Most recently, the Swiss government agreed to hand over private bank information of 4,450 American UBS clients to American regulators, putting a damper on Swiss banks’ secrecy policies.  As a result, Swiss private bankers are turning their attention to emerging markets, such as Russia, Asia and the Middle East, stressing their expertise and financial stability, states Ghana Business News.  The litigation and controversy is damaging the reputation of Swiss banks and is forcing the nation to draft up new treaties.

In addition to this, it appears that investors from Europe, South Africa and Asia are the first to gain inquiries in equity participation for international banks that are in trouble.  Some big names like the Commercial Bank of China have gone so far as to hire accounting firms to run forensic audits on the international banks.

A combination of the aforementioned can truly be detrimental to the global financial sector.  An ETF that could be influenced is the WisdomTree International Financial Sector Fund (DRF) which is up 31.9% year-to-date and above its 200-day moving average.

• iShares MSCI Switzerland (EWL): up 10.1% year-to-date; UBS 5.6%

For more stories on the financial sector, visit our financial category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

This brings the Spider line to include 80 ETFs, with 31 of those focused on global access to international markets. The new offerings enter a market space that WisdomTree had been cornering.

Why would you choose one or the other? As Gary Gordon for ETF Expert says: it’s a matter of preference. State Street’s funds have a traditional market-cap weighted methodology. WisdomTree’s funds have a dividend-weighted index methodology. Dividends in the WisdomTree funds will come annually, while State Street’s will be quarterly.

The expense ratio for the State Street funds is set at 0.5%, while the WisdomTree funds come in at 0.58%.

The 10 new ETFs are are international sector SPDRs and they give access to investments outside the U.S. benchmarked to a series of S&P World ex-US Broad Market Indices. The following ETFs are market-cap weighted, include only non-U.S. holdings, and use the Global Industry Classification Standard, or GICS.

The ETFs are:

• SPDR S&P International Consumer Discretionary Sector (IPD)
• SPDR S&P International Consumer Staples (IPS)
• SPDR S&P International Financial Sector (IPF)
• SPDR S&P International Health Care Sector (IRY)
• SPDR S&P International Industrial Sector (IPN)
• SPDR S&P International Materials Sector (IRV)
• SPDR S&P International Technology Sector (IPK)
• SPDR S&P International Telecommunications Sector (IST)
• SPDR S&P International Utilities Sector (IPU)
• SPDR S&P International Energy Sector (IPW)

WisdomTree’s funds launched Oct. 13, 2006 and they are:

• WisdomTree International Basic Materials Sector (DBN)
• WisdomTree International Communications Sector (DGG)
• WisdomTree International Consumer Discretionary Sector (DPC)
• WisdomTree International Consumer Staples Sector (DPN)
• WisdomTree International Energy Sector (DKA)
• WisdomTree International Financial Sector (DRF)
• WisdomTree International Health Care Sector (DBR)
• WisdomTree International Industrial Sector (DDI)
• WisdomTree International Technology Sector (DBT)
• WisdomTree International Utilities Sector (DBU)