Structured products
Hong Kong's SFC puts structured product approvals on ice
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has delayed approvals of structured product issues for retail distribution following protests from Hong Kong investors that have lost money from the blow-up of so-called minibond structured credit…
DME to list products on CME Globex
The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) has announced plans to list its contracts exclusively on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Globex platform.
Treasury and Fed help AIG lay-off CDO risk
AIG was shored up by a restructuring plan hammered out by the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York today, which involved the creation of an off-balance-sheet vehicle to neutralise some of the insurer’s hefty collateralised debt obligation …
MSCI launches Peru and Asia Apex exposure
Index provider MSCI Barra has launched the MSCI All Peru, the Asia Apex Mid Cap 50 and the Asia Apex Small Cap 200 indexes, which are designed to underlie financial instruments such as structured products and ETFs.
Maybank launches Islamic commodity structured deposit
Malaysian bank Maybank has launched the Al-Sayf (MAS-i) structured Islamic deposit which is a sharia-compliant Mudharabah investment which is designed to provide exposure to the commodity-based Maybank Al-Sayf index.
DB x-trackers delivers first credit ETFs
DB x-trackers, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) arm of Deutsche Bank, has unveiled the first ETFs on the long and short Markit iTraxx Europe Financials indexes, enabling investors to buy and sell credit protection on senior and subordinated financial debt…
Trades on the rise but volumes suffer in Switzerland
The number of structured product and warrant trades on the Swiss structured product exchange, Scoach broke all previous records in October, despite a 13% fall in the volume of Swiss franc issuance. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a separate category from…
Mammoth NYSE product transfer following Amex acquisition
NYSE Arca is set to acquire 662 new exchange-traded products by the end of the year, following the completion of its acquisition of the American Stock Exchange (Amex) in October. The move will increase the platform’s number of products on offer to 1037.
BP withdraws from CCS competition, exits UK wind power
BP Alternative Energy has just announced that it is withdrawing from the UK competition for funding for a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) demonstration plant, leaving just three contenders.
Russian stocks dragged down by plummeting oil price
Trading volumes on Russia’s two main stock exchanges, Russian Trading System (RTS) and the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (Micex), were significantly down in October, following plunging commodity prices and a worsened global financial outlook.
End of the boom?
Canadian oil sands production has grown rapidly in recent years, but are rising project costs and falling oil prices now jeopardising projects? Pauline McCallion investigates
GMAC may seek government aid after losses
US consumer finance giant GMAC may tap the US government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) after announcing a third quarter net loss of $2.52 billion.
Quant Congress Europe: Regulatory focus to switch to leverage
At the keynote address at the European Quant Congress in London today, Peter Praet, executive director in charge of financial stability at the National Bank of Belgium, said that the Basel II regulatory framework will be revised to look more closely at…
Renewables call for transmission build
Many US states have ambitious renewable energy targets, but billions need to be spent on transmission infrastructure if this new power is to come on line. Susan Arterian Chang looks at the challenges involved in creating the interstate transmission…
CFTC petitioned to allow clearing of OTC agricultural contracts
Agora-X an electronic trading and negotiation platform for commodities, has petitioned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow the clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) contracts in major agricultural commodities.
Arc unveils latest range of core products
Arc Capital and Income has launched the latest offering of its three core products, comprising the Bricks and Mortar Plan two, the Bull and Bear Enhanced Investment Plan five and the Fixed Income Plan nine.
PowerShares to release actively managed US Real Estate ETF
Invesco PowerShares has announced its plan to launch an actively managed US Real Estate exchange-traded fund (ETF) on NYSE Arca in November.
DTCC launches weekly CDS update
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the largest derivatives clearing house in the US, released its first weekly snapshot of the credit derivatives market yesterday.
Ambac and MBIA record heavy Q3 losses
Battered by mortgage-related positions and credit losses, bond-insurance companies Ambac and MBIA both took a hit in the third quarter.
CDS losses hit Swiss Re
Swiss Re, the world’s second largest reinsurer, has reported a third quarter net loss of SFr 304 million ($262 million) after being hit by heavy mark-to-market writedowns on its structured credit exposures.