.... 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.