Top Interest Rate Headlines 02-14-12: Philly Reserve Bank Head Warns Against Speeding Up Economy

Philadelphia Reserve Bank head warns against speeding up economic recovery
AP/The Washington Post
http://jlne.ws/yuP6hk

Deal Size Becoming A Bigger Deal In Investment-Grade Bond Issues
By Katy Burne Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Crowded into a corner by the pullback in trading on Wall Street, corporate-bond investors are finding there's safety in bigger deals. How easy it is to trade a bond has long influenced the performance of risky high-yield debt. But until recently, the investment-grade corporate bond market has remained relatively immune to concerns about liquidity,
http://jlne.ws/wJkwXU

Canada Examines How Benchmark Rates Get Set
BY BEN DUMMETT, PAUL VIEIRA AND JEAN EAGLESHAM - WSJ
Canada's top antitrust watchdog said it is investigating allegations of collusion in the setting of key benchmark interest rates, joining law-enforcement authorities across the globe in a probe of how the rates are set.
http://jlne.ws/zxM5xa

Foreign outcry over ‘Volcker rule’ plans
By Shahien Nasiripour in Washington and Tracy Alloway and Telis Demos in New York - Financial Times
US regulators are facing a flood of foreign complaints about the “Volcker rule” aimed at banning proprietary trading at banks, increasing the chances that the measure may be watered down.
http://jlne.ws/z7Gked

Foreign critics should not worry about ‘my’ rule
By Paul Volcker - Financial Times
I confess total surprise about the complaints by some European and other foreign officials about the restrictions on proprietary trading by American banks embedded in the Dodd-Frank Act – now dubbed the “Volcker” Rule.
http://jlne.ws/zyS8CQ

Greece far from safe even after debt swap
By Willem Buiter - Financial Times
On Sunday night, as Athens burned, the Greek parliament voted to approve an omnibus bill. It contained the main elements of an agreement with the Troika on fiscal austerity, privatisation and structural reform, and the recapitalisation of Greek banks. Was this a ‘make or break’ moment for Greece?
http://jlne.ws/x6TC35

Merkel Backs Indirect Regulation Of Shadow Banks
FOX Business
BERLIN -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday backed a proposal to indirectly regulate the shadow banking system prior to imposing direct regulation on institutions such as hedge funds and money-market funds that have traditionally been outside the scope of financial supervision.
http://jlne.ws/z38ufu

Moody’s threatens to downgrade UK
By Michael Mackenzie and Vivianne Rodrigues in New York and Jim Pickard in London - Financial Times
Moody’s put the UK, France and Austria on negative outlook late on Monday night, raising the prospect that the three countries would lose their triple A ratings due to exposure to the eurozone debt crisis.
http://jlne.ws/ApCsDQ

Rating Action: Moody's Adjusts Ratings Of 9 European Sovereigns To Capture Downside Risks
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/yEattM