ETFS Commodity Securities Limited

Transcription

1 ETFS Commodity Securities Limited (Incorporated and registered in Jersey under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 (as amended) with registered number Regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission) Registered office: Ordnance House, 31 Pier Road, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 8PW 26 February 2015 Notice of the proposed delisting of various classes of ETFS Commodity Securities issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited Introduction Notice is hereby given to security holders that application has been made to Borsa Italiana for certain classes of securities issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited to be delisted from that exchange (the Delisting ). The Delistings will become effective on 26 May For each security that will be delisted, the listing on the London Stock Exchange and at least one other European exchange will be maintained. Annex 1 to this letter, entitled Securities to be Delisted & Remaining Listings sets out the securities that will be delisted from Borsa Italiana and the exchanges where the securities will continue to be listed after the effective date of the Delisting Reasons for the Delisting ETF Securities aims to list securities on exchanges where there is sufficient demand, concentrated liquidity and where they can trade with tight bid/offer spreads. In order to achieve this, ETF Securities regularly reviews the securities available to investors and the exchanges where these are listed. Following a recent review, the Directors have decided to apply to delist certain securities issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited from Borsa Italiana to concentrate liquidity on a smaller number of exchanges and to reduce spreads rather than having listings on a larger number of exchanges with lower volumes. Maintaining listings which only have small volumes of trading can be problematic for security holders as it means that the liquidity on securities they do want to trade is reduced and comes at a higher price. For each security that will be delisted, the listing on the London Stock Exchange and at least one other European exchange will be maintained. Details of the exchanges where listings will be maintained are set out in Annex 1 under the heading Remaining Listings. No classes of security issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited will be closed as a result of the Delisting. Timescale The Delisting will become effective 3 months from the date of this letter and the last day of trading on Borsa Italiana will be 26 May 2015 (the Effective Date ).

2 Effect of the Delisting From the date of this letter up to the Effective Date, you can continue to sell your securities on Borsa Italiana. Following the Effective Date of the Delisting, you can continue to hold securities that are subject to the Delisting but you will no longer be able to sell those securities on Borsa Italiana. You will be able to sell those securities on any of the other exchanges on which they remain listed but there may be additional costs associated with using another exchange. Action to be taken You do not need to take any action in response to this announcement. You should consult your broker/advisor to discuss gaining access to alternative exchanges following the Delisting or whether it would be more appropriate for you to sell your holding prior to the Effective Date of the Delisting. Further information Annex 2 of this letter contains answers to some of the key questions we believe investors will have in connection with the Delisting. Further information is also available on ETF Securities website at Yours sincerely Joseph Roxburgh Director for and on behalf of ETFS Commodity Securities Limited - 2 -

3 Securities to be delisted from Borsa Italiana Annex 1 SECURITIES TO BE DELISTED & REMAINING LISTINGS Name of Security JERSEY ISIN Remaining listings Exchange codes for remaining listings ISIN on remaining exchanges ETFS Longer Dated Brent Crude JE00B78CP782 London Stock Exchange FBRT JE00B78CP782 Deutsche Boerse 00EB DE000A1N49Q4 ETFS Ex-Energy GB00B15KYD26 London Stock Exchange AIGX GB00B15KYD26 Deutsche Boerse OD7X DE000A0KRKE2

4 Annex 2 KEY QUESTIONS A. GENERAL - Why are securities being delisted? ETF Securities regularly reviews the products available to investors and as part of this has conducted a review of all ETFS Commodity Securities Limited listings on Borsa Italiana. ETF Securities aims to list products where there is sufficient scale, concentrated liquidity and tight bid/offer spreads. As a result, we have decided to delist certain securities issued by ETFS Commodity Securities Limited from Borsa Italiana to make sure that we concentrate liquidity on a smaller number of listings and to reduce spreads rather than having a large number of listings with lower volumes. Maintaining these listings which only have small volumes of trading is problematic for our clients as it means that the liquidity on products they do want to trade is reduced and comes at a higher price. - Where will the securities continue to be listed? All securities will continue to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and at least one other European exchange. Details are provided in the table at Annex 1 of this document of the exchanges where listings will remain and the relevant ISINs and exchange codes. - Are the securities being delisted because the issuer or class is being closed? No. The securities are not being delisted in connection with any closure of any of the classes or of ETFS Commodity Securities Limited. - When will the delisting become effective? 3 months notice of the intention to delist is being given via the relevant exchanges. The delisting will become effective on 26 May Does this mean you are no longer committed to these specific markets? ETF Securities is committed to support all listings where the market has demonstrated clear support for the products, illustrated by the volume of trading. The products being delisted have very low trading volumes so we aim to ensure that the liquidity can grow through another trading venue where the securities will remain listed. - Have you delisted the products because of the low AUM? No. The primary decision criteria is creating better liquidity for clients - Does this mean you will consider delisting more products in the future? Our aim is to create liquidity hubs in order to ensure that, where they trade, our products have superior liquidity. This exercise is a rationalisation of listings for the benefit of investors and is unrelated to any future decision to delist more products. B. IMPACT ON INVESTORS - How will this affect investors? We have carefully investigated the impact on investors in order to ensure that we mitigate any potential concerns and believe that the delisting will have a limited impact on investors for the following reasons:

5 An announcement of the intended delisting and the date on which it would take effect was issued to the market, giving investors a 3 month notice period during which they could trade out of their positions with the usual liquidity provided by the market makers; and Most investors are able to trade these products through their broker on another exchange - What do I need to do before the delisting becomes effective? During the 3 month notice period security holders can continue to hold and trade their securities as usual. Security holders should consult their broker/advisor to discuss whether following the delisting they can gain access to the exchanges where the securities remain and the likely costs associated with this. Alternatively, security holders may wish to sell their securities on their home exchange during the 3 month notice period to avoid incurring any additional costs of holding and trading securities on a different exchange at a later date. - How do I sell my securities once the delisting becomes effective? Holders will still be able to hold their securities but will need to sell them on one of the exchanges where the securities remain listed. They will no longer be able to sell their securities on their home exchange. As a result, their costs of holding and sale may increase but they are not required to sell by a certain date. - How will investors be able to get hold of these products / will there be an extra cost involved? Investors can trade products outside of their own domestic market by asking their broker to execute the order on their behalf. ETF Securities cannot comment on the price structure of each individual brokerage but, at a general level, we do not believe there should be a significant increase in cost, if any. Further information is available on the website of ETFS Commodity Securities Limited at or by to info@etfsecurities.com - 5 -