Latin America: Investors News Letter 10 May 2013

Mexico

Mexico Industry Output Falls Three Times More Than Forecast

Mexico’s industrial production fell three times more than analysts forecast in March, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will cut interest rates for the second time since 2009 later this year.

Factbox: Key facts about Mexico’s tax system

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s new government has promised a comprehensive review of its tax system, to be announced in the second half of 2013 along with an overhaul of energy policy.

Obama tells Mexicans a ‘new Mexico’ is emerging

US-Mexico Stereotypes Must Be Broken

America Movil sees material impact from Mexico telecom reform

Brazil

Despite winning top world trade job, even Brazil looks beyond WTO

Brazil campaigned hard to get the top job at the World Trade Organization this week but behind closed doors even it acknowledges that the WTO’s main mission – pushing forward in global trade talks – looks for the moment like a lost cause.

BM&FBovespa Quarterly Earnings Trail Estimates as Costs Increase

Petronas Malaysia bolsters Brazil’s Batista with $850 million oil-field buy

Venezuela’s Maduro gets firm Brazilian backing, trade

Brazilian M&A Picks Up as Asians Seek Cheaper Oilfields

Latin America

Argentina’s Deadbeat Special: Buy a 4% Bond or Go to Jail

Panama Canal Cuts Water Use as Drought Prompts Energy Rationing

Brazil’s Odebrecht plans $20 billion spend, targets Peru as key investment
CHICAGO TRIBUNE – Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht plans to invest $20 billion globally over the next three years, mostly in Latin America and much of it in Peru

Saipem wins $500m offshore contracts in Latin America
– Italy-based engineering services provider Saipem has received new engineering and construction (E&C) offshore contracts, worth a total value of $500m, in Latin America.

APMT prepares for high growth markets
Although global container volumes are not predicted to grow as rapidly over the next five years as they have over the past decade, high growth emerging markets will require higher levels of productivity and rely heavily on expanded inland services

Cartagena aims to be a global megaport by 2017
The Colombian Caribbean port of Cartagena is undertaking extensive infrastructure and technology upgrades in an effort to be one of the world’s 30 best megaports by 2017.

Filed under: Argentina, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Energy & Environment, Malaysia, Mexico, News, Peru, Risk Management, Venezuela, America Movil, Argentina, BM&FBOVESPA, Brazil, Colombia, Commodities, Energy, FX Foreign Exchange, Infrastructure, Investment, Latin America, Merger, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Risk Management, Sea Ports, Tax Exemption, Telecommunication, Trade

Hong Kong and Singapore as Asia´s Financial Gateways

Celent predicts a paradigm shift around access to Asia. There is likely to be two gateways, providing access to different Asian regions, with Singapore emerging as the preferred gateway to Southeast Asia and Hong Kong becoming the gateway to Mainland China.

In a new report, the third of a series looking at the financial markets in Hong Kong and Singapore, Celent aims to provide a comparative analysis of Asia’s two main financial gateways, focusing particularly on derivatives. Asia’s Tale of Two Cities: Hong Kong and Singapore as Financial Gateways begins by noting that Western governments have emerged from the financial crisis in a weakened state, with economic prosperity blunted by high unemployment and an emerging debt crisis. The question is no longer when or if we need to enter the Asian markets, but how to best think about the issues of accessibility, entering the market, developing products, and forming strategic partnerships. The fundamental question that needs to be asked now is: “Where do we go from here, Hong Kong or Singapore?”

Although the HKEx and SGX may not be the biggest derivatives players in Asia-Pacific, they tend to be the most accessible for segments located outside the region. Taking advantage of their geographic location, political climate, and internal strengths, these city-states are poised to become hubs for trading of Asia’s regional products while also being easily accessed by US traders via retail trading accounts.

There are several factors that are likely to continue to drive growth in the derivatives market. These include:

• A relatively muted response to regulating over-the-counter markets as compared with the US and Europe. The type of products that led to the financial crisis in the West are not widely established throughout Asia, and as a result, the regulatory structure governing OTC markets are unlikely to change significantly.

• Continued desire to manage foreign exchange risk.

• Continued enhancement of processes of structuring derivatives risk management policies.

“We are seeing changes in relation to access to Asia. Hong Kong is no longer destined to become the sole hub to Southeast Asia,” says Alexander Camargo, Analyst and coauthor of the report. “Inherent strengths in Singapore are making it an extremely attractive financial gateway. Both English and Chinese are frequently spoken in Singapore, making it an ideal cross-roads for East and West. Furthermore, Singapore is viewed by most Asian countries as a neutral party and less politically tied to China than Hong Kong. This is likely to entice Indian investors and even Japanese and Korean investors to Singapore’s shores.”

However, this does not mean that Hong Kong will recede as a major financial center in Asia. Hong Kong residents are often fluent in both English and Chinese; contract laws are strong; and there remain strong historical ties to the West. As a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong has stronger political ties to China. Hong Kong has also been busy integrating its financial markets with mainland China. These factors make it likely that Hong Kong will become a key gateway to mainland China.

This report begins with an overview of each country’s financial infrastructure and regulations, providing an introduction to the countries’ various demand market segments, followed by a look at the main exchanges, HKEx and SGX. A summary of HKEx and SGX focuses on derivatives trading, providing a brief description of products offered, market access, alliances, and clearing on the exchanges. The report then looks at each country’s fixed income markets, OTC derivatives, and FX markets. It concludes with a discussion of market supremacy and also the countries’ ongoing efforts to improve market structure and access.

Source: Bobsguide, 10.02.2012

Filed under: Asia, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, ASEAN, Asia Strategy, China 中国, Derivatives, FX Foreign Exchange, HKEx Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hong Kong, Regulation, Retail Investors, Risk Management, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange, Singapore, SMX Singapore Merchantile Exchange, Trading Hubs

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, Asia, CameronFIX, FIX, Japan, MetaBit, NYSE Euronext, NYSE Technology, ORC, Tokyo, Trade Connectivity, XiliX

ASEAN Exchanges plans on track to promote ASEAN as an asset class

Following the November 2011 ASEAN Exchanges CEOs meeting, the ASEAN Exchanges CEOs today announced that the collaboration framework is on track towards meeting its goals of collectively promoting ASEAN as a highly investable asset class.

The Philippine Stock Exchange President and CEO, Hans Sicat said, “the marketing of the ASEAN Stars and the work on an ASEAN index series continues as planned with the ASEAN Exchanges collaboration members. The 2012 marketing activities for ASEAN Exchanges will be finalised at our scheduled CEOs meeting on December 2nd in Hanoi.”

The seven ASEAN Exchanges have a combined market capitalization of approximately USD2.0 trillion and more than 3,600 companies listed on their exchanges. Some of these companies are the largest and most dynamic companies in the world, including leaders in finance and banking, energy, telecommunications, commodities, automotive manufacturing and other industrial sectors.

The CEOs also announced the awaited roll-out plan of the ASEAN Trading Link which will see the participation of member exchanges taking place progressively in stages. The first stage will see the connectivity of Singapore Exchange and Bursa Malaysia in June 2012 and the Stock Exchange of Thailand added in August 2012 after its new trading engine goes live. The participation dates of the other ASEAN Exchanges collaboration members, namely, Hanoi Stock Exchange, HoChiMinh Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange and The Philippines Stock Exchange will be announced at a future date.

Tajuddin Atan of Bursa Malaysia Berhad said, “The three bourses that will participate in the first stage of the ASEAN Trading Link represent approximately 70% of the market capitalization of the 7-member collaboration, thus offering substantial investment opportunities for investors.”

Source: MondoVisione, 17.11.2011

Filed under: Exchanges, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, ASEAN, Bursa, Exchanges, HaSTC Hanoi Stock Exchange, HOSE Ho Chi Ming Stock Exchange, Indonesia, Philippines, SET, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange, Thailand, Trade Connectivity, Vietnam

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, Algo Trading, Asia, Australia, メタビット, China 中国, Commodities, Daniel Burgin, Derivatives, DMA Direct Market Access, Exchanges, FIX, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, MetaBit, MLH Market Liquidity Hub, New Zealand, NYSE Euronext, Order Routing, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Trade Connectivity, Trading Hubs, Trading Network, XiliX

Asia Trader & Investor Conference, Singapore 07-08 May 2011

ATIC @Singapore 2011 will feature more than 40 seminars conducted by international and local gurus and experts.  The Asian Trader and Investment Convention – Singapore

Covering topics like:

Futures | Equities | Options | ETF | CFD | Commodities | FOREX | Warrants | Alternative Investment | Property | Insurance | Managed Funds

Event Highlights

• First in bringing breakthrough and new methods of trading
• Over 50 investment educational seminars
• A Specialised Panel of top analysts who will conduct real-time analyses of the same stock
• Special Trading Focus Workshops on Stocks, Futures, Commodities, Gold, ETFs, Options and Warrants
• Stock Analysis on Regional Markets by International Traders
• Investor Clinics that help them improve trading
• Investment Network Platform with different market segment experts
• Property Investment Showcase – with property investment education and special panel discussion on Property vs Stock Investments
• The largest Finance and Investment Book fair

First launched in 2006, Asia Trader and Investor Convention (ATIC) event has travelled to 7 Asian Cities, i.e., Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Mumbai, Shenzhen and Tokyo. With participation by over 300 financial services companies, including securities exchanges, retail and consumer banks, securities brokerage firms, asset/fund management firms, listed companies and other financial services providers, ATIC events have attracted over 100,000 active traders and serious investors across Asia.

Source: The ATIC, 05.05.2011

Filed under: Asia, China, Events, Exchanges, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Vietnam, Art Investment, Asia, ATIC, CFD Contracts For Difference, CME, Commodities, Currency, Derivatives, ETF, FOREX, Fund Distribution, Futures and Options, Insurance, NASDAQ, Property, Real Estate, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange, Singapore, Stephen Lai, The Red Cliff Group, TheNextView, Wine Investment

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, Algo Trading, Asia, Australia, Capital Markets, China 中国, Daniel Burgin, Derivatives, DMA Direct Market Access, ETF, FIX, Hong Kong, ICDX Indonesia Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, MetaBit, MLH Market Liquidity Hub, Order Routing, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Trade Connectivity, Trading Hubs, Trading Network, Trading System, XiliX

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, Asia, BlackRock, Brazil, Chile, Emerging Markets, ETC Exchange Traded Commodities, ETF, Europe, Latin America, Mercados Emergentes, Mexico

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: http://www.asiaetrading.com, 02.01.2011

Filed under: Australia, China, Exchanges, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, Arrowhead, ASEAN, ASX Australian Stock Exchange, CFFE China Financia Futures Exchange, CHi-east, DCE Dalian Commodity Exchange, Exchanges, FT India Financial Technologies Group, Malaysia, Merger, NSE National Stock Exchange India, Order Routing, SEBI Securities Exchange Board of India, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange, smart order routing, SMX Singapore Merchantile Exchange, TSE Tokyo Stock Exchange

Asean exchanges select Nyse Technologies to build trading network

A group of Asean stock exchanges have appointed Nyse Technologies to build a direct market access electronic trading link.

Last February Bursa Malaysia, the Philippine Stock Exchange, Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Thailand outlined plans to create a single access point to ease cross-border trading and attract more international fund flows into the region. Indonesia’s exchange was initially part of the group but is no longer involved.

The partners have now signed a letter of intent appointing Nyse Euronext’s IT unit to design, build and manage the technology required for the trading link.

Nyse Technologies says its system will be underpinned by a resilient networking infrastructure that will interconnect the Asean member exchange’s and, through them, their respective communities.

The system will include services that tap this network to provide integrated market data feeds from all the participating markets and a standardised entry point for trading. Expansion of the trading link’s markets will be helped by the risk management and controls put in place, says Nyse.

In addition, the system will integrate with the Nyse Euronext communication network infrastructure, SFTI. This will give STFI members streamlined and cost effective access to trading in the Asean Trading Link markets.

Duncan Niederauer, CEO, Nyse Euronext, says: “The Asean Trading Link will strengthen the competitiveness of the member exchanges and enable them to better serve their customers. National and regional interest will be well served by giving investors greater access to global capital to facilitate new development, growth and wealth creation.”

Francisco Edralin Lim, CEO, Philippine Stock Exchange, adds: “Nyse Technologies brings to the table vast experience in the Exchange solutions business and we are confident that they will deliver cutting edge solutions that meet all our requirements. We are also excited about the possibilities of leveraging their extensive order routing networks to bring order flow into the Asean markets.”

Source, Finextra, 08.02.2010

Filed under: Asia, Exchanges, Malaysia, News, Singapore, Trading Technology, ASEAN, Bursa, DMA Direct Market Access, Exchanges, Indonesia, Malaysia, NYSE Euronext, Order Routing, Philippines, SET, SGX Singapore Stock Exchange, Thailand, Trade Connectivity

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, Asset Management, Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Mexico, Private Banking, Retail Banking, Santander, Singapore, Taiwan, Wealth Management

ETF: BlackRock ETF Landscape Industry Review November 2009

BlackRock has just published the November 2009 edition of its monthly ETF Landscape Industry Review. This report is a review of the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) industry through the end of October 2009.

At the end of October 2009 the global ETF industry had 1,859 ETFs with 3,327 listings and assets of US$941.85, from 97 providers on 40 exchanges around the world.

Download report hereBlack Rock ETF Lamdscape November 2009

Source: MondoVisione, 11.12.2009

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Bursa Malaysia Selects Thomson Reuters For Data Distribution Platform

Thomson Reuters today announced it has been selected by Bursa Malaysia to deliver a new data distribution platform to support their growing trading business. Under the terms of the agreement Thomson Reuters will provide its enterprise platform for high performance information management and real time market data dissemination, improving the services offered by the exchange to brokers.

Following an intensive evaluation phase, Bursa Malaysia selected Thomson Reuters based on the performance and scalability of its solutions to establish an effective and reliable data management platform for the Exchange. The offering combines the latest versions of Thomson Reuters Market Data System and direct feed technology to deliver a low latency, fully redundant and highly scalable real time platform. The platform integrates incoming data feeds from Bursa Malaysia and publishes them for distribution to their members. Market participants will gain unparalleled performance for price discovery, transparency and price improvement.

Lim Jit Jee, Chief Information Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “As our market grows bigger and more sophisticated, there is greater need to ensure that our data distribution platform caters to speed and scalability of the changing landscape. This new market data gateway from Thomson Reuters will be beneficial to our customers as it allows the Exchange to package market data according to our customers’ needs, as well as ensure that information is distributed in an expedient manner.”

Edward Haddad, Managing Director, ASEAN, South Asia & Pacific, Thomson Reuters, said: “By providing Bursa Malaysia a complete data delivery solution, Thomson Reuters is reinforcing its commitment and ability to provide market leading technology, data, and support services to global exchanges. We are delighted to collaborate with Bursa Malaysia in support of their evolving infrastructure.”

This agreement further underlines Thomson Reuters ability to provide exchanges and electronic trading platform providers with flexible, high performance technology and content solutions to support their business needs.

Source: MondoVisione, 09.12.2009

Filed under: Asia, Data Management, Data Vendor, Exchanges, Malaysia, Market Data, News, Trading Technology, Asia, Bursa, Data Management, Data Vendors, Exchanges, Low Latency, Malaysia, Market Data, Reuters Thomson

Asia:NPLs and SMEs to provide distressed opportunities

Distressed specialists define their terminology and give their take on the market at the second AsianInvestor/FinanceAsia Distressed and Troubled Asset Investing Summit, held in Tokyo.

“What exactly is distress?” reflected AsianInvestor editor Jame DiBiasio at a panel he moderated on Monday at the Tokyo Distressed and Troubled Asset Investing Summit. “Is it a good asset from a distressed seller, or an asset itself that is in bad shape?”

The panel of distressed experts plumped for the former — they want good assets that are being flogged off by an imperilled owner.

“We prefer something that requires re-engineering, assuming that there is some enterprise value left,” said Steve Moyer, a portfolio manager at Pimco. “Banks couldn’t afford to take the losses on clearing portfolios of loans until they rebuild capital. That accomplished, they can begin the process.”

Edwin Wong, a former distressed-investing managing director at Lehman Brothers, and regarded by some in those halcyon days as the finest exponent of distressed investing practice in the hemisphere, recently started his own fund management company, SSG Capital Management.

“Unlike the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, in which all sizes of companies went bankrupt, we’re not seeing it this time around so much with the big companies,” he said. “However, private companies and smaller corporates have built up a lot of leverage, and that’s where we see the main opportunity in China, India and Indonesia.”

In answer to the old conundrum ‘what is the most famous thing that Belgium has ever produced?’, perhaps Michel Lowy will be a contender, if his new firm SC Lowy succeeds.

Lowy says distressed investors have been sharpening their pencils for the past 18 months, expecting lots of deals, only to be disappointed by the available opportunities. He hopes that will change as commercial banks finally bite the bullet and sell off non-performing portfolios.

He also perceives differences geographically in the structure of opportunities on offer. “In North Asia and other sophisticated Asian economies, there is a weighting towards public companies,” Lowy says. “Elsewhere in Asia, there are more family-owned companies. The latter are often in places where the creditor has more limited rights. It’s going to be harder to gain control of a company there by converting debt to equity.”

Source: AsianInvestor.net, 18.11.2009

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China and India – Himalayas, Water and growing conflicts

The brewing disputes and growing concerns of the Himalayan Region by worlds two most populus nations, is a further indication of increasing dangers of latent resource wars, particularly on water. The continuing desertification in China and migration to coastal region increase pressure. While planned deviation of water ways to Chinese low lands could severely affect South- and South East Asia, see also

• Global Warming affects Asian Financial Hubs -Yangtze faces climate treath
• Antartic ice loss vaster, faster then thought:Study, AFP 24.11.2009

Political Hands across the Himalayas, FT, 15.11.2009

Excerpt: India and China are touted as white knights coming to the rescue of the world economy. Considerable hope rests on these two countries, with fast-paced growth, developing domestic markets and high savings rates, reviving demand and leading other languishing parts of the world out of recession.

The two rising powers, however, may yet be clashing knights. For in New Delhi it is fear of Beijing, rather than partnership, that all too frequently characterises the trans-Himalayan relationship. While some size up trade balances and growth trajectories, others are measuring missile ranges and comparing military parades.

Mr Mishra advised Atul Behari Vajpayee, the former premier. His views, albeit hawkish, are respected by the current Congress party-led government and carry weight with the diplomatic community.

So his recent forecast that India might face a second military front within five years turned heads. The former intelligence chief predicted that India could find itself locked in an armed stand-off simultaneously with Beijing and Pakistan, the traditional rival.

Mr Mishra’s suspicions of China have been newly aroused by Beijing’s warm relationship with Islamabad and its supply of military hardware to Pakistan’s army.

They have also been stoked by territorial claims to Arunachal Pradesh, a north-eastern Indian state, and predictions on Chinese websites that India, a country of huge diversity, is doomed to fall apart.

Mr Mishra says China’s stridency in its territorial ambitions has grown over the past two years to a level not seen since the early 1960s. Moreover, he accuses China of trying to bring into question India’s sovereignty over the state at the international level.

Military strategists interpret China’s policies as a regional power play. They say that tying India up within its own borders prevents it from projecting itself in the region and rivalling China.

In spite of the fighting talk in India, the relationship between India and China holds much more potential than antagonism. China’s impressive record of infrastructure development and lifting people out of poverty holds lessons for India. Likewise, India’s democratic credentials and inclusiveness are instructive to China.

Read full article hear:  15.11. 2009 by James Lamont in New Delhi

The high stakes of melting Himalayan glaciers, CNN 05.10.2009

Execerpt – The glaciers in the Himalayas are receding quicker than those in other parts of the world and could disappear altogether by 2035 according to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. The result of this deglaciation could be conflict as Himalayan glacial runoff has an essential role in the economies, agriculture and even religions of the regions countries.

Satellite data from the Indian Space Applications Center, in Ahmedabad, India, indicates that from 1962 to 2004, more than 1,000 Himalayan glaciers have retreated by around 16 percent. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China’s glaciers have shrunk by 5 percent since 1950s.

Dr. Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist, physicist and leader in the International Forum on Globalization, has just returned from a “Climate Yatra,” a research journey to the Himalayas to study the impact of climate change and the glacial melt upon communities in Asia.

“Himalayan rivers support nearly half of humanity,” Dr. Shiva told CNN. “Everyone who depends on water from the Himalayas will be affected.”

Both India and China are exploring opportunities to harness Himalayan waters for hydroelectric power projects, and while the initial melt promises to provide plenty of water for both sides, the loss of glaciers could lead to water shortages further in the future.

Water-related conflicts have already been witnessed in other parts of the globe such as in the West Bank and in Darfur.

According to Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, almost 70 percent of the non-monsoon flows in almost all the Himalayan rivers come from glacier melt.

International water security issues within Asia could be likely since the waters of the Indus, Ganges and the Brahmaptura basins flow into China in the upstream, and are shared across South Asia in the downstream.

Dr. Shiva believes the situation will render major security issues, between India and China particularly, as flows reduce and demands intensify.

Read full article here: CNN, 05.10.2009

 

Filed under: Asia, China, India, Malaysia, News, Risk Management, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, 2012, Agriculture, ASEAN, Black Swan, China 中国, Climate, Confidence Crisis, Environment, Himalaya Region, India, Politics, Resource Crisis, Risk Management, Social Crisis