FPL Summit in Tokyo.

For more information, contact Claus Kwon on +852 3752 0674 or Kenichi Morita on +81-3-3664-4160 or mail to sales@meta-bit.com .


 MetabitAd(LowRes).jpg

Filed under: Asia, Australia, China, FIX Connectivity, Hong Kong, Japan, Market Data, News, Trading Technology, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 16, 2010 • 9:12 pm 0

Brazil Investment Summit, Hong Kong Nov 30/Dec 1, 2010

FinanceAsia and AsianInvestor are pleased to announce that the inaugural Brazil Investment Summit will be the second event in our Spotlight on Emerging Markets series. The previous event, the Russia- Capital Raising and Investment Summit, was held in Hong Kong in April and attracted more than 300 delegates.

Throughout the economic crisis, Brazil was a case study for success; its economy remained stable while other nations foundered. As it leads Latin America out of recession, where should Asian investors look in Brazil for value?

This inaugural summit will gather Asian financial market participants exploring investment possibilities in Brazil, attendees include:

  • Asian Institutional investors looking to put money to work in Brazil
  • Deal facilitators, including investment bankers and business brokers
  • Asian/Chinese corporates looking at M&A opportunities
  • Alternative investment funds, including private equity and hedge funds
  • Brazilian corporations looking to raise capital in Asia
  • Commercial banks
  • Sovereign wealth funds
  • Insurance companies
  • Central banks
  • Investors in commodities and natural resources
  • Service providers, including consultants, law firms, and accounting firms
    		•
    For more information about the Brazil Investment Summit, please contact:
    Speaker/Delegate queries:
    Laura Brody, Conference Producer
    (+852) 3175 1917
    laura.brody@financeasia.com    		 Sponsorship queries:
    Kar Wee Ang, Conference Sponsorship Manager
    (+852) 2122 5233
    karwee.ang@financeasia.com
    www.financeasia.com/brazil

    Filed under: Asia, Banking, Brazil, Events, FiNETIK Events, Hong Kong, Latin America, News, Services, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , ,

    June 13, 2010 • 11:44 pm 0

    China: The collapse of the Asian growth model

    Over the last three decades there has been a dramatic shift in the stance of development policy with import-substitution being replaced by the export-led growth. A significant concern with this latter model is that it may risk turning global growth into a zero-sum game. This can happen if one country’s export growth comes by poaching of domestic demand elsewhere or by displacing exports of other countries.

    China on ‘Treadmill to Hell’ Amid Bubble, Chanos, Faber, Rogoff Say

    Rather than focusing on production for domestic markets, countries were advised to focus on production for export. This shift away from import-substitution toward the export-led growth was driven significantly by the economic troubles that emerged in the 1970s. At that time many developing countries, who had prospered under regimes of import-substitution, began to experience slower growth and accelerated inflation.
    This led to claims that the import-substitution model had exhausted itself, and that the easy possibilities for growth by substitution had been used up.second factor fostering adoption of the export-led model was the shift in intellectual outlook amongst economists in favor of market directed economic activity. Import-substitution requires government provided tariff and quota protections, and economists increasingly came to portray these measures as economic distortions that contribute to productive inefficiency and rent seeking.
    The shift in policy stance was also propelled by the empirical fact of Japan’s spectacular success in growing its economy in the twenty five years after World War II, and by the subsequent growth success of the four east Asian “tiger” economies – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. All of these economies relied on increased exports.

    The problem is that the export-led growth model suffers from a fallacy of composition whereby it assumes that all countries can grow by relying on demand growth in other countries. When the model is applied globally in a demand-constrained world, there is a danger of a beggar-thy-neighbor outcome in which all try to grow on the backs of demand expansion in other countries, and the result is global excess supply and deflation. In this connection, it is not exporting per se that is the problem, but rather making exports the focus of development. Countries will still need to export to pay for their imported capital and intermediate goods needs, but exporting should be organized so as to maximize its contribution to domestic development and not viewed as an end in itself.
    Export led growth model prompts countries to shift ever more output onto global markets, and in doing so aggravates the long-standing trend deterioration in developing country terms of trade. This pattern partakes of a vicious cycle since declining terms of trade and falling prices compel developing countries to export even more, thereby compounding the downward price pressure. This vicious cycle has long been visible for producers of primary commodities. However, as a result of the transfer of manufacturing capacity to developing countries who lack the consumer markets to buy their own output, the same process may now be present in all but highest-end manufacturing.
    In the 1950′s, Western opinion leaders found themselves both impressed and frightened by the extraordinary growth rates achieved by an Eastern economy, although it was still substantially poorer and smaller than those of the West.
    The speed with which it had transformed itself from a peasant society into an industrial powerhouse, and it’s perceived ability to achieve growth rates several times higher than the advanced nations, seemed to call into question the dominance not only of Western power but of Western ideology.
    The leaders of that nation did not share Western faith in free markets or unlimited civil liberties. They asserted with increasing self-confidence that their system was superior: societies that accepted strong, even authoritarian governments and are willing to limit individual liberties in the interest of the common good, take charge of their economies, and sacrifice short-run consumer interests for the sake of long-run growth that would eventually outperform the increasingly chaotic societies of the West.
    China’s economic growth has averaged 9pc a year over the past 10 years, compared with a paltry 1.9pc for the British economy. Last year, despite the credit crunch, China posted a remarkable growth rate of 10.7pc against a British contraction of 3.2pc.some are extrapolating present trends forward, and proclaiming that China will usurp the United States as the world’s largest economy.
    However, in the absence of expanding foreign demand for its exports, it has instead come to rely on a massive surge in domestic bank lending to fuel its growth rate. When measured relative to the size of its economy, the 27pc point jump in bank loans to GDP is unprecedented; at no point in history has a nation ever attempted such an incredible increase in state-directed bank lending.
    This appetite for cheap Chinese exports, which had at one point seemed insatiable, means that the West has come to owe China over 2 trillion $. China has become the world’s biggest creditor, but creditor nations running persistent trade surpluses has two historical examples. The US economy in the Twenties and the Japanese economy in the Eighties.
    In both of the previous examples a failure to allow exchange rates to adjust to the new reality created a large speculative pool of credit that, in turn, led to overvalued domestic assets and, eventually, an economic crisis.
    The banks in China are lending money at breakneck speed, but China’s state planners have favoured investment over consumption. High-speed rail networks, first-class infrastructure projects and the urban migration of 55 million people every year are common explanations for the ability of the nimble Chinese to overcome the frailties of this global economy. But the goal of economic policy, is to maximise households’ wellbeing and consumption. Unfortunately, and China’s share of consumption within its economy has fallen relentlessly, reaching 35pc of GDP in 2008.
    In China, investment spending has tripled since 2001 and the consequences are staggering. A country that represents just 7pc of global GDP is now responsible for 30pc of global aluminum consumption, 47pc of global steel consumption and 40pc of global copper consumption. The overriding problem is that the Chinese model leads to a deflationary spiral that is perpetual in nature. Domestic consumption never grows fast enough to absorb the supply, prompting the planners to commit to ever-higher levels of investment. Over-capacity inevitably plagues many sectors of the economy and Chinese profitability is already low.

    The story in China has been one of imperiled, marginally profitable enterprises relying on generous state-provided incentives for utilities, credit, etc. now having to deal with slowing global demand. The drying up of trade finance isn’t helping, either. The giant stimulus worldwide, and especially in China, helped the world economy for one year but that has now dried up.

    Source and full article at  Israel Financial Experts, 08.06. 2010,

    Filed under: Asia, China, Energy & Environment, Hong Kong, News, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    May 19, 2010 • 2:47 am 0

    MetaBit Trading Technology and Services opens Hong Kong Office

    Tokyo/Hong Kong, 18 May 2010 – Specialist DMA and exchange connectivity solution provider MetaBit opens its Hong Kong office in May 2010 as part of its business expansion in Asia.
     
    The new Hong Kong office represents a further strategic milestone for MetaBit to accelerate the expansion of its rapidly growing Asian client base and support its strategic objective to service Asia’s financial markets with localized and low latency trading solutions.  The Hong Kong office will promote and support institutional DMA, algo and manual trading across fourteen Asian markets.
     
    MetaBit have also announced the appointment of Claus Kwon as managing director for the Asia Pacific ex-Japan business.
     
    “I am very pleased to have Claus Kwon taking responsibility to further expand MetaBit’s business outside Japan” says Daniel Burgin, CEO at MetaBit.  “With Mr Kwon’s appointment, MetaBit continues to proactively build on its success and reputation earned through the quality of its technology and MetaBit’s continuous efforts in helping its clients achieve greater trading efficiency. Headquartered in Tokyo, our company is firmly rooted in Asia.  The addition of the Hong Kong office strengthens MetaBit’s ability to deliver the best solution with service catered for local needs.”
     
    “I am excited to be joining MetaBit as their business expands in the region and as electronic trading continues to develop at an incredible rate in Asia,” says Mr Kwon. “MetaBit has a history of delivering innovative electronic trading solutions to both global and local clients in the Asia markets. Whilst MetaBit’s solutions are global by underlying technology, their unique infrastructure supports businesses that are serious about their Asia operations and want to stay competitive in this market.”
     
    Today, MetaBit covers all of Asia’s DMA and Algo markets through its flagship trading platform XiliX, its vendor neutral FIX hub MLH (Market Liquidity Hub), and Alpha, its ultra-low latency exchange connectivity solution.
    With the opening of a Hong Kong office, MetaBit – a pro-active promoter of the FIX Protocol – has formally joined the FPL.
     
    About MetaBit –
     
    MetaBit is a specialist low latency DMA trading solution provider in Asia reducing transaction processing times and  increasing trading opportunities by providing FIX enabled DMA and algorithmic trading access to market liquidity across fourteen Asia’s markets, including Japan.
     
    MetaBit’s flagship products are the XiliX™ intuitive buy side DMA trading platform and MLH, a vendor neutral Market Liquidity Hub. Other products are Alpha, ultra-low latency exchange connectivity to Japan’s exchanges and EXSiM – Japan exchange simulators.  All of MetaBit’s products are powered by the CameronFIX Engine.

    Source: Metabit, 18.05.2010

    Koji Ito
    +81-3-3664-4160
    sales@meta-bit.com

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

    March 11, 2010 • 7:06 am 2

    China’s QDII ETFs … taken with a pinch of salt

    Despite the fanfare from QDII ETF issuers and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, these products are unlikely to achieve the lofty aims set for them.

    If Shanghai Stock Exchange’s general manager, Zhang Yujun, is to be believed, China’s new generation of exchange-traded funds under the qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme will be ready for launch shortly.

    The Shanghai bourse is keen to put its hotly anticipated products onto the market as soon as possible. It has marked 2010 down as a year of innovation, with the number of domestic and overseas ETF launches potentially hitting 10 for this year.

    But it’s not the domestic ETFs that industry execs in Shanghai or around the region are buzzing about, but the overseas ETFs the SSE is championing. Market players are wondering what the developments will mean for the QDII market and what China’s fund flows in the region will look like after these products are made available.

    The names now lining up in the QDII ETF pipeline include: China Southern, with its planned launch of a S&P 500 tracker; Beijing-based China Asset Management, which is going with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index; Harvest Fund Management, the new proud owner of Deutsche Asset Management’s Asian investment platform, using the Dow Jones Industrial Average; Shanghai’s Fortune SGAM, which will soon see its foreign stake transferred to Société Générale’s alternatives arm, Lyxor, and whose ETF tracks the Topix Core 30; not to mention Huaan’s newly announced initiative to track the FTSE 100.

    In one fell swoop, the SSE is making available assets from around the world. Investors in China, at the click of a trade, will be able to access asset classes from US and UK equities to regional Asian exposures and Hong Kong and Japanese stocks.

    (The list above does not cover Guotai Fund Management, one of the earliest Chinese houses wanting to license an index for an overseas ETF, which recently realised it will not attract enough liquidity for a niche index such as the Nasdaq 100. It is now quietly calling its product an “index-tracking fund”, instead of an ETF. Nor does the list include Penghua Fund, whose high-profile announcement of its supposed deal to have contracted three MSCI Barra indices was never confirmed by MSCI.)

    Zhang says the Shanghai bourse wants to play its part in ‘standardising’ asset management. Index-based products are easily understood by investors, and through the standardisation process, the SSE believes it will bring transparency and even discourage moral hazards among asset managers.

    Better yet, since trading and management fees for ETF instruments are traditionally the lowest for products globally, the introduction of ETF competition into the Chinese market should help bring down the high fees usually seen in the active management sector. And the way Zhang sees it, passive and index-based investments will eventually outperform.

    Yet all these laudable ambitions should be taken with a pinch of salt. Far from having developed ETFs that come up to expectations, the SSE’s versions of these products and the underlying mechanism are hardly on a par with developed-market ETFs.

    In particular, sources say the SSE boss’s comments are meant for domestic consumption — the exchange has been publicly pressuring the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) into approving the ETF launches, which were planned to have happened as early as November last year.

    Why the regulatory hesitation? The CSRC was an early champion of introducing more liquid and transparent ETFs to China. But the SSE has not resolved the multiple technical barriers limiting the listing of an efficient overseas product in the country, as is revealed by an early blueprint for the Harvest Dow tracker jointly designed by Harvest and the SSE, and made public by the exchange. The SSE has made compromises in the design and the trading mechanisms of these supposed ETFs.

    Amid the fanfare created by the issuing fund houses and even the SSE itself, one key point appears to be overlooked. The unspoken truth is that since the bourse has failed to tackle the underlying issues, the planned ETFs could only trade on exchanges as closed-end funds and would largely fail to deliver the many benefits normally expected of genuine ETFs.

    These products will face challenges from day one, including: time differences in settlement cycles between the SSE and the exchange of the underlying index’s traded market; the lag in trading hours between China and underlying securities; the limitations of China’s lack of market-making mechanisms, and its reliance on its unique arbitrage mechanisms for levelling ETF traded prices and net asset values; and China’s foreign exchange restrictions, which currently only allow for monthly repatriation of capital. All of which the SSE has acknowledged in its white paper on ETFs that is available to the public.

    Bound by these limitations, these products will not be able, for example, to perform continuous creation of units like normal ETFs, unlike even the very same strategies traded in Hong Kong. The NAVs will be largely static during the trading hours in China, though the ETF prices will be subject to supply-demand swings. (Hong Kong’s platform is backed by market-makers, unlike Shanghai’s, which is highly sensitive to liquidity and the level of trading among arbitrageurs on underlying strategies.)

    The question then becomes: will China ever attract enough interest among arbitrageurs to trade on these faraway markets without real-time information? After all, when China trades, the US and the UK markets will be largely closed. Even for markets that sit in Asian time zones and close at hours overlapping China’s, there will be time differences on the settlement cycles. Arbitrageurs, therefore, will have to trade by assuming and incurring all risks themselves.

    For example, a Ping An Hong Kong subsidiary doesn’t trade on the books of Ping An’s mainland entity. Legal status still withstanding, they are very different entities. One unit south of the border going short, cannot be reconciled from an accounting perspective by a separate unit going long north of the border. So, from where and how will these arbitrageurs emerge?

    Because of the many compromises the Shanghai bourse has made to fit QDII ETFs into the existing — but highly unique — domestic ETF mechanism, the forthcoming international instruments can largely only be ETFs in name but not substance. An even better way to understand them is actually to see them as the equivalent of ‘listed open funds’ or ‘Lofs’ — products peculiar to China.

    Ultimately, QDII ETFs are no different from closed-end funds — so why the current fuss over them? Sources close to the Shanghai bourse’s advisory panel say there’s really no reason for it — they are just another group of products to add to China’s well stocked shelf.

    Nonetheless, they offer a slightly better alternative to the many internally managed and largely cost-return-inefficient QDII active funds now available in the market. And the idea of ETFs from a marketing perspective will no doubt catch on.

    But even the mere illusion of innovation in the QDII market may be a false dawn. Both active and passive QDII managers will continue to be plagued by domestic expectations of further renminbi appreciation and by the bad reputation of the first generation of QDII products still freshly and firmly fixed in the minds of Chinese investors.

    To wit, E-fund — the second biggest Chinese fund house, no less — kicked off the year with a fundraising attempt of just $86.6 million for its first QDII product.

    Source: AsianInvestors.net, 10.03.2010 by Liz Mak

    Filed under: Asia, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, Japan, News, , , , , , , , ,

    February 2, 2010 • 11:30 am 0

    Santander starts marketing Latin American funds in Asia

    Banco Santander, a Spanish bank with a large presence in Europe and Latin America, has created a new role in Hong Kong to develop its asset-management business in Asia.

    With the necessary licences in place, Alexander de Laiglesia will concentrate on selling funds manufactured by Santander Asset Management in Latin America and Europe to Asian wholesale distributors and asset managers.

    De Laiglesia, a managing director, has been with the firm for 20 years, starting in Tokyo as a deputy branch manager. He returned to Japan from Madrid in 2002 with a secondment to Shinsei Bank. He moved to Hong Kong last year, and has been developing the asset-management role for the past several months. De Laiglesia has also worked in Hong Kong and the Middle East in the 1980s with Standard Chartered Bank, and he speaks Japanese.

    Santander pursues a universal banking model in its core markets of Spain, Portugal, the UK and the countries of Latin America, including Brazil, as well as the US. The bank has built investment teams in those countries.

    The group mainly provides local products to its local investors. It cross-sells some products to provide these local customers with international exposure and may also provide third-party funds. Worldwide, Santander Asset Management manages €120 billion ($168 billion) of assets.

    Asian markets are not core to this business. “We are not here to manage assets,” says de Laiglesia. “We are here to channel investments from Asia to our core markets.” That means competing in the niche of selling Latin America funds to Asian wholesalers and domestic fund houses. Santander will also seek to develop sales to institutional investors as well.

    “We are the largest regional asset manager in Latin America, with big investment teams in markets such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina,” de Laiglesia says.

    Santander has already notched up business in Japan as adviser to a couple of Brazil equity funds launched by Daiwa Asset Management, and in Korea, where Industrial Bank of Korea sells a Latin America equities product. Japan, in particular, has wealth, its investors are comfortable with Brazilian securities and that’s an asset class where domestic asset managers do not have a local presence, de Laiglesia says.

    Santander is flexible with regard to the type of relationship it will pursue with Asian distributors; it may act as an investment adviser, a provider of white-label products or a provider of mutual funds from its Luxembourg range. The firm will also seek segregated mandates from or sales of its Luxembourg funds to Asian institutions.

    In addition to applying for regulatory licences, de Laiglesia is still researching which markets to focus on and which thematic products to highlight. Japan is the priority, but the region’s other large markets — Australia, Greater China, Singapore and South Korea — are also important.

    Source: AsianInvestor.net, 02.02.2010

    Filed under: Asia, Australia, Banking, Brazil, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Malaysia, Mexico, News, Peru, Services, Singapore, Wealth Management, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    January 22, 2010 • 7:28 am 1

    HKEx And Shanghai Stock Exchange Agree On New Cooperation Initiatives

    Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) have met today to discuss the Closer Cooperation Agreement they signed in January of last year.  The agreement commits the two organisations to work together more closely towards the common goals of mutual prosperity and contributing to the greater development of China’s economy.

    “Through cooperation and exchanges with our friends at SSE, we can learn more about the behaviour and needs of Mainland investors and how we can further support the QDII (Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor) scheme,” said HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli.  “We can also learn from each other about the market dynamics created by the growth and development of SSE and HKEx, and the latest market trends in the Mainland and Hong Kong.

    “According to an old Chinese saying, a single tree cannot make a forest,” Mr Arculli added.  “Jointly with our Mainland counterparts, we can accelerate China’s growth and financial development in a prudent manner.”

    As a result of recent discussions, HKEx’s Listing Division and SSE’s Company Management Department will establish a mechanism for regular exchanges, in order to more effectively regulate companies and securities listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong and better protect shareholder interests.  Views will be exchanged every two months, with the focus on operational issues, including information disclosure by listed issuers.  The two organisations will take turns organising the meetings.

    HKEx and SSE also agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on information technology that supports business development.  “The Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges have their own technological advantages.  There is ample room for the technology personnel of both organisations to share expertise, and explore possible ways to develop our respective technology support infrastructure to accommodate further and broader cooperation between the two markets,” HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li said.

    In addition, HKEx and SSE have agreed to seek further cooperation in product development and to hold a forum on listed structure products later this year.

    Since signing the cooperation agreement in January last year, HKEx and SSE have also started a market data collaboration programme, shared information on the development of Exchange Traded Funds and other products, and arranged for HKEx executives to train at SSE and vice versa.

    HKEx believes its cooperation with SSE strengthens the two organisations’ positions in today’s rapidly changing financial market environment.

    The management of the SSE and HKEx met in Hong Kong on 21 January 2010.  The following joint statement was issued after the meeting.

    1. The management of the SSE and HKEx exchanged views and discussed their experiences regarding information sharing and cooperation in regulating companies and securities listed in both markets, market infrastructure development, product development, information service development, personnel exchanges, and so forth.

    2. Both sides agreed to strengthen information sharing and cooperation in regulating companies and securities listed in both markets.  With an increase in A+H share listings, as well as the development of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on A shares and ETFs on Hong Kong stocks, closer ties between the Shanghai and Hong Kong markets have been fostered.  The SSE’s Company Management Department and HKEx’s Listing Division will set up a mechanism for regular exchanges, in order to more effectively regulate enterprises and securities listed in both markets and better protect shareholder interests.  An exchange of views will be held every two months, focusing on the operational issues in the regulation of securities listed in both markets and related information disclosure issues.  The two organisations will take turns organising the meeting.  The same mechanism may be extended to other departments, if proved effective.

    3. Both sides agreed to strengthen exchanges and cooperation regarding technology that supports business development.  Information technology development, particularly the development of trading and information dissemination systems, is crucial to the stock exchange business.  Exchanges and cooperation on technology issues between the two organisations can deepen mutual understanding of the merits of each market’s infrastructure and help further the markets’ business development.  The Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges have their own technological advantages.  The SSE’s new generation trading system has cutting edge technology and advanced capacity, while HKEx’s systems support trading, clearing and information dissemination for a variety of products.  There is ample room for the technology personnel of both organisations to share expertise, and explore possible ways to develop the respective technology support infrastructure to accommodate further and broader cooperation between the two markets.

    4. Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in respect of the development of products.  ETFs have become the starting point of the two organisations’ cooperation on product development. At present, several Mainland fund management companies are actively making preparations for the issue of ETFs related to Hong Kong stocks.  It is hoped future cooperation on ETFs will be extended on a gradual basis to the development of ETFs on bonds and gold, as well as cross listings.  Besides ETFs, the two organisations may seek further cooperation in products such as securitised assets, warrants, Callable Bull/Bear Contracts and options.  The two organisations jointly participated in a forum on ETF market development last year and agreed to hold a forum in similar format on listed structured products later this year.

    5. Both organisations agreed to deepen cooperation in the development of information products.  For example, cooperation in compiling an index comprising securities listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong may be explored to increase the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges’ influence in the global market.

    6. Both organisations support continued exchanges and training involving their personnel.  The management of the two organisations agreed to meet twice a year to review the progress of exchanges and training, and work out plans for the next year’s exchanges and training.  The two organisations will take turns organising the meeting.  Training may take the form of meetings during which each side will be briefed on the other side’s market development, or short educational visits to each other’s offices.  Last year, the two organisations arranged for their executives to train in each other’s related departments, and agreed to continue the activities.

    Source: MondoVision, 21.01.2010

    Filed under: China, Data Management, Exchanges, Hong Kong, Market Data, News, Reference Data, Risk Management, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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