Foreign exchange
€24.5 billion international bailout for eastern Europe
The largest multilateral lenders in eastern Europe today pledged €24.5 billion over the next two years to support the region's banking sectors affected by "global financial retrenchment".
US Capital Assistance Program defined
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De Larosière report backs calls for a European regulator
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Deutsche offers inverse ETF to Asian market
Db x-trackers, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) arm of Deutsche Bank, has launched four new ETFs on the Singapore Stock Exchange including Asia's first inverse fund, the S&P 500 Short ETF, which tracks downwards moves in the S&P 500.
Appetite for financials tested in Mexico
Mexican distributor Actinver has placed an individual call cap structure linked to the yield of a basket of financial stocks. The trade is structured by Société Générale and issued by Société Générale Acceptance.
Double-short ETFs launched to hedge market falls
EasyETF, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider, has listed five new funds on NYSE Euronext Paris. Three of the funds offer double leverage on the downside of European equity indexes, as a means of providing a hedge against further market falls.
US banks told: prepare for 47% drop in house prices
The US Treasury told the country's major banks they must ensure their capital levels can cope with a severe recession, including unemployment over 10% and an overall 47% drop in house prices from their peak in 2006.
Speculation over regulation mounts as Madoff lawsuits rack up
European investment funds are preparing to face tighter regulation in the wake of the Madoff scandal.
Uncertain outlook for US public power
Moody's has forecast a stable credit outlook for the US public power electric utility sector in 2009, but says the recession and environmental regulations could present challenges.
Madoff feeders' due diligence attacked as lawsuits mount
Investors that lost billions of dollars to Bernard Madoff have filed several class-action lawsuits claiming massive due diligence failures by fund managers who placed money into the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme, even though scant detail has emerged…
RBS signs up to UK's asset-protection scheme
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which today announced 2008 losses of £24.1 billion, has become the first bank to sign up to the UK government's asset-protection scheme, which will offer insurance against future losses in return for a promise to increase…
AIMA in bid to stave off imposed global regulation
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Lloyds' HBOS losses highlight flaws in FSA capital measures
With UK banking group Lloyds set to announce heavy 2008 losses later this week, industry observers are turning against plans from the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) to loosen bank capital requirements.
JP Morgan cuts dividend to build capital reserves
JP Morgan cut its quarterly dividend from 38c to 5c a share yesterday, in a bid to build up $5 billion in additional capital reserves.
FCStone Group increases bad debt provision for energy trading account
FCStone Group expects to incur an additional $60m to $80m pre-tax bad debt provision in connection with previously-reported losses on a significant energy trading account.
Global carbon trading to grow by 20% in 2009
The global carbon market will see a 20% boost in volume in 2009, according to the latest figures from Point Carbon.
Bernanke: Public-private partnership required to value toxic assets
The involvement of both the public and private sectors is essential to accurately value illiquid assets before public funds are used to remove them from dealer balance sheets, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke claimed yesterday.
UK Banking Act comes into force
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Liffe blames regulatory uncertainty for lack of CDS clearing
Despite being the only firm to launch a centralised clearing platform for credit default swap (CDS) index trades, London-based derivatives exchange NYSE Liffe has yet to clear any trades, a situation it blames on the uncertain regulatory landscape in…
LCH.Clearnet bid sparks conflict-of-interest debate
A proposal by a consortium of major derivatives dealers to acquire London-based clearing house LCH.Clearnet has led to suggestions that banks becoming intimately involved in the clearing process could present a conflict of interest.
CAP details expose transatlantic split on capital
Today's news that the US Treasury and other regulators may compel US banks to raise capital levels puts them even more at odds with UK and European overseers, who have downplayed the need for more capital in recent weeks.
Trichet: Eurozone CCP will help improve oversight
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet backed a central counterparty (CCP) for clearing credit default swap (CDS) trades in the eurozone today, in a speech that also called for banker compensation to be linked to avoiding excessive leverage.
LSE may join LCH.Clearnet bid consortium
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) today confirmed that it is "looking closely" at joining the consortium of financial institutions bidding for London-based clearing house LCH.Clearnet.
Fraud wreckage emerging at an alarming rate
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