ProShares has announced that they will begin trading The ProShares USD Covered Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:COBO) Wednesday, May 23, 2012. The ProShares USD Covered Bond (the “Fund”) seeks investment results, before fees and expenses, that track the performance of the BNP Paribas Diversified USD Covered Bond Index. The Index, published by BNP Paribas, seeks to track the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated “Covered Bonds” that are generally rated AAA (or its equivalent). Covered Bonds are debt instruments issued by a financial institution that are secured by a segregated pool of financial assets (the “cover pool”), typically mortgages or public-sector loans. Covered Bonds differ from other debt instruments, including asset-backed securities, in that bondholders have a senior, unsecured claim against the issuing financial institution, which is secured by the cover pool in the event of default by such issuing financial institution. Further, the issuing financial institution typically maintains the cover pool in order to support the claims of Covered Bondholders in the event of default by the issuing financial institution. Currently, the Index is comprised of Covered Bonds issued exclusively by non-U.S. institutions.

Total Annual Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursements: 0.35%

Principal Investment Strategies

The Fund will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its total assets in Covered Bonds. In addition, the Fund may invest in other securities that ProShare Advisors believes, in combination with Covered Bonds, should track the performance of the Index. The Index aims to include the universe of U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-rate Covered Bonds that conform to the eligibility criteria for the Index. The Covered Bonds must be denominated in USD, have a fixed-rate coupon, have at least 18 months to maturity, have USD 1 billion or more of outstanding face amount and a minimum denomination no greater than $250,000, be either registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or eligible for resale under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and satisfy the liquidity criteria applicable to the Index. In addition, the Covered Bonds must be rated in the highest category by at least one of the following rating agencies: Fitch Investor Services, Moody’s Investor Services and Standard & Poor’s Rating Group. Where the Covered Bond is rated by all three agencies, two of the agencies must rate the bond AAA (or its equivalent), where the bond is rated by two of such agencies, both agencies must rate the bond AAA (or its equivalent) and where the bond is rated by only one of such rating agency, that agency must rate the bond AAA (or its equivalent). Covered Bonds containing puts or calls and bonds that are convertible or have equity-like features are not eligible for inclusion in the Index. In addition, the following diversification criteria are applied to the Index when it is rebalanced: no single issuer or guarantor may have value weight greater than 25% of the value of the Index and issuers or guarantors with a value weight of 5% or more may not constitute more than 50% of the value of the Index. If a Covered Bond no longer satisfies the eligibility criteria, it will be removed from the Index when the Index is rebalanced. The Index is rebalanced on the last business day of each quarter. The Index may from time to time include Covered Bonds issued by BNP Paribas or its affiliates.

As of the date of this prospectus, the Index consists of 43 Covered Bonds issued by 20 different issuers, all of which are financial institutions. These issuers are primarily Canadian and European and come from: Canada (59.0%); Norway (11.6%); France (6.3%); Sweden (4.9%); England (3.2%); Australia (6.0%); and Switzerland (9.0%). The above weights represent the percentage of dollars invested per country. The Index is published under the Bloomberg ticker symbol “BNIXCOVD”.

•   Debt Securities — The Fund will invest in debt securities, primarily Covered Bonds that are issued by a financial institution and are secured by a pool of financial assets, typically mortgages (e.g., residential, commercial and/or ship mortgages) or public-sector loans, which are loans made to national, regional and local authorities to fund public-sector lending (e.g., loans that support public investment and infrastructure projects). In addition, the pool of financial assets may include cash or cash equivalents.

ProShare Advisors uses a mathematical approach to investing. Using this approach, ProShare Advisors determines the type, quantity and mix of investment positions that the Fund should hold to approximate on a daily basis the performance of the Index. The Fund may gain exposure to only a representative sample of the securities in the Index, which exposure is intended to have aggregate characteristics similar to those of the Index, and may invest in securities not contained in the Index. ProShare Advisors does not invest the assets of the Fund in securities based on ProShare Advisors’ view of the investment merit of a particular security or company, other than for cash management purposes, nor does it conduct conventional research or analysis (other than in determining counterparty creditworthiness), or forecast market movement or trends, in managing the assets of the Fund. The Fund seeks to remain fully invested at all times in securities that, in combination, provide exposure to the Index without regard to market conditions, trends or direction.

For the complete prospectus click: HERE

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