Latest: Allianz sets aside US$4.2 billion for Structured Alpha lawsuits

Allianz Group is setting aside €3.7 billion (US$4.2 billion) to cover expected settlements with US investors and government officials over the collapse of its Structured Alpha Funds, the company said on 17 February.

The provision booked in its financial statements 2021 has reduced the group’s net income by €2.8 billion.

‘The anticipated settlements are an important step towards a resolution of the various proceedings,’ said Allianz. ‘Discussions with remaining plaintiffs, the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission remain ongoing and the timing and nature of any global or coordinated resolution of these matters is not certain.’

Therefore, the total financial impact of the Structured Alpha matter cannot be reliably estimated and Allianz SE expects to incur additional expenses before these matters are finally resolved, according to the German financial services provider.

In addition, Allianz SE reported that its Solvency II ratio reached 209 percent as well as the launch of a new share buy-back program for 2022 which will amount to up to €1 billion. Allianz SE will cancel all repurchased shares

Connexor rolled out to Spanish warrant issuers

As part of the continuing integration of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) into SIX Swiss Exchange, the bourse’s reference data distribution platform, Connexor, is being made available to warrants issuers in Spain to streamline the process of warrants’ admission to trading, by automating the data flow from the issuers to BME and including Iberclear.

Connexor aims to enable issuers to have their product admitted to trading while it allows non-listed instrument data to be captured and distributed in a standardised manner, which guarantees error-free information across the board. Issuers can additionally automate some of their reporting processes, making it easier to electronically submit product event information during the lifecycle of a product.

Connexor is based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML) data format and is aimed at facilitating the management of reference data throughout the entire life cycle of a financial product.

Last year, 1.15 million newly issued products across various asset classes have been submitted to the platform including structured products (including warrants), OTC derivatives, exchange traded products (ETPs), fixed income securities and life insurance policies, according to the exchange.

Connexor is available in more than ten countries (Switzerland, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, United States, and others).

Intermonte joins Spectrum Markets as new member

Spectrum Markets, the pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives, welcomes Intermonte, an Italian investment bank and intermediary for Italian and international institutional investors, as a direct member of the exchange.

Intermonte will enable its extensive network of more than 650 financial institutions and Italian banks to offer their retail clients the opportunity to trade securitised derivatives on Spectrum. It also opens the door to issuers on Spectrum requiring quick access to potential market making services.

‘In our view the Italian market is ready for some evolution, in terms of responding to client demand for new technology and greater innovation at a low cost,’ said Nicky Maan, CEO of Spectrum Markets.

China expands pilot programme for retirement savings WM products

From March 1, China will widen the scope of a pilot programme for wealth management (WM) products aimed bolstering retirement savings to 10 cities and 10 wealth subsidiaries of Chinese banks (理财子), China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced on 25 February.

The country will add Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Changchun and Chongqing in addition to the existing four cities (Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu and Qingdao). In the meantime, the issuers will expand from ICBC Wealth, CCB Wealth, CMB Wealth, Everbright Wealth to BOCOM Wealth, BOC Wealth, ABC Wealth, PSBoC Wealth, CIB Wealth and Citic Wealth.  

The respective funding cap for those new and existing issuers is set at CNY10 billion and CNY50 billion with a one-year pilot period.

Hang Seng Indexes launches three; licenses ESG index for ETF  

On 21 February, the Hong Kong index provider has rolled out the Hang Seng Index CNY, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index CNY and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index USD, all of which are calculated and disseminated once after trading hours on each trading day.

In addition, Hang Seng Investment Management on 24 February went live with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the performance of the HSI ESG Enhanced Select Index, which is a customised index that aims to combine the Hang Seng Index with ESG initiatives from international lens.

The new listing brings the number of ESG-linked ETFs in Hong Kong SAR to six – the others are Harvest CSI 300 ESG Leaders Index ETF (RMB/HKD) and Haitong MSCI China A ESG ETF (RMB/USD/HKD). It posted a trading volume of 297,100 and 36,200 on 24 and 25 February, respectively.

Bursa Malaysia completes first physical delivery of East Malaysia Crude Palm Oil futures

The delivery, which was completed in Sabah on 17 February, saw a total of eight contracts, representing 200 metrics tonnes of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) transacted between the seller, Green Edible Oil, and the buyer, Kunak Refinery at one of the approved port tank installations in East Malaysia, namely in Sandakan, Sabah.

The Port Tank Installation is operated by Sawit Bulkers Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sawit Kinabalu Group, which is the premier investment arm of the Sabah state government in the oil palm industry.

The FEPO contract, which went live on 4 October 2021, provides East Malaysia CPO market participants a new avenue to engage in physical deliveries and hedge their positions in the physical CPO market, according to the exchange.