08/03/2010
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published a handbook for retail investors that details for the first time how it believes structured products should be sold. The publication of Making Sense of Structured Products in its second public...
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08/03/2010
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will introduce a short-position reporting regime to "enhance transparency of short-selling activities" in Hong Kong. The widely expected move by the SFC was announced following a consultation period during which the regulator...
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08/03/2010
Correlation between the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) currencies has blown out over the past six months, increasing the cost of structuring Bric-basket trades. High charges have meant investors have chosen to tweak emerging-market exposures by trading baskets...
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08/03/2010
Asian institutions have started to invest in life settlement funds and the market is being tipped for further growth. Life settlement funds are pools of life policies sold on by their original policyholders in exchange for a lump-sum payment,...
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08/03/2010
Royal Bank of Scotland has launched a business-to-business trading platform in Asia to enable institutional clients and wealth management intermediaries to execute instant trades on investments. MyMarkets gives investors access to investments, including structured products, across all asset classes...
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08/03/2010
Nomura has launched a series of hedge fund replication indexes in partnership with Hedge Fund Research (HFR), aiming to replicate the returns generated by hedge funds in a more transparent way. The HFRq Hedge Fund Replication Long Index and...
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08/03/2010
Werner Schlossmacher has taken on the additional title of director and head of investment solutions for southeast Asia and Australasia at Credit Suisse's private banking division. In this new role, he will oversee the products and investment solutions areas...
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08/03/2010
Pricing Partners has unveiled a new value-at-risk calculation tool for structured products on its Price-it platform. The new system has been in development for two years and will now be marketed to both buy-side and sell-side clients. Value-at-risk is...
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01/03/2010
Standard & Poor's (S&P's) Ratings Services has claimed India's 2010-2011 budget marks the country's first steps towards fiscal consolidation after two years of deteriorating finances. In a statement, S&P's said it believes with increased certainty that the government can...
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01/03/2010
In its Quarterly Report for October to December 2009 released at the end of February, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong noted the conclusion of its investigations into the sale of Lehman Brothers Minibonds following the...
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01/03/2010
Deutsche Bank announced today the launch of six new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK), including the first ETF in Asia to track the performance of the Brazilian domestic equity market. The...
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01/03/2010
China Construction Bank (Asia), Hong Kong has announced it is to partner with FinIQ for structured products distribution and processing. The system will integrate into bank's existing infrastructure and will automate the entire life cycle for equity linked structures,...
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01/03/2010
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary has delivered a budgetary proposal to extend the stamp duty concession on ETFs in order to promote "healthy growth" in the market but it looks likely to affect less than 10% of ETFs. On 24...
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22/02/2010
Index provider FTSE Group (FTSE) has announced that Jessie Pak has been appointed as director, Asia. Pak joins from Atos Euronext Market Solutions (AEMS), now known as NYSE Technologies, where she was head of Asia, executive vice president. Prior...
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22/02/2010
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has received positive feedback to its recent consultation aimed at enhancing investor protection, according to Martin Wheatley, the SFC's chief executive. Speaking at conference in London, Wheatley said: "We have received many well-thought...
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22/02/2010
Clariden Leu has increased its net profit to CHF 353m in 2009, which represents a 67% increase compared to the previous year. The bank attributes the increase to a stabilization of the markets in the second half of the...
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22/02/2010
Pricing Partners has opened a new regional office in Singapore to provide global distribution of its products and services suite across Asia. It has already signed a distribution agreement in Hong Kong, and has offices in Paris and London....
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22/02/2010
Deutsche Bank has launched four new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX). The products include Asia's first ETFs to track the performance of US and European sovereign bonds, as well as Asia's first...
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22/02/2010
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) lifted its ban on DBS Bank Ltd, Malayan Banking Berhad Singapore Branch and the Royal Bank of Scotland N.V. Singapore Branch from selling structured notes. The regulator confirmed the three financial institutions have...
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08/02/2010
Commonwealth Bank has launched a new capital protected investment, Capital Series OzAsia, which offers investors a choice of three investment themes. Strategy 1 offers five fixed coupon payments equal to 4% of the investment, with the first coupon paid...
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08/02/2010
BlackRock's ETF landscape industry review has claimed global ETF assets will grow by up to 30% in 3010, having grown 45.7% in 2009. It found that as at end December 2009, the AUM of Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) reached US$38.52nn,...
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08/02/2010
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has welcomed the announcement that distribution of the recovery values of the Minibond notes to investors will be made on 12 February 2010. The announcement was made by the three partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers...
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08/02/2010
HSBC Global Asset Management has appointed Julie Koo as head of institutional sales, Asia-Pacific, with effect from 18 February 2010. Based in Hong Kong, Koo will lead the local and regional institutional sales teams. She will report to Patrice...
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08/02/2010
According to new report by Standard & Poor's (S&P) Islamic finance is likely to keeping growing in 2010, fueled by demand from Southeast Asian countries and helped by further inroads being made in developed Western markets. The S&P report...
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08/02/2010
Investec has launched its latest collection of structured products [in the UK], adding a risk control feature to some plans and bringing RBS on board as a counterparty. This collection sees the launch 15 new Investec plans, and includes...
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01/02/2010
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published a further policy consultation paper on proposed enhancements to the regulatory framework for unlisted investment products - including structured products. It first began consulting on this on 12 March 2009, and...
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01/02/2010
Speaking a meeting in Hong Kong which forged an agreement for closer cooperation between the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), the SSE suggested it will launch China's first ETF tracking foreign stocks this...
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01/02/2010
iShares has announced the iShares MSCI ACWI ex US Financials Sector Index Fund (AXFN), the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Financials Sector Index Fund (EMFN), the iShares MSCI Europe Financials Sector Index Fund (EUFN), the iShares MSCI Far East Financials...
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01/02/2010
AmIslamic Bank managing director and chief executive Datuk Mahdi Murad has been reported as saying it plans to issue six more new products, including wealth management and structured products, this year. Speaking ahead of its year end announcement on...
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01/02/2010
Deutsche Bank has developed a fund based on benchmark indexes, using a call-overwriting strategy to provide downside protection for investors who want to invest in equities but are cautious about market outlook. Deutsche's platinum overwriting plus fund is Ucits...
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01/02/2010
State Street Corporation's latest Vision Focus report found the Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) region's ETF market increased its assets under management (AUM) by more than 40% in 2009, and is expected to continue to expand at this rate during 2010. Sammy...
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25/01/2010
Fitch Ratings has said it expects the quiet domestic structured credit market in Taiwan to continue with limited origination and investment activity in the short-run. Jackie Lee, a director in Fitch's structured credit team, said: "Given the excess liquidity...
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25/01/2010
Morgan Stanley has confirmed it is to create a new derivatives structuring team and make changes to its fixed-income sales and trading teams in Asia-Pacific. The US investment bank has announced the creation of a new corporate and insurance...
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25/01/2010
Credit Suisse has announced a strengthening of its structured retail products group, with the appointment of Philip McLean to its sales team in Australia. McLean joins from Macquarie Group, where he was in a senior sales role for equity...
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25/01/2010
Usage of OTC derivatives to manage risk and hedging is increasing according to new figures released by derivatives benchmark SuperDerivatives (SD). SD claimed the report is the first of its kind from an independent multi asset derivatives market data...
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25/01/2010
Global index provider FTSE has launched the FTSE EDHEC-Risk Efficient Indices in conjunction with EDHEC-Risk Institute, the centre for applied asset and risk management research. The index series uses a risk-adjusted strategy to that of traditional market capitalisation-weighted indices...
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25/01/2010
Thomson Reuters has launched Kondor+ Suite - a risk management system which has been specifically tailored for Islamic banking. The Kondor+ Suite for Islamic Banking is a real time trade and risk management solution, designed to provide full front-to-back...
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18/01/2010
Fitch Ratings has claimed the majority of the collateral performance backing non-Japan Asia structured finance (SF) transactions is expected to be stable in 2010, as non-Japan Asian economies have continued to recover and outperformed most of the major advanced...
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18/01/2010
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Karl Thomson Investment Consultants (Karl Thomson) have reached an agreement to resolve issues arising from the sale of Lehman Brothers Minibonds (Minibonds) by Karl Thomson. Although Karl Thomson was not a distributor...
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18/01/2010
The assets held in US and European exchange-traded products (ETPs) surpassed the trillion dollar mark last year, according to research from Deutsche Bank and Blackrock. Deutsche expects the ETP market to rise again this year, to hit US$1.2 trillion,...
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18/01/2010
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) has announced it is to extend its derivatives trading hours for contracts with T+1 sessions to accommodate growing international demand for Asian equity derivatives. The extension from 11 January 2010 will allow traders to trade...
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18/01/2010
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has entered into a sale agreement with Aberdeen Asset Management for the sale of certain fund management assets and contracts of RBS Asset Management Limited and RBS Asset Management Holdings and into a...
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18/01/2010
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has ordered UBS Financial Services to pay nearly $200,000 in costs and compensation following its sale of Lehman Brothers-backed notes to an individual investor. Patricia Flanagan, from South Carolina, placed $225,000 in...
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11/01/2010
The Joint Association Committee (JAC) - a representative of the European Securitisation Forum, International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Association for Financial Markets in Europe and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association - has published its response to the European...
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11/01/2010
The Markit iTraxx SovX CEEMEA (Central and East European, Middle East and Africa) index will start trading on January 20. The index is part of the Markit iTraxx SovX family of sovereign credit default swap indexes. The index will...
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11/01/2010
Société Générale is planning to list 11 Synthetic Zero products on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) next week with a total deal size of £55m, making a significant addition to its existing listings. The products, which are types of...
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11/01/2010
Deutsche Bank (DB) has launched six new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX), including Asia's first ETF tracking the performance of the Brazilian domestic equity market. Together with the six new ETFs, db...
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11/01/2010
Richard Harman has joined the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as head of retail structuring, Asia-Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, Harman will report to Shane Edwards and David Moroney, global co-heads of retail structuring, and will be responsible for...
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21/12/2009
Barclays Capital has become the first provider of exchange-traded notes (ETN) in ex-Japan Asia. Listed on the Singapore Exchange last week, the ETNs are based on commodities, and will be the first of a series of asset classes rolled...
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21/12/2009
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has published the findings of its bi-annual survey into the banking sector's exposure to structured products and found the overall exposure of authorised institutions (AIs) to structured credit products and credit derivatives remains "insignificant"....
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21/12/2009
It has been reported two Lehman Brothers entities have won a temporary reprieve in their battle with three Australian local government authorities following a decision by the High Court in Sydney to test a verdict that would have allowed...
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21/12/2009
Global index provider FTSE has been selected by Value Partners Index Services to build the FTSE Value-Stocks China Index as a custom index solution for the first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to be listed by Sensible Asset Management Hong...
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21/12/2009
Analytics provider Numerix has introduced a new suite of trader workbook applications - Numerix FX Trader, Numerix Rates Trader and Numerix Credit Trader. Numerix provides cross-asset analytics for the structuring, valuation and risk analysis of derivatives and structured products....
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21/12/2009
Daiwa Securities is launch its electronic trading platform in Asia for cash and listed derivatives. The Japanese investment bank (which will be renamed Daiwa Capital Markets on 1 January 2010) said it will offer institutional clients globally the ability...
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14/12/2009
Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch & Co. in Hong Kong has been issued with a writ of summons by a Japanese client for alleged reckless misrepresentation in selling him warrants that resulted in losses of 1.14bn yen ($13m)....
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14/12/2009
Institutional investors are looking towards structured commodity products in 2010, according to research from Barclays Capital (BarCap), the investment banking division of Barclays Bank. The bank surveyed more than 300 attendees at its fifth annual US Commodities Investor Conference...
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14/12/2009
The vast majority of Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) are an unattractive long-term investment option for most institutional investors, according to global consultant Watson Wyatt. The firm claimed while the development of the sector has driven a great deal of...
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14/12/2009
Independent valuation provider Pricing Partners has announced a distribution agreement with Belatos Limited to deliver its full solution suites throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region. Pricing Partners provides mathematical models and analytics for derivatives and structured products, and first line...
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07/12/2009
Global index provider FTSE Group has announced it has enhanced its real time index calculation service on selected FTSE blue chip indices with corresponding real time total return indices (TRI) This enhanced service is now available on a streaming,...
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07/12/2009
New Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) rules come into effect last week, putting increased margin maintenance requirements in place for investors who hold leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the largest independent regulator for...
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07/12/2009
Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (DB PWM) has appointed Kwong Kin Mun as head of private banking, Southeast Asia. PWM, with effect from 21 December 2009. Kwong will be based in Singapore, and will be responsible for the strategic...
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07/12/2009
Investors should be alert to their exposure to sovereign credit risks despite the fact that the overall risk level of the global market has diminished in recent months, according to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong....
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07/12/2009
DBS Bank said it will offer a structured wealth management product linked to the performance of gold from December 7 to attract clients in Shanghai who are banking that the metal will maintain its rising trend. In a week...
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07/12/2009
The Association of Independent Financial Advisers (AIFA) has called for members to provide evidence of the impact of the recent guidance issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on structured products. The guidance includes an FSA template for firms...
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29/06/2009
A new global survey has found the majority of high net worth individuals believe the current environment offers significant opportunities, although the risk of further price drops remains high. The survey, carried out by Barclays Wealth and the Economist...
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29/06/2009
Private Bank Clariden Leu has announced it is to focus on four key countries in a bid to expand its Asian operation. Incoming head Asia at Clariden Leu Jimmy Lee Kong Eng is to look to expand in Greater...
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29/06/2009
Index provider Standard & Poor's (S&P's) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ("SzSE") in China to cooperate on index development and product listings. According to the MOU, SzSE will authorise S&P's to use...
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29/06/2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has hired Kevin Chang as the new head of equity derivatives strategy - Asia. Chang will be responsible for identifying various derivative trading opportunities and hedging solutions for RBS's institutional clients. These include...
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29/06/2009
Global index provider FTSE Group has signed a co-operation agreement with Record plc to create a new range of innovative currency Forward Rate Bias (FRB) indices. The aim of the indices is to provide investors with a passively managed...
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29/06/2009
UBS has appointed Anne Anderson as the new head of fixed income, Asia Pacific. Anderson will be based in Australia and will also continue to head Australian fixed income. Her responsibilities include expanding fixed income activities in the region...
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29/06/2009
ING Investment Management (ING IM) has stated it is expecting an equity market consolidation after the recent strong rally. It claimed investor sentiment and cash levels offer support for equity markets but other tactical indicators such as strong equity...
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29/06/2009
Citi Securities and Fund Services, a division of Global Transaction Services, has subscribed to Participant Gateway, a message-based platform managed by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx). By subscribing to Participant Gateway, Citi will facilitate a direct,...
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29/06/2009
The Bank of New York Mellon has introduced Derivatives360, an integrated investment servicing lifecycle solution to help clients efficiently execute and manage derivatives transactions. The modular design allows clients to select some or all of the components offered by...
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22/06/2009
The Obama administration in the US has laid out the framework for a new and improved regulatory regime for the financial system. The framework is intended to close regulatory gaps exposed by the current crisis and limit opportunities for...
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22/06/2009
The transition management specialist for BNY Mellon Asset Management, Mellon Transition Management (MTM) has predicted a record number of financial institutions will replace their asset managers in the third and fourth quarters of 2009. Mark Keleher, chief executive of...
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22/06/2009
Trading and risk management application provider Calypso Technology has announced that Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB) has gone live with the first phase of the Calypso Trading and Risk Management Platform. The offering delivers consolidated front- to...
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22/06/2009
Credit Suisse has hired Simon Yuan as managing director and co-head of financial institutions Greater China coverage team in its investment banking department. Yuan's responsibilities include developing relationships, initiating and executing transactions for the Bank's clients. He will provide...
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22/06/2009
Buyer and seller of carbon Orbeo, has signed agreements to purchase OneCarbon International BV, an Econcern Group subsidiary. OneCarbon is an international company that generates high quality carbon credits by originating, developing, co-developing or financing projects that reduce greenhouse...
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15/06/2009
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has applied to the High Court for an order to force Lehman Brothers Asia to produce records in connection with its Minibonds investigation. The SFC is trying to force Lehman Brothers Asia (which...
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15/06/2009
Investors in Hong Kong-listed securities are turning to alternative liquidity pools more rapidly than other markets, according to Goldman Sachs Electronic Trading (GSET). GSET has reported a 12-fold increase in average daily trading value over two months following the...
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15/06/2009
Tee Fong Seng has been appointed as vice-chairman and head of ultra high net worth (UHNW) for private banking Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse. He will provide strategic support to Credit Suisse's interests for Private Banking Asia Pacific. His...
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15/06/2009
Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking has made four new appointments to its acquisition & leveraged finance team in the Asia Pacific region. Marc Frenkenberg and Bruno Magnouat join as co-heads of the acquisition & leveraged finance team for...
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15/06/2009
Dow Jones Indexes announced the results of its regular annual review of its Islamic Market Indexes. No changes will be made to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index. However, significant changes were made to the Dow...
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07/06/2009
Following the recent launch of Samena Capital Japan Fund, the firm is acquiring a successful Asian investment team to further align talents with leading business personalities and wealth creators, thereby bringing to life Samena's buy and build approach to...
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07/06/2009
Citi Securities and Fund Services, a division of Global Transaction Services, has expanded its arrangement with the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) to support the KSD's daily turnaround investment service to include the United States market. Under the expanded agreement,...
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07/06/2009
Credit Suisse has appointed Ken Pang and Min Park as co-heads of equity derivatives and convertibles, Asia Pacific. Pang and Park both join from UBS where they previously led the Asian equity derivatives business. They will be based in...
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07/06/2009
Dow Jones Indexes has launched the Dow Jones Hong Kong Select Dividend 30 Index. The index tracks the performance of the top 30 Hong Kong listed companies by dividend yield. It is designed to underlie investment products such as...
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07/06/2009
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has appointed Suzanne Smith to the role of managing director (MD), ratings, South & Southeast Asia. Smith will lead the credit ratings analytical teams based in Mumbai and Singapore, covering all credits, including sovereigns,...
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07/06/2009
Global index provider Dow Jones has announced the results of its regular annual and regular quarterly review of the Dow Jones Select Dividend Indexes. The changes will be effective after the close of trading on Friday, June 19, 2009....
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07/06/2009
Asian alternative investment manager Pacific Alliance Group has made Anthony Miller president and chief executive of its newly formed Pacific Alliance Japan Limited unit. Miller joins from Ramius LLC, where he will remain a Senior Advisor to Ramius Japan...
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07/06/2009
International rating agency Fitch Ratings has opened a new office in Bangalore, India. Fitch now has five offices in India located in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. Sashi Kumar, associate director at Fitch, has been appointed as its...
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25/05/2009
Deutsche Bank is to replace Colin Grassie with Robert Rankin as chief executive officer (CEO), Asia Pacific (ex Japan) from 10 June. Rankin will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Juergen Fitschen, member of Deutsche Bank's...
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25/05/2009
Global index provider FTSE Group and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) are to expand the FTSE SET Index Series with the addition of the FTSE SET Shariah Index. The index aims to open up the Thai capital market...
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25/05/2009
The investment banking division of Barclays Bank, Barclays Capital (BarCap) has announced Timothy Last will be its new managing director, head of equity derivatives flow sales, non-Japan Asia. Last joins from Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, where he was...
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25/05/2009
International credit insurance and credit management services group Coface has claimed it expects its payment experience to soften from the second quarter this year. Jérôme Cazes, chief executive of Coface, said: "Credit crisis means to Coface a dramatic deterioration...
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25/05/2009
Malaysia Berhad (Bursa Malaysia) has launched the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Plantation Index Series in conjunction with FTSE. This series enables investors to gain exposure to the long term growth potential of the lucrative, billion dollar palm oil...
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18/05/2009
Credit Suisse has announced the official launch of its private banking operation in Japan. Led from Tokyo by Junya Tani, head of private banking Japan for Credit Suisse, the move allows the bank to deliver the full suite of...
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18/05/2009
BNP Paribas Securities Services has been granted a banking licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The announcement was made three weeks after it was granted a banking licence in Singapore. However, it is still subject to further regulatory...
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18/05/2009
Interdealer broker ICAP has launched a new broking service for global iron ore derivatives. The service offers market participants the ability to offset risk exposures in one of the world's leading base metal asset classes. ICAP will use its...
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18/05/2009
UBS Investment Bank's equities business has completed the acquisition of the commodity index business of AIG Financial Products Corp, including AIG's rights to the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index. This commodity index business is comprised of a product platform of...
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18/05/2009
Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions has been awarded four major mandates in Asia Pacific. The mandates cover multiple markets in Asia Pacific, and are as follows: ABB for regional liquidity management Avago Technologies reaffirmed its global cash management mandate...
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18/05/2009
Financial services technology provider Eagle Investment Systems LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon, has confirmed Nomura Asset Management (NAM), has successfully deployed its data management solution. This project represents the first stage of NAM's multi-phase...
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11/05/2009
Fitch Ratings has released a report on banks in Hong Kong which claimed they are well-positioned to weather the economic downturn given their sound balance sheet profile and strong capitalisation. In a special report reviewing Hong Kong banks' full...
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11/05/2009
Threadneedle's China Opportunities fund manager has issued a statement to investors saying despite a slowdown in GDP growth, China is still well placed to deliver far superior levels of economic growth than almost any other economy in the world....
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11/05/2009
The Republic of Indonesia has launched the country's first ever Sharia-compliant mandatory exchangeable Sukuk, priced at US$650m in a fiver-year deal. It is the largest Islamic bond since Dubai Ports in June 2007 and the first from a country...
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11/05/2009
JPMorgan Chase Bank (China) has opened a branch in Guangzhou, the bank's fourth branch in mainland China. The new branch is intended to be J.P. Morgan's hub for expansion in Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta region. It will...
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11/05/2009
ING Investment Management Asia/Pacific (ING IM) has appointed Navin Suri as chief executive of its Indian investment management operations. Prior to joining ING IM India in August 2008 as vice president and director, sales & distribution, Suri was based...
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27/04/2009
The Lyxor Global Hedge Fund index, an investable index based on Lyxor's hedge fund platform which tracks the overall hedge fund universe, was down -0.38% in March, although it is still up +42bp on the year. It said: "March...
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27/04/2009
Standard&Poor's Index Versus Active FundScorecard (SPIVA) has found that over the five year market cycle from 2004 to 2008, the S&P 500 outperformed 71.9% of actively managed large cap funds, the S&P MidCap 400outperformed 75.9% of mid cap funds,...
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27/04/2009
Derivatives benchmark and multi-asset front office and revaluation provider SuperDerivatives (SD) has launched the next generation of its interest rates derivatives trading system to support demand for tools to distribute and manage interest rate derivatives. SD said that volatility...
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27/04/2009
Morgan Stanley reported a net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 of $177m compared with net income applicable of $1,413m a year ago. In a statement the firm claimed it had delivered solid results in many...
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27/04/2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the appointment of Robert Brennan as head of short term markets and financing (STMF). Brennan will be responsible for balance sheet management, building on existing STMF trading and risk management systems,...
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27/04/2009
Fund of hedge funds, SAIL Advisors Limited (SAIL) has confirmed the appointment of Miodrag Janjusevic as chief risk officer. Janjusevic joins from Deutsche Bank Asia where he was director of strategic solutions, responsible for cross asset risk solutions for...
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20/04/2009
Swiss based investment bank has announced first-quarter losses of CHF2bn, and warned of further cost-saving measures to come. In a speech by Oswald J. Grübel, group chief executive of UBS, at its annual general meeting (AGM) in Zurich he...
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20/04/2009
Standard & Poor's (S&P) published a white paper examining investors' needs and how various business models for credit rating firms could meet them. The paper, titled "An Examination Of How Investor Needs Are Served By Various Ratings Business Models:...
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20/04/2009
Law firm Clifford Chance is to bolster its leading private equity team in Asia with the relocation of partner Simon Cooke from the firm's London private equity group. Cooke will work closely with existing Hong Kong-based partner, Andrew Whan....
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20/04/2009
In its monthly investment outlook for April Clariden Leu said that after a disappointing January and a depressing February, there were finally a few glimmers of light in March. However, despite these green shoots, it claimed it is still...
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20/04/2009
Moody's Investors Service has assigned a foreign currency rating of Ba3 with a stable outlook to the Republic of Indonesia's forthcoming Global Sukuk. Aninda Mitra, lead sovereign analyst for Indonesia at Moody's, said: "On account of the ongoing global...
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20/04/2009
Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (PWM) has strengthened its operations in Asia Pacific, appointing Anil Venuturupalli as chief operating officer Asia Pacific and Mark Smallwood as head of wealth management solutions Asia Pacific. Venuturupalli will provide regional oversight for...
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20/04/2009
BOCI-Prudential Asset Management (BOCI-Prudential) has launched an index-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. W.I.S.E. - SSE 50 China Tracker was actively traded during its trading debut, closing at HK$20.20 per...
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13/04/2009
Advisers' education in ETF portfolio construction is laying the groundwork for increased use of alternative mutual funds, according to new research from Cerulli Associates. Cerulli has claimed research has shown that ETF providers as a group havedone well by...
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13/04/2009
Doug Hymas has become the chief executive of ING Investment Management Asia/Pacific (ING IM). Hymas will assume the leadership and management of ING IM Funds Japan when he officially takes over on 20 April - pending approval from the...
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13/04/2009
Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management (PWM) has appointed Wayne Yang to the newly created role of head of key clients group, South East Asia. Yang joins from Merrill Lynch, where he was head of ultra high-net-worth private investment banking...
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13/04/2009
FX settlement services provider CLS Group and inter-dealer broker ICAP have announced they are creating a new joint venture to provide trade aggregation services to participants active in the over the counter FX market. They aim to provide the...
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13/04/2009
Global policy responses are causing investor sentiment to brighten, according to Sarasin. In its latest Strategy Outlook, it pointed to the global equity market rally in none of the 10 trading days from 10 March, with gains in US...
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13/04/2009
Stacy Kincaid joins VinaCapital as Fund Portfolio Managing Director. Vietnam based fund management and real estate firm VinaCapital Group has announced the appointment of Stacy Kincaid to the role of fund portfolio managing director. Kincaid will oversee the structuring and...
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06/04/2009
Index provider Standard & Poor's (S&P) has launched two unique regional and industry indices in collaboration with the Korea Exchange (KRX). The S&P/KRX Asia 100 Index and the S&P/KRX Exchanges Index are the first indices developed by S&P and...
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06/04/2009
World leaders at the G20 summit in London on 2 April defied critics by pledging more than US$1 trillion in loans and guarantees for "impoverished countries", and agreeing to crack down on tax havens and hedge funds. The move...
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06/04/2009
HSBC has received approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to sell Sukuk (Islamic Bonds) in Hong Kong. Leveraging the global resources and strength of its global Islamic banking division, HSBC Amanah, the Bank supports the local development of...
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06/04/2009
Index provider Standard & Poor's (S&P) has launched two unique regional and industry indices in collaboration with the Korea Exchange (KRX). The S&P/KRX Asia 100 Index and the S&P/KRX Exchanges Index are the first indices developed by S&P and...
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06/04/2009
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Saizen REIT's corporate family rating to Ba3 from Ba1. It has also confirmed the rating remains on review for further possible downgrade. Kaven Tsang, AVP/Analyst at Moody's, said: "The downgrade reflects Saizen's rising liquidity...
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06/04/2009
The corporate and investment banking arm of Credit Agricole, Calyon, has appointed Swaroop Patel as head of debt & credit markets (DCM) for Asia ex-Japan. Patel replaces Antoine Gros, who is promoted to Global Co-Head of Securitisation based in...
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06/04/2009
The new series is designed to support enhanced strategies such as sector rotation and long/short sector plays enabling the creation of structured products, index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs), The FTSE Asian Sectors Index Series consists of 18...
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30/03/2009
The investment banking division of Barclays Bank, Barclays Capital, has claimed the foundations of a bottom in the global business cycle appear to be in place, suggesting a turn for the better in economic news over the next three...
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30/03/2009
Citi is to launch CitiFX Velocity, a new global foreign exchange e-commerce platform for professional traders in Asia Pacific. The platform has been designed to allow traders to customise orders and execution needs, while providing access to the liquidity...
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30/03/2009
Derivatives benchmarking firm SuperDerivatives (SD) has confirmed IIndian private bank IndusInd Bank is to take up its derivatives pricing services. In a statement SD said the bank would deploy its service to strengthen its ability to provide "rich and...
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30/03/2009
Credit Suisse has announced the launch of an enhanced Chinese version of its Hedge Fund Index website. The website updates a previous Chinese version that was launched in October 2007. The enhanced version was designed to meet client demand...
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30/03/2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as announced two new appointments in Asia. Steve Seymour is the new head of equities sales trading, Asia Pacific and Sally Ng is regional head of research for Asian Financials. Seymour's remit is...
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23/03/2009
ING Investment Management Asia/Pacific (ING IM) has announced Bas van Buuren is to take on the role of regional head of institutional sales and business development. He will report into Grant Bailey, regional general manager of ING IM, and...
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23/03/2009
A report from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has claimed fiscal reform in China's public sector will be key to the effectiveness of the country's Chinese yuan (CNY) 4 trillion stimulus package. The report - China's Stimulus Plan: Local...
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23/03/2009
Global investment bank Nomura has confirmed its global interbank interest rate business has commenced trading through LCH.Clearnet's SwapClear platform. Nomura is the 22nd financial institution to be given dealer status by LCH.Clearnet and is the first to represent Asia....
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23/03/2009
Swiss private bank Clariden Leu has appointed Jimmy Lee Kong Eng as its new Head Asia. He has more than 20 years of experience in the finance industry, and spent the last four and half years as head of...
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23/03/2009
Citi has launched Automated Trading access and Algorithms for Malaysia, allowing its global clients to place electronic orders to Bursa Malaysia. This latest launch adds to it's Electronic Execution suite in Asia which includes Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore,...
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23/03/2009
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong has issued a reprimand to Macquarie Equities (Asia) Ltd (Macquarie) and fined it HK$4m following an investigation into it's operation of a commission rebate scheme in relation to derivative warrants...
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23/03/2009
HSBC Global Asset Management has launched the HSBC Investment Grade Bond Fund 2013, which aims to capture "potentially stable returns amid an uncertain market outlook". The Fund will invest in a globally diversified portfolio of around 30 to 40...
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16/03/2009
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) has announced plans to suspend the closing auction session (CAS) in its securities market from 23 March 2009 subject to the approval of the necessary rule amendments by the Securities and Futures...
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16/03/2009
Barclays Capital has appointed David Lau, as managing director, investment banking China within the Investment Banking Division. This appointment follows last month's hiring of Steven Sun and January's hiring of FIG bankers in Japan. Lau will act as the...
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16/03/2009
Malaysia has announced an additional 60bn ringgit (USD$16bn) in spending and tax incentives over the next two years as new figures predict its economy may contract for the first time in a decade. Najib Razak, the Malaysian deputy prime...
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16/03/2009
The Reserve Bank had reduced the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points to 3%. The OCR has now been reduced 525 basis points in little more than six months, however it is expected this latest cut represents...
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16/03/2009
Derivatives benchmark, SuperDerivatives (SD) has improved its VolSurface service as Mark-to-Market Data, enabling cost-effective and self-service derivatives revaluation and risk management. The upgrades are based on customer feedback, which revealed serious concerns about relying on in-house market data or...
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09/03/2009
The global economic downturn does not appear to have dampened Chinese corporates' appetite for overseas acquisitions, according to a survey sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The bank reported approximately two-thirds of respondents expect Chinese outbound merger...
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09/03/2009
The Hong Kong banking business of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), ICBC (Asia) is to implement SuperDerivatives' solution across the bank to support its FX and interest rates derivatives activity. The system provides multi-asset coverage, designed to...
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09/03/2009
China is to make boosting domestic demand a "long-term" strategy and take further measures to stimulate consumer spending, as the country seeks to lead its economy out of a slowdown. In a speech by Premier Wen Jiabao in his...
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09/03/2009
It has been reported that Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking has appointed Yann Garnier as head of structured product sales of the global equities and derivatives division for the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Hong Kong, Garnier will report...
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09/03/2009
Appropriate regulation of credit rating agencies will play an important role in building confidence in the marketplace, according to a white paper published by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. The paper said if the purpose of this regulation is...
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09/03/2009
Standard Chartered operating profit rises 13% to $4.57 bn, income 26% to $13.97 bn in 2008 Wholesale Banking delivers another outstanding performance; Group customer deposits jump 31%. Standard Chartered PLC announced positive results in a "difficult operating environment". In...
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02/03/2009
Commonwealth Bank has launched a new capital protected investment, Capital Series Australia II, which is based on growth in the ASX200 over the next five-and-a-half years. The Capital Series Australia II has a maturity date of 27 October 2014,...
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02/03/2009
Citi has announced two senior management appointments in Asia Pacific. Mark Renton has been appointed global co-head of public sector group, and Farhan Faruqui has been appointed head of global banking, Asia Pacific. Renton will continue to be based...
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02/03/2009
Paul Hoff, managing director, Asia Pacific, FTSE Group, talks about going back to basics and new developments in data delivery. What are the biggest challenges you face going forward in 2009? Is it competition, the markets, technology, or something...
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02/03/2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to reduce its global presence - including its footprint in Asia - following record losses for the bank. Following the announcement of record losses for a British owned company, RBS also confirmed...
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02/03/2009
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to create a $120bn pool of foreign-exchange reserves that can be used by countries to defend their currencies against speculative attacks. At a summit in Phuket, Thailand, finance ministers from...
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02/03/2009
The board of directors at UBS has announced the appointment of Oswald J Grübel as its new group chief executive. This represents a further step to restore stakeholder confidence following a spate of bad news for the bank, including...
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02/03/2009
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue the co-operation between the two exchanges towards the development of both capital markets. The update MOU aims to foster...
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23/02/2009
UBS has agreed to a USD780m fine to avoid charges relating to the investigation of its US cross-border business. As a result of ongoing investigations relating to its US cross-border business, it has also confirmed it has entered into...
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23/02/2009
Research from Barclays Wealth has claimed the Asian markets are relatively inexpensive and represent good medium-term value relative to the Standard & Poor's 500. Of the individual markets in the region, China and India stood out as the most...
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23/02/2009
Figures from HSBC have shown China's export growth fell to a decade low of -17.5% year-on-year in January, which was weaker than market expectations. Following two consecutive months of negative readings in November and December, the tumbling export growth...
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23/02/2009
The world's most powerful global Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) confirm they are still awaiting the bottom of the market before committing to further substantial investments, according to a survey by Financial Dynamics International. The survey found SWFs were unanimous...
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23/02/2009
HSBC has appointed Jeff Bennett as head of leveraged and acquisition finance - Asia-Pacific, with immediate effect. Bennett role is to lead HSBC's efforts in Asia to extend and expand its capabilities in event driven investment grade and non-investment...
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16/02/2009
Chinalco's has moved to increase its shareholding in the international mining group Rio Tinto through aggregate cash proceeds of US$19.5bn. The deal will also entitle Chinalco to nominate two new non-executive Board members (one independent under applicable corporate governance...
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16/02/2009
East Asia's local currency bond markets will expand this year as a result of the economic stimulus packages, according to a report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). With several governments likely to sell debt to pump-prime their economies,...
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16/02/2009
Credit Suisse's fourth-quarter losses for 2008 were substantially greater than those in the third, but the Group has reported a strong start to 2009 with all sectors in profit. Credit Suisse Group has reported a full-year net loss of...
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16/02/2009
LaSalle Investment Management has appointed David Edwards to the role of fund president of the firm's Asia Property Fund. His previous role as Asia Pacific head of research and strategy has been taken over by Kenneth Tsang who joins...
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16/02/2009
The global asset management arm of Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon has launched two new investment boutiques, one focused on the management of domestic Australian equities and the other on emerging markets equities and global fixed income. Ankura...
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09/02/2009
The fallout form the credit crisis has caused companies to shift their investor relations strategies and increase communications with analysts and investors, according to The Bank of New York Mellon. However, it found Asia Pacific businesses are taking a...
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09/02/2009
Deutsche Bank has released unaudited figures for the fourth quarter and full year 2008 showing a net loss of EUR 3.9bn and a loss before income taxes of EUR 5.7bn. For the fourth quarter 2008, the bank reported a...
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09/02/2009
VinaLand Limited has announced its 16.8% return on net asset value for the 2008 calendar year was the top performance of any Vietnam-dedicated investment fund. VinaCapital's AIM-quoted investment vehicle was established to target key growth segments within Vietnam's emerging...
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09/02/2009
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has referred seven cases involving complaints of alleged misconduct in respect of investment products related to Lehman Brothers to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The seven cases, which are the fifteenth batch...
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09/02/2009
Research from HSBC has claimed the economic downturn may drive over 20m migrant workers out of work. However, it pointed out that this would not be the most sizeable loss in recent history, as when the state-owned enterprises (SOEs)...
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02/02/2009
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a reprimand to Sun Hung Kai Investment Services (Sun Hung Kai) in respect of internal systems and controls relating to the sale of Lehman Brothers Minibonds to its clients since 2002....
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02/02/2009
Singapore-based DBS Group has announced its S$4.1 billion rights issue was oversubscribed by 118.8%. It reported valid acceptances and excess applications were received for a total of 903.5 million rights shares - representing approximately 118.8% of the total number...
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02/02/2009
Crédit Agricole S.A. and Société Générale have signed a preliminary agreement in order to combine their asset management operations. The, as yet unnamed, combined entity will be the fourth largest asset manager in Europe and the ninth largest in...
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02/02/2009
A new report from Credit Suisse (CS) has highlighted the full extent of the losses experienced by hedge funds in 2008. The Broad Index - a diversified and asset weighted hedge fund index comprising of 496 hedge funds -...
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02/02/2009
Global index provider FTSE Group (FTSE) has completed the acquisition of US-based quant firm Pensions Benchmark Corporation (PBC). FTSE has confirmed it will look to integrate PBC's systems and database within its own operational framework to further expand its...
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26/01/2009
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) and Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) have announced a Closer Cooperation Agreement, which should mean the launch of the first genuine A-share Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) product by H2. The Agreement commits the two...
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26/01/2009
UBS has appointed Toshiharu Kojima as country head Japan, and chairman and chief executive of UBS Securities Japan (UBSSJ) with immediate effect. Kojima joins from Citigroup Principal Investments Japan, and as country head, will advise the chairman and CEO...
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26/01/2009
Bursa Malaysia Berhad (Bursa Malaysia) and global index provider FTSE Group (FTSE) have announced that Malaysia's primary benchmark index, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI), will adopt the FTSE global index standard. From 6 July 2009 the enhanced index...
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26/01/2009
Derivatives benchmark SuperDerivatives (SD) has confirmed its credit derivatives platform SD-CD will power Standard & Poor's (S&Ps's) new credit default swap (CDS) indices. The three new indices - the S&P 100 CDS, the S&P DCs US Investment Grade Index...
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26/01/2009
The Chinese Central Government has announced that 14 measures will be undertaken in seven areas to support Hong Kong's financial stability and economic development. The measures include agreeing to the signing of a currency swap agreement between the People's...
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19/01/2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group shed its 4.26% equity stake in Bank of China on 14 January for a net consideration of GBP1.6bn. RBS said the stake totaled some10.8 billion shares, at a price of 1.71 Hong...
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19/01/2009
In its Global View - Outlook 2009 Bank Sarasin has estimated that the "deepest recession since World War 2" should reach its low in Q2 2009 and that global growth will recover by the end of the year. The...
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19/01/2009
International private equity firm 3i has announced the appointment of Anil Ahuja to the role of Head of Asia. Based in Singapore, Ahuja will lead 3i's investment teams to deliver 3i's strategic objectives across Asia, working with 3i's local...
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19/01/2009
Derivatives benchmark SuperDerivatives (SD) has reported strong final quarter growth, with 83% growth in new customers and renewals in December alone. It claimed the trend was a result of increased demand for its front office pricing system and its...
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