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ETF News

Industry Sounds Off On Paying ETF Market Makers

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Courtesy of James Armstrong

If issuers of exchange-traded funds could pay to attract market makers to their products, would there be more liquidity in ETFs? Or would paying market-makers create a dangerous precedent and harm long-term investors? Or, is Tim Quast, MD of trading analytics firm “Modern Networks IR” correct when suggesting to the SEC in his comment letter “..paying market makers could constitute a racketeering felony and would increase speculative, short-term trading rather than focusing the markets on capital formation..”?

Both Nasdaq and NYSE Arca have proposed programs allowing ETF issuers to pay fees to the exchanges for market-maker support. The proposals are similar to a program already implemented on the BATS exchange, which has a handful of ETF listings. These proposals, according to comment letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission, are drawing strong reactions from key industry figures.

The Investment Company Institute has come out in favor of the measures, arguing they could result in narrower spreads and more liquid markets. In a letter to the SEC, ICI’s general counsel, Ari Burstein, said the organization has long advocated changes to increase the efficiency of markets. “As ETF sponsors, ICI members have a strong interest in ensuring that the securities markets are highly competitive, transparent and efficient,” Burstein said. “Liquid markets are critical for ETFs, particularly smaller and less frequently traded ETFs.”

Vanguard, the mutual fund giant which also offers a number of ETFs, said it neither supports nor opposes the Nasdaq proposal and certainly does not support the NYSE Arca proposal, at least as it is currently structured.

In a letter concerning Nasdaq’s ETF initiative, Vanguard’s chief investment officer, Gus Sauter, said payments to market makers have the potential to distort the markets and create conflicts of interest. Though Nasdaq proposed several safeguards to prevent that from happening, Sauter suggested a longer review and comment period would be a good idea.

BlackRock, the nation’s largest ETF issuer is opposed to the idea of paying market-makers.

Continue reading →

ETF News, Tech Talk

Knight Seeks Lifeline After $440 Mil Loss : What’s Next?

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Courtesy of Olly Ludwig/IndexUniverse

Knight Capital (NYSE: KCG), the biggest ETF market maker in the U.S., is seeking financing after saying that a trading glitch involving its systems on Wednesday that affected 148 stocks will result in a $440 million pre-tax loss. The company’s stock was down 45 percent in early morning trade.

“The company is actively pursuing its strategic and financing alternatives to strengthen its capital base,” Knight said on Thursday in a press release, stressing that it will be business as usual for the company in the wake of the wayward trading episode.

The swiftly moving story is one of the more astonishing developments in the world of electronic securities trading, where Knight plays a dominant role. Industry sources say that whatever reputational challenges Knight faces at this very moment pale in comparison to the attractiveness of its business, or at least particular pieces of it.

The Jersey City, N.J.-based firm, the biggest ETF U.S. market maker, said in the press release that while the whole episode “severely impacted” its capital base, its broker-dealer units remain in compliance with net capital requirements.

*Editor insert: MarketsMuse spoke with one industry expert, who requests no mention of his name, but framed the Knight story as follows: “This is exactly the type of episode that should cause institutional fund managers to re-think how/where their orders are executed. Relying on a single market-making firm–which by definition, is counter-intuitive to the notion of best execution–is a recipe for disaster. The right approach is to use a qualified, agency-only liquidity aggregators– firms that focus on capturing best prices by canvassing a broad list of market-makers. The latter approach addresses the PM’s fiduciary obligation, and significantly mitigates dependence on one market-maker, particularly one that may have been perceived for being “too big to fail.”

The Accident That Happened

On Wednesday, Knight saw its stock drop by a third due to the wayward program trading involving its system. The episode was reportedly triggered by a human error that caused hundreds of trades to be executed in minutes instead of over a longer period.

“An initial review by Knight indicates that a technology issue occurred in the company’s market-making unit related to the routing of shares of approximately 150 stocks to the NYSE,” the company said in a prepared statement on Wednesday.

For the full IndexUniverse coverage, click here

ETF News

JPMorgan Caps Issuance on MLP ETN

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The ETF Professor, Benzinga Staff Writer

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) announced on Thursday that will cap issuance for the popular Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE: AMJ) at 129 million notes. The move is significant because with almost $4.2 billion in assets under management, the Alerian MLP Index ETN is the largest exchange-traded product offering exposure to MLPs.

The universe of MLP exchange-traded products has grown rapidly, but the Alerian MLP Index ETN and the ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP) combine for the bulk of the roughly $7.5 billion in MLP exchange-traded products assets under management, according to data furnished by WallachBeth Capital.

New York-based WallachBeth, one of the largest ETF execution firms in the U.S., said JPMorgan’s decision to cap issuance on AMJ could open the door for new MLP ETFs to gain assets. In a note published by the firm today, AMLP, the newly minted Yorkville High Income MLP ETF (NYSE: YMLP) and the Global X MLP ETF (NYSE: MLPA), another new fund, were cited as examples of fund that could potentially benefit from the AMJ issuance cap.

“When an ETP no longer allows for creations, the fund starts to trade like a closed end fund,” WallachBeth said in the note. The reasoning behind this is that the arbitrage mechanism which allows market makers to sell the ETP is no longer available. Without the ability to create, market makers may be less inclined to sell the fund short versus a hedge of the underlying assets.”

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ETF News

A Look At The New Hedge-Fund Guru ETF (GURU, ALFA, CPI)

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By Benzinga.com

For those that have always wanted to invest in a hedge fund, but can’t afford those pesky minimum investments (often well into six and seven figures) or for those that want to part with 2% or 3% in management fees on top of 20%-30% of the profits, the ETF industry is attempting to come to the rescue.

Hedge fund ETFs have been around for several years, but some new entrants to the hedge fund ETF game have popped up recently. The newest is the Global X Top Guru Holdings Index ETF GURU +0.33% , which debuted today.

GURU’s goal is to aggregate on a quarterly basis the expertise and knowledge of hedge fund managers into the transparent, cost-efficient and easily accessible format of an ETF—with no minimum investment, according to a statement issued by New York-based Global X.

Home to 52 stocks, GURU is an equal-weight fund as each of its constituents has an allocation of 1.96%. The ETF’s roster includes Apple AAPL -0.26% , Google GOOG -1.41% , Microsof MSFT -0.16% , Kraft KFT -0.13% , J.P. Morgan Chase JPM +3.19% , BHP Billiton BHP +0.59% and Cisco Systems CSCO +0.06% .

GURU tracks the top Guru Holdings Index uses a proprietary methodology to compile the highest conviction ideas from a select pool of hedge funds where the 13F information is most valuable.  Hedge funds with high turnover and non-concentrated positions are eliminated from the pool.  The fund is designed to rebalance quarterly in accordance with the 13F reports to capture any significant position changes, Global X said in the statement. Continue reading →

ETF News, People Profiles, Strike Price

UK’s Abydos Hedge Fund Using Options to Prepare for Iran Strike

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(Reuters) – Abydos Capital, a new hedge fund run by a former partner at one of London’s most high-profile oil investors, is worried about a potential military strike against Iran and plans to use options to protect his portfolio.

Jean-Louis Le Mee, Chief Investment Officer of Abydos, told Reuters he thinks there is a 25 to 50 percent chance of an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities, an act that would likely send stock markets tumbling and drive up oil prices, hitting hedge funds that hadn’t protected their portfolios.

Le Mee, one of the first hedge fund managers to discuss such a strategy, said he was planning to use options to profit from a spike in oil prices and a fall in equities via the S&P 500 index .SPX if Iran was attacked over its nuclear programme.

“There’s a high chance that something will happen either this summer in June/July or after the U.S. elections,” said Le Mee, whose former firm BlueGold made headlines in 2008 by calling the peak of the market. “If talks break down, then the Israelis could do something very quickly.

A typical hedging policy could see a fund buy call options, the right to buy at a certain price, on an asset it expects to rise, and buy put options, the right to sell at a predetermined price, on assets it expects to fall. Continue reading →

ETF News, People Profiles

Does Size Really Matter? (with ETF Returns)

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According to Benzinga.com’s ETF Professor, its not necessarily the size of the ETF, but the motion when it comes to investor returns.

From Benzinga’s April 23 edition:

“..There are plenty of instances in life when bigger is better. When it comes to exchange-traded products, bigger isn’t always associated with better [4]. At least when it comes to what should be investors’ primary consideration: Returns.

It has been documented that ETFs and ETNs with low average daily volume [5] and an assets under management number that may not be viewed as impressive by the so-called experts can outperform. In fact, all investing in an ETF with a bigger AUM total does is lead investors to a bigger fund, not larger returns [6].

Fortunately, a move away AUM and average daily volume as the primary determinants of an ETF’s worth is already under way.

“Some of the traders we talk to are using AUM and ADV a lot less now,” said Chris Hempstead, head of institutional sales and trading at WallachBeth Capital. “Some hedge funds using ETFs to hedge might use the larger ETFs because they just need short-term exposure, but buy-side traders are using AUM and ADV less and less.”

The statistics back up the assertion that bigger isn’t always better with ETFs. In an interview with Benzinga, Hempstead noted that in the case of the nine Select Sector SPDRs, all have been outperformed by a comparable fund of smaller stature on a year-to-date basis. Continue reading →

ETF News

TVIX: Case Study ETNs & ETFs to be Wary Of-

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Credit Suisse’s volatility-flavored ETN,  the VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN, aka “TVIX” is, for lack of a better phrase, broken.  And it ‘got broken’ in mid Feb when CS halted the creation process for this product.

Observed Chris Hempstead, the head of ETF trading for WallachBeth Capital, “the halt in the creation process caused the product to trade at an unnatural premium–as much as 80%– to the underlying NAV since the creation halt announcement was made.  For more than a month, hedge fund traders have been attempting to arbitrage the dislocation in pricing-and more than a few had based their strategies on the premise the creation process would not be resumed.  ”

Credit Suisse threw a fly into that ointment on Thursday night, when the firm announced it was re-opening the issuance of new units and, as Hempstead pointed out in desk notes to clients of his firm late Thursday night, “you can expect TVIX premiums to NAV to evaporate significantly, if not entirely when trading re-opens.”

Are there other products that display the same  unusual premium to NAV ‘features’?. Hempstead suggests that hedge fund traders who are dabbling in volatility-flavored products should take a second look at Market Vectors China ETF (PEK)  as well as ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short:  UVXY Continue reading →

ETF News, People Profiles

Glass Half Full of Apple (AAPL) Juice : ETF Observation

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We took the liberty of scraping an interesting note from this a.m.’s  Notes from the WallachBeth ETF Desk :

“…On to Apple: Today will sure set a new tone and a new era for Apple lovers and haters; the iPad 3 (aka iPad) has been released, praised and torn down. The company is announcing a dividend and share buyback program. This is what we know.  I am a big fan of Apple products and culture, and while that typically keeps me from being bearish on the stock , here is what you may not know, or, may not be paying attention to:  the overwhelming success of AAPL could lead to a short term bearish event in the stock: a special rebalance.

AAPL is currently >18.5% of the weight in NDX. If that weight goes over 24%, a special NDX rebalance could be triggered. Additionally, if the sum weight of all members with a weight over 4.5% is greater than 48% [currently ~42.5%], a special rebalance could be triggered. So, while each event in itself has a certain probability, we could be only one member away from reaching the threshold.

If you had to set alerts on your monitor, I would set them for those three and watch their weights. ..”

Chris Hempstead, Head of ETF Trading, WallachBeth Capital

 

 

 

ETF News, People Profiles, Strike Price

Institutions Eye Options: Buy-Writes and Butterflies

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Yes, the equities markets are on a roll; the bulls are boisterous, and the “buy and holders” are popping champagne corks. Given this scenario, who would even suggest the idea of a fiduciary fund manager employing option-based hedging strategies that can potentially cut into upside returns?? After all, even though major exchanges throughout the globe have facilitated option-based hedging products for almost 30 years, options are “too complicated,” right?

OK, I’ll admit that I’m hearing about the “growing number” of large institutional managers that are using options, but options are just too complicated for all but those few MIT-educated portfolio managers who have found themselves working for a select group of forward-thinking and open-minded institutions.

Am I right?? I mean, gee–if I’m a long-only hedge fund, an RIA, an endowment, a pension manager, a family office, or a corporate treasurer, I have to not only figure out what a strike price is, but I need to figure out the difference between a call and a put, I have to consider tax implications, calculate break-even points, and I have to worry about the risk of stocks being “called away”, and when that happens, I lose out on the gains that I know will come, because I only pick stocks (or ETFs) that will go up at least 10%-15% within a few months of buying them, and more likely, 20%-30% over the next two or three years.

Well, if you’re a fund manager that’s been walking and talking the markets for more than a few years, you might know that bulls and bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered. Other than single stocks such as AAPL, equities markets (just like any other asset class) are cyclical. Prices go up, down, or they go side-ways.

Surprise! After almost 30 years of tepid use by fund managers handcuffed by mandates, the use of options by responsible and conservative institutions is finally gaining traction. Continue reading →

ETF News

ETFs for #MarchMadness

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Someone with the handle “ETF Professor” is said to have studiously researched specific ETFs (and a few single stocks) that might bounce higher thanks to the billions that will be spent promoting, viewing, betting, and let’s not forget dining and imbibing, in the course of this week’s NCAA March Madness.

At the risk of diluting the institutional flavor of this blog by completely plagiarizing the aforementioned research, we take the high road with the new “Curator’s Code”  and invite you to find out why the Professor is pointing to the following symbols for a free throw:

BJK, GLD, PBS, PEJ, SLV, VT, CBS, CMG, MCD, YUM, GLTR

Click on this logo for the full tip sheet:

ETF News, People Profiles

Preferencing Preferred’s: PFF a BFF For Financials’ Fans?

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For those following flows, and in particular, fans of financials, a stand-out seems to be iShares’ U.S. Preferred Stock Index fund (NYSE ARCA:PFF), which is currently trading to yield 7%.

Preferred stocks, which are historically considered to be second-class citizens by those seeking “oomph” and predominantly issued by financial firms (75% of Pfd’s are courtesy of financial service companies), do offer the benefit of a dividend cushion. Unless the equities markets will continue their north-bound trajectory, there are plenty of people that appreciate the benefit of clipping coupons.

Harris Private Bank’s Chief Investment Officer Jack Ablin, recently spotlighted by SmartMoney for being a fan of select ETFs populated by Preferred’s says, “There’s more of an incentive to spread out the risk by way of an ETF. If things go sideways, you’ve still got a nice dividend.”

We won’t steal WSJ’s thunder, and even if SmartMoney’s audience includes sophisticated retail investors, the article is a good read for pros.

 

ETF News, People Profiles

Risk OFF! And, What Top Hedge Funds Say (or Won’t Say) About ETFs

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This morning’s precipitous decline in major equity indexes comes as no surprise to anyone, even if its the first Triple-Digit Decline in the Dow in 3 months.

Synonymous with big market moves, we think about what hedge funds are doing right now, and whether or not they’re exploiting ETFs as part of their hedging strategies. How prescient on the part of Pensions & Investments to issue a report yesterday “Hedge Funds mum about ETF use” in their effort to peel back the onion layers on hedge fund managers’ use of ETF products.

P&I reporter Christine Williamson delivers some good insight when writing:

Hedge fund managers are the 3rd biggest institutional users of exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products; but they’re reluctant to talk about it.

Why? “Investors in hedge funds are paying big fees for active management equity selection. If a long/short manager goes long individual equities and only shorts ETFs and (indexes), it is a terrible deal for investors (because) fees should be a lot lower,” Jim Vos, CEO, head of research and principal at hedge fund consultant Aksia LLC, New York, said in an e-mail.

That said, In aggregate, about 17% of hedge fund short positions and 4% of long positions were made through ETFs, estimated Goldman Sachs researchers from the company’s global economics, commodities and strategy research unit. The data is from the company’s Feb. 21 edition of “Hedge Fund Trend Monitor” report.

Aside from warming up to the two UBS ETRACS, hedge-fund tailored ETNs launched late last year by Mark Fisher and Dennis Gartman (OFF) and (ONN), what are the most common uses of ETFs by hedge fund managers? Read the full story:

ETF News, People Profiles

BlackRock Bulks Up in Europe: Expanding “ETP Education” Campaign

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However much the use of ETF and ETP products in Euro-Land continues to grow,  Global ETF Issuer iShares knows that it can grow faster and bigger.

Consistent with parent company BlackRock Inc.’s focus on staying in front of the pack, and as reported by IndexUniverseEU staff, iShares has recently introduced a “due diligence tool” aimed at helping professional investors obtain granular information about its European exchange-traded products.

According to iShares’ head of EMEA sales, David Gardner, “Our new “Know Your ETP” tool offers a robust framework, and clear standardised processes by which institutional investors can arrive an informed decision more effectively.”

On an objective note, ETF industry veteran Mike McCoy, a senior member of ETF liquidity aggregator WallachBeth Capital, who recently landed on the docks of London to help launch his firm’s new Euro ETF execution desk (in joint-venture with UK-based brokerage NSBO), said, “BlackRock certainly knows that the ‘educating your customer rule’ is integral to the evolution of ETF embracement. As quickly as the market is growing, its critical to maintain the education momentum with the spectrum of investors, however sophisticated they might be.”

For the complete story, click on the IU logo

ETF News, People Profiles, Tech Talk

Social Media ETF: Is this a tipping point

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In a Nov 15 story from CNN: the prospects for social media ETF “SOCL” were pretty much slammed.

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A social media exchange-traded fund has made its debut, but experts say to hold off before you “like” and “+1″ it to share it with all of your friends.

While the Global X Social Media ETF (SOCL), which began trading Tuesday at $14.98 per share, includes buzzworthy initial public offerings Groupon (GRPN), LinkedIn (LNKD), and Pandora (P), it lacks the world’s two rock star social media platforms since they have yet to go public: Facebook and Twitter.

“ETF and mutual fund providers have a habit of launching funds that they think will collect money from investors, but not necessarily make money for investors,” said Rick Ferri, founder of Portfolio Solutions and author of The ETF Book. “And I think this might be one of those ETFs.”

That’s why Ferri and other experts are dismissing the investment value of the ETF, calling it “premature” and a “gimmick” that’s capitalizing on the popularity of social media companies even though their record of generating profits is erratic.

“I don’t think the firms in this ETF are great proxies for the potential performance of Facebook and Twitter, and I think investors will be disappointed,” said Christian Magoon, CEO of Magoon Capital and an ETF industry consultant…”

Fast-forward a few months, and the above observations are [arguably] still accurate, if only judging by today’s chart:

But that’s not the point of this particular post, particularly when considering this ETF is still in its infancy, and regardless of whether this publication agrees or disagrees with above-noted observations.

The more poignant point is the inroads that social media applications are making within the financial services ecosystem. We’ve commented on this topic in the past (and will continue to!)…but we wanted to share a nice video clip that we just tripped over, courtesy of InvestmentNews’ coverage of a recent TD Ameritrade Conference.

This is Not to promote TD (unless they want to sign up as an advertiser on this site), but the video clip is worth watching if you’re an RIA, a consultant, or even if you’re a broker dealer. More…

[brightcove vid=1450098930001&exp=1079049310&w=300&h=225]

ETF News, People Profiles

Four New Brent Crude ETPs

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ETF Securities (ETFS) has expanded its Brent Crude exchange traded products offering against a background of rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The issuer unveiled four ETPs on the London Stock Exchange, as Brent Crude’s importance as the new global benchmark for oil rises. West Texas Intermediate has been beset with local logistical issues that have seen it move to a significant discount to Brent.

The range of ETPs provide investors with long, leveraged, short and forward exposures to the Brent oil price and complement its existing offering of 1-month, 1-year, 2-year and 3-year exposures.

In a recent poll by ETFS, three quarters of respondents said they expected tensions in the Middle East to escalate while two thirds said this would occur within the first half of this year. The vast majority of these respondents also said this would impact their asset allocation decisions.

The ETFS Brent Crude oil ETPs are issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited, a Jersey-based special purpose vehicle.

The vehicles track the performance of the Brent Crude sub-indices of the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index, via fully funded collateralised swaps.

Exposure to Brent Crude is obtained via multiple swap counterparties, including UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch acting through Merrill Lynch Commodities.

ETF News, Tech Talk

2 More Studies Say: ETFs NOT to Blame for Market Volatility

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Here’s a wake-up call to critics of the ETF world: two more unrelated and just-published research studies have acquitted the ETF industry of charges leveled by critics who have claimed ETFs are at the root of heightened market volatility.

In a newly-released report from the Investment Company Institute, which interrogated market volatility over the past 25 years, ICI’s experts (let’s presume their unbiased, OK?) concluded that ETFs have unfairly been cast as the dog wagging the tail, and accusations that “ETFs were the ‘match that ignited the Flash [Crash]’, or have in any other way been responsible for any unusual market volatility, are simply inaccurate and unjustified.

According to the report, “Heightened periods of volatility existed before ETFs (the most volatile during Black Monday ’87)”…more importantly,  “The market volatility that started before the financial crisis in mid-2007 and has continued through today has [simply] coincided with the rapid growth of the ETF market, as assets have grown from about $600 billion to more than $1 trillion.”  The report points out that “over the same time period, there was a prolonged global financial crisis that threatened to take down the international banking system and threw financial markets worldwide into turmoil.”

This report comes on the heels of a joint report issued by the SEC and the CFTC which determined that ETFs were not the cause of the May 2010 “Flash Crash”.  (Even if Editors here reserve comment on any potential conflicts these agencies might have), ICI’s report coincides with an earlier report study from Morningstar Inc., which investigated  and dismissed the notion that leveraged ETFs were causing increased turbulence late last year. The Morningstar report also pointed out that if leveraged ETFs were the cause of market volatility, the assets in the funds would rise and fall with volatility, but assets remained mostly steady from March 2009 to November 2011.

READ THE FULL STORY COURTESY OF INVESTMENT NEWS:

ETF News, Tech Talk

PIMCO Primes The Pump for Launch of ETF

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Its countdown time for all of those following PIMCO’s entry into the ETF space; on March 1,  the House that Bill Gross Built is scheduled to debut The PIMCO Total Return Exchange-Traded Fund under the ticker TRXT. Those that click on the link to the fund will be able to review the entire prospectus.

According to Securities Technology Monitor reporter Tom Steinert, “This is akin to the day in 1981 when IBM blessed the desktop computer as a product worth buying into.”

Because Gross is notorious for being an active manager (vs. passive), some industry observers fear that by virtue of PIMCO’s size,  this new ETF might somehow exacerbate the overall equity market volatility that some believe is attributable to ETFs in general. The editors here say “some people still believe the world is flat” and expert ETF traders that we’ve heard from dispel the notion that market volatility is attributable to ETF products.  Perhaps argument for the defense can be found simply by looking at the [declining] volatility over the past 3 months and the steadily increasing volumes in ETF products.

Alas, if only the SEC could see more clearly and recognize that its a handful of badly-designed apples in the ETF mix that are spoiling the reputation of the orchard.

Click on the STM logo above to read the entire story.

ETF News

HFTs Hampering Trade in ETFs? SEC Wants to Know.

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As reported by Reuters, U.S. securities regulators have widened their inquiry into the trillion-dollar market for exchange-traded funds, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Prompted by a delay in a big trade at a popular ETF, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a closer look at a possible connection between high-frequency traders and hedge funds jumping in and out of ETFs, and instances where ETF trades fail to settle on time, this person said.

The SEC’s inquiry is part of a wider probe that began last year and focused on complex ETFs that allow investors to magnify returns or bet against stock indexes.

U.S. and UK regulators are concerned that so-called settlement fails – when trades are not completed on time – could contribute to volatility and systemic risk in financial markets.

The probe’s main focus is on illiquid ETFs, but regulators are now also examining popular ETFs and failed trades, according to the person.

An SEC spokesman confirmed that the agency is looking into failed trades and ETFs, but declined to elaborate.

That said, the SEC might be barking up on the wrong tree, as many ETF experts discount criticism of the impact ETFs might have on trade settlement processes. In a recent report, State Street Corp, a Boston asset manager that created the first ETF in 1993, said that “short interest theoretically should have no impact on an ETF’s performance.”

ETF industry leaders say the data on ETF trade failures does not account for the fact that market-makers, the firms that do the bulk of ETF trading, have seven days to clear trades. The data assumes that all market participants must clear in four days, and any trade that settles later is counted as a failed trade by the National Securities Clearing Corp, a trade processing subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE