9th February 2010    0:52

                                                                                                                            .... The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Bank Indonesia have launched a new cross-border payment-versus-payment (PvP) link between Hong Kong's US dollar real time gross settlement system (RTGS) and Indonesia's rupiah RTGS system..... Changjia Group, a Chinese developer with a focus on high-end residential projects in Shanghai, plans to raise between $500m and $600m in a planned Hong Kong listing in March,.... Emirates Steel is finalising plans to consolidate its debt financing and is looking to raise $1.5bn through limited recourse financing to cover the financing needs of its Phase 1 and Phase 2 expansion projects..... The US federal government is set this week to begin a process that could clear the way for energy companies to do seismic research aimed at locating pockets of oil and natural gas along the Atlantic Coast, interior secretary Ken Salazar told reporters Monday..... The $9bn School Employees Retirement System of Ohio has committed over $80m to two private equity middle market buyout funds, half to Francisco Partners’ Fund III, and half to Mason Wells’ Buyout Fund..... San Francisco based industrial property fund, Terreno Realty Corp. canceled its planned $200m IPO yesterday as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. couldn’t find enough buyers for its sale of 10m shares, thereby extending the slump in US IPOs which began late last year..... As part of a strategy to refocus its retail banking operations on Europe and the Mediterranean, Credit Agricole is mulling to sell its Uruguayan subsidiary, Credit Uruguay Banco, to the local unit of Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)..... A UK Commons committee has called for the Financial Services Authority to be given new powers to regulate treasury advice to public sector bodies on how to manage cash reserves. The demand is contained in a report on the management of local authority investments in the wake of the risk of losses as a result of the collapse of Icelandic banks..... BATS Europe, the operator of European multilateral trading facility (MTF), has decided to add a pan-European smart order routing service for access to multiple market centres including exchanges, MTFs and dark pools, effective February 15th ..... Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, the two UK-based lenders that were the first to receive lifeline from the government, are on the verge of merging their so-called 'bad banks.' The European Commission is expected to clear way for B&B to merge its buy-to-let mortgage loans with Northern Rock Asset Management.... Allianz Global Investors is reportedly planning to launch a global multi-asset fund. The Allianz RCM Dynamic Growth fund will aim to deliver equity-like returns with a lower level of risk..... The UK’s University Superannuation Scheme plans to allocate £1.4bn to fixed income (possibly UK index-linked gilts) and lower its equity allocation,as the scheme’s relatively high equity exposure of 70% of assets resulted in the fund losing about £7bn in 2009..... Russia has paid $1m to foreign banks to settle unresolved debts owed by the Soviet Union under an agreement signed with London club creditors last year who were not part of a 2000 swap of $31.7bn in principle and interest arrears notes for $21.2bn of new dollar debt due in 2010 and 2030.                                                                                

KEY STORIES

FTSE GLOBAL MARKETS TRADING VENUES ROUNDTABLE:
The quest for Best Prices, Liquidity & Consolidated Data

NEW PLAYERS SHAKE UP HIGH-YIELD BONDS
The credit crisis has transformed the high-yield bonds market. High-yield bonds are “the most illiquid of the illiquid” in a notoriously illiquid corporate bond market. The buyside complains about the lack of liquidity, but investors know that in a volatile ma...

MIFID MAKES END INVESTOR MISS OUT
Clearing the fog which characterises much of today’s measurement of trading performance is a responsibility few seem to want to shoulder. Exchanges think it’s the regulators’ responsibility and that the buyside should speak out more; the buyside believes the s...

TAKING ON A NEW SHAPE
While the overall business and regulatory environments have provided more than their fair share of challenges to the fund administration industry, it has responded proactively and positively and come into its own over the last 18 months. It is no bad thing, g...

KUWAIT: A RETURN TO OPTIMISM
Not quite the worst of times and not quite the best, sums up the curate’s egg that has been the Kuwaiti economy over the last eighteen months. According to the Dun & Bradstreet South Asia Middle East Ltd’s Business Optimism Index, Kuwait’s economy is expected ...

BIG FIVE AIMING TO AVOID ‘FATAL ERRORS’
America’s five biggest publicly held insurance brokers are struggling with two problems: a weak economy and a benign loss environment. The former hurts as brokerage customers shrink or even disappear. The latter encourages insurance companies to continually re...

 

MORE STORIES FROM FTSE GLOBAL MARKETS

FTSE GLOBAL MARKETS TRADING VENUES ROUNDTABLE:
The quest for Best Prices, Liquidity & Consolidated Data
NEW PLAYERS SHAKE UP HIGH-YIELD BONDS
Trading High Yield Debt: the opportunity cost
MIFID MAKES END INVESTOR MISS OUT
Post-trade reporting: Is MiFID up to it?
LATIN AMERICAN CUSTODY
Latin American Custody attracting interest
DUAL-HANDED GROWTH
Securities Services uptick in both China & India
TAKING ON A NEW SHAPE
Fund Administration: enhanced services
LET THEM EAT CAKE!
UK government's manana syndrome
KUWAIT: A RETURN TO OPTIMISM
Kuwait moves on from its difficulties of 2009
BIG FIVE AIMING TO AVOID ‘FATAL ERRORS’
US insurance sector tries to avoid pitfalls
OILING THE WHEEL OF GROWTH
Gold still the hot favourite
CVA OR THE HIGHWAY
CVA's alarm institutional investors
THE SEARCH FOR SUSTAINED GROWTH
India: premier Singh comits to reform

MORE STORIES FROM EMERGING MARKETS REPORT

MARKET ROUND UP
A round up of news from the Emerging Markets
TAX REVIEW
The latest tax changes from the Emerging Markets
FUND ALERT
New Emerging Market Funds
ECAS & MULTI-LATERAL LOANS
A look at Issuance from around the Emerging Markets
NEW ISSUES
The Latest New Issues From Around the Emerging Markets
NEW GOALS FOR SA BANKS
South Africa: Slow Economic Recovery
STORMS THREATEN THE AZUR PLAN
Morocco's Bid For Economic & Social Development
POLITICAL STORMS
Central America: Heightened Political Risk
REACHING FOR THE SKY
Brazil: Getting in Shape for the Olympics and World Cup and
ALPHA IN ASIA MAJOR
Asian Real Estate: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach
INSURGENCY CONTINUES IN IRAQ
Iraqis want US troops to stay
THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF TRADE
Standard Chartered Witness a Global Shift in Trade Patterns


COVER STORY


A NEW HEAD OF STATE Rebuilding the trust of custodial clients, addressing revenue gaps in trading services and securities finance, boosting capital reserves for potential acquisition targets, and shoring up investor confidence: just a few of the items on the to-do list of State Street’s incoming chief executive officer Jay Hooley. From Boston, Dave Simons reports.