CLEARING AND SETTLEMENT REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS June 17, 2009 Yesterday, President Obama announced a plan to overhaul US financial regulation in response to a banking and capital markets crisis. As part of the proposal, oversight of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives would be imposed, and there would be harmonisation of futures and securities regulation. New payment and settlement system safeguards would be created. The financial crisis [...]
BOND YIELDS ARE A THREAT TO RECOVERY June 17, 2009 GEORGE TCHETERTAKOVHEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH, ALPARI UK THE bond markets are often underestimated and overlooked by investors because they are usually very stable, in fact almost too stable for some traders to take notice. However, over the past 18 months they have not only been volatile, but also pivotal in influencing banks, governments, central banks [...]
Investors are turning to ETFs as uncertain times continue June 17, 2009 WHEN American private equity firm Blackrock recently acquired Barclays Global Investors in a deal worth $13.5bn it was seen as a smart move by some industry analysts, largely because of BGI’s involvement in the exchange-traded-funds (ETFs) industry through its £375bn iShares business. ETFs have been big in the US for many years, and the financial [...]
GOLD A GOOD BET IN ALL CONDITIONS June 17, 2009 NICHOLAS BROOKSHEAD OF RESEARCH AND INVESTMENT STRATEGY, ETF SECURITIES SINCE the start of the year, the economic outlook has changed significantly and global depression has been averted. However, we are still in a period of deflation, as RPI figures out earlier this week showed. In May, inflation fell yet again in the UK, from -1.1 [...]
Putting the net into networking June 17, 2009 IN business, your network is your career’s lifeblood. Contacts are not there to sit unused in the Rolodex, but to be exploited for ideas, deals, jobs and opportunities. After all, only a fraction of executive appointments are made as a result of applications to advertised positions – most are down to knowing the right people. [...]
CAREERS CLINIC June 17, 2009 TONI EASTWOODDEVELOPMENT MANAGER, EVERYWOMAN My boss has formed a laddish rapport with the men on our team, and they go out drinking a lot. As a woman, I feel excluded, and I think I’m being overlooked for important projects. Some of the women on the team are happy to play up to the macho atmosphere, [...]
WHY LIBEL TOURISM IS A BIG WORRY June 16, 2009 MAX COLEMEDIA LAWYER, MISHCON DE REYA SOLICITORS THE practice of libel shopping has been coming under scrutiny recently. Libel tourism is a type of forum shopping, the practice of finding the foreign jurisdiction which is most friendly to the claim, and the courts in this country are an appealing destination if you are a foreigner [...]
Eurozone banks will prove the downfall of the single currency June 16, 2009 AFTER months of Europe scoffing at the troubles of the Anglo-Saxon banking system, it appears likely that many Eurozone banks have plenty of skeletons in their own closets. The European Central Bank (ECB) said earlier this week in its Financial Stability Review that it estimated Eurozone bank writedowns due to securities – or toxic assets [...]
COMMODITY CURRENCIES SLOW DOWN June 16, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT ONE of the best trades in the FX market in the past three months has been to go long on the Commonwealth currencies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These were the biggest beneficiaries of the recovery trade as global demand picked up. Spurred by China’s seemingly insatiable demand [...]
Economy fears hit oil, miners and banks but defensives fly June 16, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.1 per cent higher yesterday, recovering only a small part of Monday’s sharp falls as strength in defensive stocks was countered by falls in oils, miners, and banks. At the close the FTSE 100 was up 2.56 points at 4,328.57, rallying slightly after hitting a six-week closing low on Monday when [...]
