News on the capital markets, securities and financial industry |  |
Morning Bell |  |  |
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- Bond funds' increased popularity may be ending
Despite warnings about the lack of profitability, investors have been pouring money into bond funds for the past two years. January broke a string of 20 straight months of equity withdrawals leading to cautious optimism. However, analysts say you can't read too much into one month. "In order to make any kind of definitive statement about whether people are rotating back into equities, we need to see this pattern for a good five or six months," said Shelly Antoniewicz of the Investment Company Institute. Barron's (special access for SmartBrief readers)
(2/11)
Industry News |  |  |
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- SEC-Citi settlement case goes before appeals court
A push by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup for reinstatement of a mortgage-bond settlement that was rejected by a federal judge in 2011 went before an appeals court last week, with hints from judges toward calling for a new settlement. The original case relates to Citi allegedly not revealing conflicts of interest while selling a mortgage-bond product. Reuters
(2/8), The Wall Street Journal/Law Blog
(2/8)
- G-20 is expected to focus on positive economic signs
Leaders from the Group of 20 nations are set to meet Friday in Moscow, and analysts think that with enough positive signs in the world economy, the talks will be upbeat and forward focused. "On the whole, recent activity data have been encouraging of our view that the global economy is improving, albeit slowly," said Simon Hayes, a Barclays Capital economist. Even Japan has curbed currency-war fears in recent days, with Finance Minister Taro Aso suggesting that the yen's weakening has been too drastic. Reuters
(2/10)
Washington Roundup |  |  |
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- EBSA: Swaps trading by pension funds won't trigger fiduciary duty
The Employee Benefits Security Administration released an opinion last week that eased the concerns of pension-plan sponsors whose brokers were hesitant to execute swaps. The brokers were worried that they would be held to a fiduciary standard, but the EBSA opinion said "[i]t does not appear that Congress contemplated that (clearing members) would act as ERISA fiduciaries with respect to plan customers. The swaps regulations ... similarly do not envision" such a requirement. Registration is now open for SIFMA's Private Client Conference on April 25 in Chicago. Pensions & Investments (free registration)
(2/8)
- Commentary: Large ratings agencies remain entrenched
Many financial-market observers are probably taking a better-late-than-never attitude toward the Justice Department's lawsuit against Standard & Poor's over its ratings leading up to the global financial crisis, Gretchen Morgenson writes. "Given that the financial crisis began unfolding more than five years ago, it is discouraging to see how entrenched the large and established ratings companies remain," Morgenson writes. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
(2/9)
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SIFMA News |  |  |
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- Latest SIFMA Research: U.S. Securities Industry Employment & U.S. Municipal Credit Report
SIFMA Research released the U.S. Securities Industry Employment, 2012 Q4, a report with trends of industry employment, with a greater focus on New York state and New York City giving a perspective using quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year data. Also, SIFMA Research released the U.S. Municipal Credit Report, 2012 Q4 and Full Year, a quarterly report on the trends and statistics of the U.S. municipal bond market, both taxable and tax-exempt. Issuance volumes, outstanding, credit spreads, highlights and commentary are included. SIFMA Research reports include regular outlooks and forecasts, research quarterlies, and essential industry factbooks and yearbooks.
- Early-bird rates available: SIFMA Tech 2013 -- June 18-19 -- NYC
For 30 years, SIFMA Tech has brought together several thousand financial services firms, industry leaders, regulators and solution providers for critical updates and expert outlooks on every issue that faces the financial services technologist today. Harness technological solutions to achieve an infrastructure that keeps you and your firm on the cutting-edge and see how products from solution providers stack up against your in-house expertise. Check out the new, official SIFMA Tech website for details on this year's offering and take advantage of early-bird rates.
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