NEWS: AMERICAS
Barclays pulls out 30 more ETNs The UK announced the suspension of the ETNs yesterday (28 April) as the structured notes paperwork gaffe reported in March continues to reverberate. Barclays has suspended any further sales by the bank and its affiliates in the US of 30 of iPath ETNs listed on NYSE Arca and CBoe BZX until it resolves the paperwork issue with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The UK bank said sales of affected products under the iPath brand will be halted from Thursday until further notice. The bank previously stopped the issuance of the iPath Pure Beta Crude Oil (OIL) ETNs and the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures (VXX) ETNs, before revealing in late-March that it had sold US$15 billion worth of structured notes and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) above the volume it had registered for sale under its BBPLC US Shelf in the SEC. Last week Barclays suspended the iPath Series B Bloomberg Natural Gas Subindex Total Return ETNs due March 5, 2037. The bank reported in its quarterly earnings update yesterday that its total operating expenses have increased to
£4.1 billion (Q121: £3.5 billion) due after booking a charge of £523m (US$652m) for litigation and conduct including a provision in corporate and investment banking of £320m (post-tax impact of £240m) relating to the over-issuance of securities by Barclays Bank in the US and higher customer remediation costs relating to a legacy loan portfolio. Barclays is in discussions with the US regulator to resolve its filing requirements to open a new shelf registration statement with the SEC, ‘and resume issuance of structured notes, during the second quarter of 2022’. “Barclays Bank expects to reopen sales of the ETNs when the amended Form 20-F and new shelf registration statement have been filed with the SEC and will make a further public announcement when this action is taken,” the bank said in a statement. The bank also said it remains committed to its structured products business in the US as it was able to ‘absorb this issue financially’.
‘Having reviewed all our other issuance programmes, we note they are all within applicable limits,’ said C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Barclays group chief executive, during the presentation of the quarterly results. ‘This situation was entirely avoidable and I am deeply disappointed that it occurred.’ Although the UK bank has slipped down the US league table it has almost matched already its 2021 sales of structured products in the US market - YTD sales of structured products stand at US$2.1 billion compared to US$2.5 billion in 2021, according to SRP data. Barclays has over 50 live ETNS of its iPath series in the US market. The bank has commissioned an external review ‘focused on what happened, how it could have happened, and where accountability lies’. ‘We are also enhancing the internal controls in relation to our debt securities issuance activities as an extra safeguard,’ said Venkatakrishnan.
Symetra introduces Accumulator Ascent IUL Symetra has rolled out a new version of its Accumulator indexed universal life insurance (IUL) product - Symetra Accumulator Ascent IUL. The new Accumulator Ascent indexed annuity offers eight interest crediting options including seven indexed strategies plus a fixed interest option. Any growth within the index strategies is linked to the performance of a market index calculated as the one-year and two-year point to point performance. The pool of available indexes includes the Putnam Dynamic Low Volatility Excess Return Index which is exclusively licensed to the insurance company, Symetra Allocation Index, S&P 500 Index and JPMorgan ETF Efficiente 5 Index. Other indexed annuities offered by Symetra include the Symetra Stride and Edge Elite annuity linked to the S&P500, JPMorgan ETF Efficiente 5 Index, and Putnam Dynamic Low Volatility Excess Return Index; and the Symetra Prestige annuity offering exposure to the S&P 500 or the SG Columbia Global Market States Index. ‘The Accumulator Ascent IUL offers clients a straightforward indexed universal life product with a simple story: the opportunity for even stronger cash value accumulation potential, more competitive policy distributions and lower policy charges,’ said Phil Bouvier, senior vice president, individual life sales and marketing.
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