ETFS criticises iShares call to rename ETCs

In its due diligence campaign for the European market, launched on 17 October, iShares said that ETCs which are not physically-backed should be re-branded as ETNs. It re-iterated these views a few days later in its testimony prepared ahead of a US Senate hearing on ETFs. iShares argues that it wants to be clear where there is structural risk in an instrument in addition to market risk. Towsend Lansing, head of regulatory affairs at ETF Securities, the world's largest ETC provider, disagrees with iShares' proposals and argues that if a known classification is changed investors will...