The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published the final report on principles for the regulation of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The report contains nine principles intended to guide the regulation of ETFs and foster industry best practices in relation to these products.

iShares, the world’s largest manager of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has launched the iShares MSCI Colombia Capped ETF (ICOL), a new fund providing targeted exposure to Colombian stocks. The fund, listed on the NYSE Arca, tracks the MSCI All Colombia Capped Index, a broad-market index measuring the performance of companies that are headquartered or listed in Colombia and have the majority of their operations based there. The fund complements iShares’ existing LatAm line-up, which includes products linked to Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and the region.

Markit, a leading provider of indices to exchange-traded funds, has announced the launch of the Markit iBoxx SGD, a family of bond indices designed to track the performance of sovereign and corporate debt denominated in Singapore dollars (SGD). The indices are the first to include comprehensive and detailed coverage of the SGD corporate bond market. The launch comes at a time when Singapore’s positive economic outlook and high credit rating are attracting a growing investor base to its local debt markets.

By David Stevenson – The China bears are rampant. In the space of just a few years, the ‘next great superpower’ has gone from hero to zero. If we track asset flows, China is about as unpopular as you can possibly get. As a consequence, Chinese equities are now ludicrously cheap despite impressive earnings growth and healthy dividends. Fortunes could be about to change, however, as index providers such as MSCI consider the inclusion of China A shares in major global indices.

Just over a year since formally joining forces, index providers Barclays and MSCI have rolled out the Barclays MSCI ESG Fixed Income Indices, a family of fixed income indices based on environmental, social & governance (ESG) factors. The indices, co-branded Barclays MSCI, combine Barclays’ experience in fixed income indices with MSCI’s strength in ESG analytics and represent the first time ESG considerations have been systematically integrated into bond indices.

Vanguard has announced the cross-listing of four Irish-domiciled exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Following the listing, a total of seven Vanguard ETFs are now available on the exchange. Axel Lomholt, head of international product development and management at Vanguard, commented: “Continuing to list our ETFs on the SIX Exchange underscores our commitment to the Swiss market and the European market more broadly. Making our ETFs more readily available across Europe gives more investors a low-cost way to reach their investment goals.”

The US market for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will likely grow to more than $3.5 trillion in assets over the next five years, according to a new industry projection by iShares, the ETF business of BlackRock. Commenting, Mark Wiedman, Global Head of iShares, said: “In the last decade, ETFs have evolved from obscurity to a $2+ trillion industry, embraced by retail and institutional investors alike. But these are still early days in ETF adoption. Even in the most mature market, the US, there is an incredibly bright future.”

Boost ETP, a London-based provider of short and leveraged exchange-traded products (ETPs), has signed up Morgan Stanley as a new Authorised Participant (AP). Morgan Stanley becomes Boost’s sixth AP, alongside ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Flow Traders, UBS and Virtu Financial. APs undertake the responsibility of creating and redeeming units in an ETP in the primary market. Theoretically, a greater number of APs should lead to increased liquidity and tighter pricing.

Nasdaq OMX Global Indexes and Accretive Asset Management have formed a new partnership to promote and develop the BulletShares range of target-maturity corporate bond indices. The indices, which have been co-branded Nasdaq BulletShares Indexes, currently have more than $2.5 billion in exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets linked to them.

UBS Global Asset Management has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the London Stock Exchange. The fund, the UBS-ETF CMCI Composite, offers diversified exposure to the commodities asset class via a widely diversified and dynamic commodities index. Based on the UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index (CMCI) Composite, an index developed by UBS in cooperation with Bloomberg, the fund delivers access to 28 commodity futures contracts covering the energy, industrial metals, precious metals, agriculture and livestock sectors.