Barclays Bank has launched the iPath MSCI India Index exchange-traded note – senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities linked to the performance of a market index – on the New York
Barclays Bank has launched the iPath MSCI India Index exchange-traded note – senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities linked to the performance of a market index – on the New York Stock Exchange, the first iPath ETN offering exposure to an emerging market.
The new iPath ETN is linked to the MSCI India Total Return Index, a free float-adjusted market capitalisation index designed to measure the market performance, including price performance and income from dividend payments, of Indian equities. The index currently comprises the 68 largest companies by market capitalisation listed on the National Stock Exchange of India.
‘The iPath MSCI India Index ETN helps investors, large and small, overcome challenges in accessing India, which has experienced strong economic growth and become one of the largest economies in the world,’ said Philippe El-Asmar, a managing director and head of investor solutions for the Americas at Barclays Capital.
Barclays introduced iPath ETNs in June 2006 to provide investors with convenient access to difficult-to-reach markets by delivering the returns of market benchmarks, less investor fees, with easy transferability. The securities may be redeemed weekly from the issuer in large, institutional blocks, typically of 50,000 securities, subject to a redemption charge.
Several Barclays divisions worked together to create the iPath MSCI India Index ETN. Barclays Bank is the issuer, Barclays Capital is the issuer’s agent, and Barclays Global Investors Services assists in the promotion of iPath ETNs to intermediaries.
The first three iPath ETNs launched by Barclays last year were linked to the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Total Return, the GSCI Total Return Index, and the Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Total Return Index.
