Abstract

Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) are one of the most recent and most rapidly developing financial products. As their assets grow they have an increasing impact on financial systems in many countries, including USA, UK or Japan. Development of ETPs is linked with many opportunities and threats for the local financial systems. Their correct assessment is becoming more difficult due to the growing complexity of the available products, thus posing problems not only for the participants of the financial markets (including buyers and sellers of ETPs as well as intermediaries) but also for the supervising authorities. The main ETP development trends (e.g. size of the global assets under management) are outlined in this article. Structural changes are discussed in the context of their impact on both local and global financial systems. One of the key topics is the consequences of the changing landscape of the most popular type of ETP - Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Simple and safe physical ETFs are being replaced by complicated synthetic ETFs, significantly increasing possible risks for the holders of such products, for other entities involved in their creation and distribution, and, consequently, for the whole financial system. The last part of the article is devoted to the Polish perspective on this topic. It may be argued that in Poland the role of ETPs (even ETFs) is still marginal. ETPs can influence, though, the Polish financial system through a number of links between Polish and foreign financial institutions and markets. As a result, fast transmission of the future shocks caused by such products is increasingly more probable.

Author (1)