ETFs: the devil is in back office details

Many of the advantages ETFs have over traditional mutual funds derive from the similarities they share with equities in terms of liquidity, flexibility and a range of other factors. Yet in Europe, ETFs suffer from substantially more post-trade challenges than equities, to the point where these problems are beginning to hinder their growth as a financial instrument.  A clue to the origins of these operational issues can be found in the different patterns of stock exchange listings used by ETFs, compared with equities. Whereas most equities are listed only on the stock exchange in the home...