European certificates market slightly weaker in the fourth quarter
Stock exchanges record turnover of EUR 20.7 billion
The turnover of investment certificates and leverage products traded on the European stock exchanges in the fourth quarter of 2012 was EUR 20.7 billion, or 13.4 percent lower than in the third quarter of the year. In year-on-year terms, the decline amounted to 21.9 percent. This is shown by the latest market data collected by the European Structured Investment Products Association EUSIPA) from its members and analysed by Derivative Partners Research AG.
Six national associations contributed to the market statistics: Zertifikate Forum Austria (ZFA), Association Française des Produits Dérivés de Bourse (afpdb), Deutscher Derivate Verband (DDV), Associazione Italiana Certificati e Prodotti di Investimento (ACEPI), the Swedish Exchange-Traded Investment Products Association (SETIPA) and the Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA). The trading volume of investment products recorded by the stock exchanges was around EUR 10 billion in the fourth quarter. This represents a decline of 14.7 percent relative to the prior quarter. Investment certificates accounted for 48.4 percent of total volume. Trading in leverage products was also down in comparison with the third quarter of the year. This means that the trading volume dipped by 12.2 percent to EUR 10.7 billion. Leverage products accounted for 51.6 percent of total turnover on the stock exchanges of the member countries.
As of the end of December 2012, 420,238 investment certificates and 563,761 leverage products were listed on the stock exchanges of the EUSIPA member countries. Compared to the prior quarter the number of listed products declined by 3.5 percent. In year-on-year terms, the number of investment products grew by 7.4 percent, while that of leverage products rose by 15.3 percent.
Banks issued 478,590 new products in the period from October to December. This was a marked slowdown in issuing activity, with 12.5 percent fewer new issues. Leverage products accounted for 76.8 percent of the new issues, while investment certificates made up 23.2 percent.