FRB: Testimony--Bernanke, Statement--January 7, 2011
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
The Economic Outlook and Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
Chairman Conrad, Senator Sessions, and other members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to offer my views on current economic conditions, recent monetary policy actions, and issues related to the federal budget.
The Economic Outlook
The economic recovery that began a year and a half ago is continuing, although, to date, at a pace that has been insufficient to reduce the rate of unemployment significantly...
http://jlne.ws/hFSSPN
Dodd-Frank Repeal Proposed, Can It Be Passed?
By Penny Crosman, Bank Systems & Technology
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota, has introduced legislation, H.R. 87, to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. "Dodd-Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries," Bachmann said in a statement. "It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight.
http://jlne.ws/gTvflj
Champlain College Makes Financial Literacy a Priority
By Ron Lieber, The New York Times
One of the more difficult questions of the mortgage collapse was just how much blame individuals should take for signing up for loans they didn’t understand...
http://jlne.ws/hMecQY
With Appointments, Obama’s Economic Team Shifts to Focus on Recovery
By Jackie Calmes, The New York Times
President Obama on Friday completed the midterm makeover of his core economic team as it turned from crisis management to recovery measures, naming Gene B. Sperling as senior economic adviser in the White House.
http://jlne.ws/i6IFQP
SNB refuses to accept Portugal bonds as security
By Haig Simonian in Zurich, FT.com
The Swiss National Bank confirmed on Friday that it had stopped accepting Portuguese government securities as collateral for repurchase (repo) agreements, adding Lisbon to Dublin among the eurozone governments on its ineligible list. The decision to exclude both countries follows steep downgrades of Portuguese and Irish debt and was based on the Swiss central bank’s strict, but highly transparent, acceptance criteria.
http://jlne.ws/h61KUQ
Why Did the Unemployment Rate Drop?
The U.S. jobless rate dropped substantially to 9.4% in December, but the government’s broader measure of unemployment dropped at a more modest pace to 16.7%, highlighting the problem of the long-term unemployed. The comprehensive gauge of labor underutilization, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification by the Labor Department, accounts for people who have stopped looking for work or who can’t find full-time jobs.
http://jlne.ws/g2UZas
What a debt default would mean
The letter Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sent to Congress on the debt ceiling is worth reading in full, as it does a nice job describing a danger that I'm not sure most people fully appreciate. My sense is that the mental model most people have of defaulting on the debt ceiling looks something like shutting down the government. But that's not it at all. It's more like shutting down the economy.
http://jlne.ws/gQCbQx
Canadian pension plan funding dips in 2010
Janet Mcfarland
For five years, Scott Clausen has listened to pension funds predict interest rates have surely hit rock bottom. And for five years, they’ve been wrong. Now Mr. Clausen, a pension specialist at consulting firm Mercer, is reluctant to predict pension funds are finally turning the corner toward stronger health, despite promising signs of climbing interest rates over the past three months.
http://jlne.ws/h23YNJ
U.S. Adds 103,000 Jobs in December, Unemployment at 9.4%
By Bob Willis, Bloomberg
Employers in the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in December, confirming Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s view that it will take years for the labor market to heal.
http://jlne.ws/gvmzry
Bernanke fears slow US recovery
BBC
The US economy is showing signs of a "self-sustaining recovery", but is not growing fast enough to reduce high jobless levels, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has said.
http://jlne.ws/gbLfzk
Nigerian interbank rates ease on budget disbursals
Reuters
Nigerian interbank lending rates eased to 6.0 percent in the first trading week of the year from 8.9 percent at the end of 2010, helped by inflows from government budget disbursals, traders said on Friday.
http://jlne.ws/gPBwLf
US banks get nod for China securities
By Henny Sender in Hong Kong and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing - Financial Times
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have received approval to launch securities joint ventures with Chinese partners that will allow them to help local clients raise money in China's equity and debt markets. They are the first US banks in six years to gain such access.
http://jlne.ws/g7ezM7
Sarkozy Likely to Suggest a Lesser Role for Dollar
By NATHALIE BOSCHAT And IAN TALLEY - WSJ
PARIS-French President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to make a provocative suggestion when he visits U.S. President Barack Obama Monday: Give the dollar a less-prominent role in the world economy.
http://jlne.ws/g2n5p1
US Constitutional Challenge Seen To 'Vague' Dodd-Frank Rules
By Jacob Bunge Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
One of the largest U.S. futures brokers has assailed part of the Obama administration's proposed financial reforms, mirroring criticism from incoming Republican lawmakers that the Dodd-Frank overhaul may be unconstitutional. The comments to regulators from Newedge Group come amid wider industry protests about a key provision in the legislation that gives U.S. futures watchdogs more power to crack down on reckless trading, which is seen as vague and overlapping with existing oversight.
http://jlne.ws/eQ59XA
Obama adviser Volcker to step down: Reports
Market Watch
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is expected to step down as a key economic adviser to President Barack Obama, according to reports. As head of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Volcker authored a controversial bank reform measure dubbed the "Volcker Rule," which is intended to limit big insured banks' speculative proprietary derivatives and stock ...
http://jlne.ws/fMCgns
Banks' Senior Debt Holders May Face Losses in EU Plan
BusinessWeek
The European Union proposed that bank regulators be granted powers to write down lenders' senior debt and veto new products, as part of a package of measures to protect taxpayers from future financial crises.
http://jlne.ws/ge0LFt
Nodal Exchange and LCH.Clearnet Ltd extend Real Time power offering to 100 contracts
Press Release
Nodal Exchange, LLC and LCH.Clearnet Ltd (LCH.Clearnet) announced today the addition of 72 new contracts settling against Real Time Locational Marginal Price (LMP) of electricity at 36 new hub and zone locations. This brings the total number of Nodal Exchange contracts settling against Real Time LMP to 100, complementing the over 3,600 Day Ahead LMP settled contracts.
http://jlne.ws/fL4cgN
LCH.Clearnet appoints SwapClear Head of Sales & Marketing in the U.S
Press Release
LCH.Clearnet Ltd (LCH.Clearnet) has appointed Floyd Converse as Head of Sales and Marketing in the U.S for its market leading interest rate swap (IRS) clearing service, SwapClear.
http://jlne.ws/iejBsx
Citigroup seeks buyers for CitiFinancial
By Francesco Guerrera and Helen Thomas in New York - Financial Times
Citigroup is seeking buyers for CitiFinancial, the largest consumer finance company in the US, in a deal that could raise hundreds of millions of dollars and mark a milestone in the bank's efforts to break with its troubled past.
http://jlne.ws/eOXqJS
Total ICAP Electronic Broking Volumes for EBS and BrokerTec Platforms Increase 19% in December
Press Release
London, 6th January 2011 - ICAP, the world's premier interdealer broker, announced today that total electronic broking volumes for the month of December on the BrokerTec and EBS platforms reached US$ 744.6 billion, an increase of 19% year on year.
http://jlne.ws/fZ2l2H
Goldman Sachs sued over mortgage-debt deals
Market Watch
Bond insurer ACA Financial says it was misled by the investment bank's "fraudulent'" activities and is seeking $120 million in compensation and punitive damages.
http://jlne.ws/g2ADRA
Goldman Sued Over Paulson CDOs
TheStreet.com
ACA Financial Guaranty is suing Goldman Sachs for fraud and is seeking $30 million to $90 million in damages. The monoline bond insurer, which is operating in run off, says that Goldman misled the company over a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) called ABACUS. Goldman Sachs developed and sold the CDO in 2007 on behalf of hedge fund Paulson & Co...
http://jlne.ws/fISDlc
INTERVIEW: FSA Turner May Seek Powers To Block Hostile Bank Buys
Dow Jones
The U.K.'s Financial Services Authority may ask the government for the power to block hostile takeovers in the banking sector in a bid to prevent aggressive acquisitions from disrupting financial stability, FSA Chairman Lord Adair Turner told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/i5f1Fo
Royal Bank of Scotland Group: HM Tresury Holds 82.81% Interest
Dow Jones
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN), a U.K. state owned banking company announced Thursday HM Treasury currently holds 90,644,835,194 shares in the company, which represents 82.81%.
http://jlne.ws/eqC4w8
AIG moves closer to recapitalisation
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington - Financial Times
AIG, the insurance group bailed out by the US government during the financial crisis, is on track to complete a recapitalisation as soon as next week after its board approved the next step of a restructuring plan.
http://jlne.ws/hFV9hA
BlackRock Picked by Irish Central Bank to Evaluate Six Banks' Debt Assets
Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. , the world's biggest asset manager, was picked by the Central Bank of Ireland to value hard-to-sell debt held by the country's banks as European regulators attempt to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.
http://jlne.ws/g6NcqC
Jumat, 07 Januari 2011
Kamis, 06 Januari 2011
January 6, 2011: Geithner Warns Congress: Don't Play Games on Debt Limit [NEWSLETTER]
Conversation Starter
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that the United States may hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow by March 31 and faces serious consequences unless Congress acts by then to raise it. Geithner said it was hard to pin down exactly when the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling would be breached. He urged Congress, however, to take action before the end of the first quarter to avoid the risk of pushing the U.S. into default.
See the letter that Geithner sent to Congress here.
Related news stories:
Geithner Warns Congress: Don't Play Games on Debt Limit
By Mark Knoller, CBS News
Facing a new Congress in which Republicans are more dead-set than ever on reducing government spending, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner served notice that the U.S. government could hit the statutory debt limit as early as March 31 and no later than May 16.
http://jlne.ws/dZqGA6
Geithner presses Republicans to lift U.S. debt limit
By David Lawder and Glenn Somerville, Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday stepped up pressure on Republican lawmakers to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit, warning failure to act would lead to an economic catastrophe.
http://jlne.ws/hzKfs3
Raise debt limit to avoid national catastrophe, Geithner warns Congress
By Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned lawmakers Thursday that the national debt could hit the legal limit on federal borrowing as soon as March 31, and he urged them to act quickly to avoid a government default that would spark "catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades."
http://jlne.ws/eBIMz4
Lead Stories
Obama names moderate Daley as chief of staff
If President Obama wanted a tough manager with sharp political instincts who wouldn't seek the spotlight as his next White House chief of staff, he found his man in William Daley....He comes steeped in business, a quality that has been lacking in the Obama administration. He ran Amalgamated Bank of Chicago before joining the Clinton administration. Since 2001, he has been president of SBC Communications, then Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase.
http://jlne.ws/fmaXDt
**CN: Obama brings another Chicago guy to the White House. Daley has strong ties to the banking and Wall Street communities.
PIMCO | Investment Outlook, William H. Gross - Off With Our Heads!
By Cordell Eddings, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should favor emerging market corporate and sovereign debt as “mindless’ U.S. deficit spending may result in higher inflation, a weaker dollar and the eventual loss of America’s AAA credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/eEU7Lu
**CN: PIMCO's Gross starts the year off with some strong words in his monthly column on the firm's Web site.
Dodd-Frank and the Return of the Loan Shark
BY TODD ZYWICKI, WSJ.com
The least surprising event of 2010 was that, in the wake of new federal limits on how credit-card issuers can price risk and adjust interest rates, more Americans had to go to payday lenders, pawn shops and local loan sharks in order to get credit. It's simply the latest installment in the old story of regulators thinking they can wish away the unintended consequences of consumer credit regulation.
http://jlne.ws/e8y44E
Banks Boost Income From High-Yield Bonds
Radi Khasawneh, Financial News
Investment banks almost doubled their fees from high-yield bonds last year, topping revenues from investment grade issues for the first time since 2006.
http://jlne.ws/fHg10l
Economy's Overheating? We Should Be So Lucky: Caroline Baum
By Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Wall Street lives in a world of extremes. Today’s raging bull market may morph into tomorrow’s angry bear. Forecasts of inflation and deflation can be found on the same page. The Federal Reserve’s plans for an early exit from its emergency stimulus were derailed by the need to re-enter the treatment arena.
http://jlne.ws/esORCJ
FRB: Press Release--FOMC statement--December 14, 2010
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment. Household spending is increasing at a moderate pace, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, though less rapidly than earlier in the year, while investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak. Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. The housing sector continues to be depressed. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, but measures of underlying inflation have continued to trend downward.
http://jlne.ws/g1hn1y
Fed sees fairly high bar for stopping bond buys
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
The Federal Reserve felt at its December meeting that the U.S. economy still needed help despite signs of strength, according to minutes released on Tuesday that showed little appetite to trim bond-buying plans.
http://jlne.ws/dGIQrY
CFTC needs "Plan B" for costly swaps rules
By Roberta Rampton , Reuters
The U.S. futures regulator needs to consider a "Plan B" on how it will police the $600 trillion swaps market if Congress fails to deliver a 50 percent increase in its budget, one of its top officials said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/gXhDmx
Mortgage-Backed Securities to Save Financials?
By Catherine Holahan, CNBC
The "Fast Money" traders were focused on the financial sector early Wednesday morning after reports that three major Wall Street firms were planning to sell $4 billion in mortgage-backed bonds.
http://jlne.ws/iecQ6E
Furor over BofA's $2.8B mortgage settlement
By MARK DeCAMBRE, NY Post
Bank of America is getting blasted with accusations of a "backdoor bailout" for its $2.8 billion settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over billions of bad mortgages.
http://jlne.ws/fsARcv
Experts Expect Fewer Bankruptcies in 2011
By Sara Murray, WSJ.com
With consumer bankruptcies at a five-year high, experts are already handicapping this year’s trend — and there’s reason to believe 2011 will be brighter. There are two indications that Americans won’t be quite so overwhelmed by debt this year that they opt to file for bankruptcy. The first is that they’re simply carrying less debt. There was $2.40 trillion in outstanding consumer credit as of October, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s down nearly 4.1% from October 2007, before the recession began.
http://jlne.ws/fdh98W
F.D.I.C. Seeks $2.5 Billion From Execs of Failed Banks
By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON, NY Times
The F.D.I.C. said Tuesday that as of mid-December it had authorized suits against 109 directors and officers of failed financial institutions as it tries to recover nearly $2.5 billion.
http://jlne.ws/eZ8emP
Issuance Plunges 91% From Year Ago as Build America Bonds End
By Brendan A. McGrail, Bloomberg
Municipal-debt issuance plunged 91 percent this week from a year earlier after federal initiatives such as the Build America Bonds program ended Dec. 31.
http://jlne.ws/hkV7EK
Currency Carry Trade Losses Exceeding Lehman Crisis Bolster Dollar Outlook
By Ron Harui and Wes Goodman, Bloomberg
Currency traders that seek profits by borrowing in nations with low interest rates to fund purchases in countries with higher yields are losing more money than at any time in at least a decade.
http://jlne.ws/ig4IFY
Private investors head for hills as default fears mount
By Nicole Bullock in New York
A fierce debate has erupted over the standing of US municipal bonds, the once sleepy corner of the credit markets where states and local governments raise money for roads, bridges, schools and other projects.
http://jlne.ws/hpMNPB
ECB Rate Hike Likely Sooner Than Expected
By Nina Koeppen, WSJ The Source
Strong euro-zone inflation data for December are an important reminder that interest rates won’t stay at current emergency levels indefinitely, and that the ECB may raise rates later this year.
http://jlne.ws/eoZzjl
Fed Likely To Add New Treasury Market Dealers
By Min Zeng, Dow Jones Newswires
After a hiatus of more than one year, the Federal Reserve is likely to expand a select group of dealers to help with hefty Treasury debt sales and the central bank's monetary-policy operations, according to traders and dealers familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/hVmqay
Three risks to start 2011
By Jeremy Gaunt, Reuters
Financial markets enter 2011 with many investors persuaded that the world economy is on the mend and that riskier assets such as stocks are set to do well.
http://jlne.ws/h54N1W
Six Financial Institutions Repay TARP Funds, Deliver $626 Million In Proceeds For Taxpayers
Press Release
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the following six financial institutions have repurchased Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program (CPP) investments, delivering a total of $626.0 million in proceeds today for taxpayers.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Schwarzenegger's Build America Bonds Outperform With 7% Yield: Muni Credit
By Brendan A. McGrail and Ashley Lutz, Bloomberg
Build America Bonds from California, the biggest issuer of the taxable debt in 2010, outperformed the market in the last six weeks as the state’s 7.25 percent yield lured investors unfazed by the lowest state credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/i9gTjU
Events
Introduction to Treasury Futures: Factoring the Risks, New York
When: January 13, 2011
Where: New York
Who: Institute for Financial Markets
Full Info: www.theifm.org
Details: Treasury futures are one of the most popular futures contracts for both hedging and speculating. Some of the factors that influence value in the treasury complex include: interest rate risk, inflation risk, and the willingness of investors to continue buying Treasury debt. These factors lead to volatility in the underlying value of debt instruments as interest rates move up or down. If your business borrows money, you can mitigate the effects of higher or lower interest rates by trading the treasury future complex. Moreover, with treasury interest rate levels at multi-generational lows, a robust case can be made for hedging the threat of higher interest rates in the future now -before interest rates return to 'normal' levels. This IFM short course provides the foundation to understand how the cash and futures markets are connected, and how to guard against interest rate volatility.
The 36th Annual International Futures Industry Conference
When: March 15-18, 2011
Who: FIA
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Full info: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=fwgtyucab&v=001WeBrwlP3VB1EJrvzuxUwxDg8fsg1Z8ZYjylTYIAfiEPOHumaM4PToYW-FxqnOsfyAaSlhRYAWrgj0P8-SYrVuEM53baCN9cyh3I5I-IOKZ3QwiUb2qUbyhwPmrOiHmw_Gt-oUr577qg%3D
Details: As one of FIA's premier events, the 36th Annual International Futures Industry Conference is host to an influential audience of 800 senior-level futures industry professionals, brokerage executives, technology and operations officers, exchange officials, money managers, and public policy leaders. Delegates from more than 30 countries attend this annual event.
SIFMA 2nd Annual Private Client Conference
When: Apr. 7 and 8, 2011
Who: SIFMA
Where: New York City
Full info: http://www.sifma.org/events/event.aspx?id=22289
Details: On April 7 and 8, the SIFMA 2nd Annual Private Client Conference, "Client First: Delivering the Vision," will build on the success of the inaugural Private Client Conference during the spring. This two-day event combines the strengths of SIFMA's former Sales & Marketing, Small Firms and Independent Firms conferences, producing North America's premier conference for private client groups at all levels. This conference is designed for senior managers in private client groups at global, regional, independent contractor and small broker-dealers, including national sales managers, regional directors, branch managers, wealth-management specialists, marketing specialists, and individual financial advisers and investment consultants.
Economic News
Fixed mortgage rates slip in latest week
By Michelle Donley, MarketWatch
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average declined to 4.77% with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Jan. 6. Last week, the average was 4.86%, and the year-ago average was 5.09%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.13% with an average 0.8 point, down from last week's 4.2% and the year-ago 4.5%. "Mortgage rates began the new year a little lower this week and remained below those at the start of 2010, which should help aid the recovery in the housing market," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac.
http://jlne.ws/f5uObo
U.S. Companies Added 297,000 Jobs in December, ADP Says
By Timothy R. Homan, Bloomberg
Companies in the U.S. boosted payrolls in December by the most since records began in 2001, showing a stronger labor-market recovery at the end of last year, data from a private report showed today.
http://jlne.ws/gkNVai
Sales at U.S. Retailers Increased 3.6% Last Week
By Leslie Patton, Bloomberg
Sales at U.S. retailers rose 3.6 percent last week from a year earlier, as some shoppers returned to stores to take advantage of post-Christmas discounts, dodging a snowstorm that assailed the East Coast.
http://jlne.ws/eNs6P3
U.S. factory orders rebound
Reuters
New orders received by U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in November, and orders excluding transportation recorded their largest gain in eight months, providing more signs the economic recovery was on sustainable path.
http://jlne.ws/gddah5
ISM Index at 57.0 in December vs. 56.6 in November
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The overall economy grew for the twentieth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the seventeenth time, the Institute for Supply Management reported this morning.
http://jlne.ws/e0Gd6Q
Manufacturing activity expands for 17th month in a row
By Blake Ellis, CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing activity expanded for a 17th month in a row in December, rising to the highest level in seven months, a purchasing managers' group said Monday.
http://jlne.ws/eXslBK
U.S. consumer bankruptcies rose 9% in 2010
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
The number of U.S. consumers who filed for bankruptcy protection rose 9 percent in 2010, and the number could increase in 2011 because of high debt loads and stagnant income growth, a report issued Monday shows.
http://jlne.ws/i2Qwzz
World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
Global manufacturing ended the year on a strong note, according a global purchasing managers’ index released by J.P. Morgan Chase and Markit. The JPMorgan global PMI hit a six-month high of 55 in December from 53.9 the prior month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The expansion was broad based led by the U.S. and the euro zone. China also continued to expand, though at a slightly slower rate. Only Japan and Greece were in contractionary territory.
http://jlne.ws/fa7F56
Business Activity in U.S. Grows at Fastest Pace in Two Decades
Bob Willis, Bloomberg
Businesses in the U.S. expanded in December at the fastest pace in two decades, adding to evidence the world’s largest economy is accelerating heading into 2011.
http://jlne.ws/e7kalc
Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rose 3.5% in November
By Bob Willis, Bloomberg
The number of contracts to buy previously owned homes rose more than forecast in November, a sign sales are recovering following a post-tax credit plunge.
http://jlne.ws/gFfKo0
US mortgage foreclosures rise sharply
By Suzanne Kapner, Financial Times
US mortgage foreclosures jumped in the third quarter as fewer borrowers qualified for loan modifications that would have reduced their monthly payments, bank regulators have said.
http://jlne.ws/eg2yUX
Coincident indexes for 11 states expected to grow 4.5 % over next 6 months
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia produces leading indexes for each of the 50 states. The indexes are calculated monthly and are usually released a week after the release of the coincident indexes. The Bank issues a release each month describing the current and future economic situation of the 50 states with special coverage of the Third District: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
http://jlne.ws/eiV8ug
Exchanges, Clearing Houses & MTFs
ELX Futures - ELX Announces 2010 Year-End Results; ADV in U.S. Treasury Futures Up 14% Year-Over-Year; ADV in Euro
ELX Futures, L.P. (ELX), a leading electronic futures exchange offering market competition in U.S. Treasury and Eurodollar futures contracts, announced today its 2010 year-end results. Total volume exceeded 13MM contracts for the year, with ADV surpassing 47K contracts in U.S. Treasury futures, an increase of 14% from 2009. ELX’s Eurodollar futures contract, which was launched in June 2010, established several record-breaking milestones. By December, ADV reached over 18K contracts traded with an open interest (OI) exceeding 200K contracts. From the third quarter of 2010 (the contract’s first full quarter) to the fourth quarter of 2010, ADV grew by 390%, average OI by 771%, and market share by 298%.
http://jlne.ws/gVsmZK
CME Group Volume Averaged 12.2 Million Contracts per Day in 2010, up 19 Percent; Double-Digit ADV Growth for Fourth Quarter and December
Press Release
CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that 2010 volume averaged 12.2 million contracts per day, up 19 percent from 2009.
In December, CME Group interest rate volume averaged 5.0 million contracts per day, up 29 percent compared with the prior December. Treasury futures volume averaged 1.9 million contracts per day, up 37 percent compared with the same period in 2009, and Treasury options volume averaged 275,000 contracts per day, up 16 percent. Eurodollar futures volume averaged 2.2 million contracts per day, up 30 percent versus December 2009, and Eurodollar options volume averaged 649,000 contracts per day, up 20 percent.
http://jlne.ws/fuqRU2
Total trading volume at Eurex Group at 2.64 billion contracts in 2010
Press Release
The international derivatives markets of Eurex Group ended 2010 with a turnover of approximately 2.64 billion contracts, compared with 2.65 billion in 2009. The total volume for 2010 splits into 1.9 billion contracts traded at Eurex (2009: 1.7 billion) and 745.2 million contracts traded at the International Securities Exchange (ISE) (2009: 960.2 million). This corresponds to a daily average trading volume of 10.4 million contracts compared with 10.5 million in 2009.
A total of 39.6 million contracts were traded in the interest rate derivatives segment in December 2010, compared with 39.2 million in the same period last year.
http://jlne.ws/etXyKb
Firms & Banks
At Banks, New Fees Replacing Old Levies
By ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ
Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts. As regulation curtailing financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws. Credit-card users have experienced new inactivity fees and foreign-exchange charges, while checking accounts have gotten hit with new monthly maintenance fees.
http://jlne.ws/hNGXa4
Morgan Stanley Names Rosenthal as Chief Operating Officer, Replacing Nides
Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley , the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, named Jim Rosenthal chief operating officer to succeed Thomas Nides, who left the firm to take a position in the U.S. State Department.
http://jlne.ws/h97nRi
**CN: Rosenthal has been overseeing the company’s integration of its brokerage joint venture with Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney unit.
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/fid0tF
Citi's service guru Tweets more bank customers
Reuters
Citigroup Inc is hoping that one of the country's most famous customer service gurus can help it rebuild its reputation -- one Tweet at a time.
http://jlne.ws/gqAcHD
Eurozone inflation soars to new high
By Gerrit Wiesmann, CNN
Eurozone inflation rose in June to its highest since the bloc's 1999 formation, data showed on Monday as political opposition mounted to an expected European Central Bank move to raise its main interest rate this week.
http://jlne.ws/dSG1wW
Goldman Sachs Investment in Facebook May Draw SEC Scrutiny
BusinessWeek
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s plan to offer clients up to $1.5 billion in Facebook Inc. equity may invite U.S. regulators to take a closer look at whether the owner of the world's most popular social-networking site is circumventing disclosure rules, securities lawyers said.
http://jlne.ws/i5mOBV
Citi Closes Student-Loan Deals
TheStreet.com
Citigroup said Monday that its Citi Holdings division of noncore assets now represents less than 20% of its balance sheet, after having closed the sale of $31 billion worth of student-loan assets. In two transactions, the New York-based banking giant sold $27 billion worth of loans to SLM Corp. , the holding company of Sallie Mae, and another $4.2 billion worth of assets ...
http://jlne.ws/g5li5M
Is Bob McCann's Spread In The Continental In-flight Magazine Offensive Or Just Embarrassing?
Business Insider
It's like Bob McCann is actively trying to piss off the higher-ups at UBS.
http://jlne.ws/i2hgw7
Bank of America pays Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6bn
BBC News
Bank of America has agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
http://jlne.ws/f9qaFC
Goldman Sachs returned to M And A; A top spot in 2010
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) was the top global mergers and acquisitions advisor last year, retaking the position from rival Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which derailed its multiyear grip on the ranking in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/ibe7Nx
Citi Employee Arrested in Indian Probe: Report
TheStreet.com
A Citigroup employee in India has been arrested on charges of forging documents to lure investors. Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at the Gurgaon branch, alledgedly forged company statements and created multiple bank accounts to swindle funds that could total about $66.8 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The money involved was alledgedly taken ...
http://jlne.ws/f9482y
PIMCO Settles Suit, Promotes Emerging-Markets Bond Skipper
Morningstar
Plus, equities and fixed income now under single CIO at DWS, and more.
http://jlne.ws/hwo4Vb
Pimco to Pay $92 Million to Settle Market Manipulation Lawsuit
By Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, agreed to pay $92 million to settle a private class-action lawsuit that accused it of manipulating the price of Treasury futures contracts.
http://jlne.ws/ew7eXd
PIMCO's El-Erian, managing the “new normal” investment landscape
Daniel P. Collins, Futures Mag.com
Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-chief investment officer of PIMCO, is one of the most knowledgeable people you can find on global financial issues. Prior to joining Bill Gross as co-CIO at PIMCO, El-Erian managed the Harvard University endowment fund, was a managing director at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup and spent 15 years at the International Monetary Fund.
http://jlne.ws/hKSAQJ
Bank Of America to Buy Back Bad Loans from Fannie, Freddie
By TESS STYNES - WSJ
Bank of America Corp. expects to take a provision of about $3 billion in the fourth quarter to buy back bad loans from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that were issued by its troubled Countrywide Financial unit.
http://jlne.ws/gfbMXI
Time to stop seeing bankers as bogey men
AFP Telegraph Finance News via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
In 2008, the world changed for good. Names once held dear disappeared. Whole institutions imploded, almost overnight. Governments intervened. And taxpayers moaned as the full scale of the banking crisis ...
http://jlne.ws/i1HLDS
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/hmGuCS
Deutsche Bank Challenges JPMorgan's Bond Dominance
BusinessWeek
Deutsche Bank AG climbed three places to No. 2 in the global corporate bond underwriter rankings this year, challenging JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s three- year reign as the top manager of debt offerings.
http://jlne.ws/fjaYYn
Bank of America Settlement with Lehman Not Yet Final
American Banking & Market News
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) may be in for an expensive settlement, pending a final decision by a bankruptcy judge. The firm had received notice that a bankruptcy judge amended his order that they pay Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. $590 million in compensation for taking its deposits, saying “the judgment is hereby deemed not to be a final judgment.”
http://jlne.ws/eCime9
Auctions & Statistics
Fed buys $1.5 bln in Tsys maturing 2028-2040 in today's open mkt operation of $9.36 bln
Press Release
The purchase or sale of Treasury securities on an outright basis adds or drains reserves available in the banking system.
http://jlne.ws/dcRpcM
Treasury 4-Weeks Go At 0.120% High Yield
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.120% high yield, a price of 99.990667.
http://jlne.ws/gizIv6
Regulators
Fed’s Hoenig Defends Role of Dissenter
By Michael S. Derby, WSJ.com
The man who opposed every official action taken by the Federal Reserve last year continued to express his opposition to the current stance of monetary policy Wednesday, and said he believes the economy should continue to recover and add jobs in 2011.
http://jlne.ws/gT1GbY
EU mulls pushing wind-up costs on bank lenders-official
Reuters
The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force lenders to banks to share the costs of their winding up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/gbM7cz
Fed's Dudley Scheduled Meetings With Wall Street, Global Chiefs
BusinessWeek
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley scheduled meetings with top Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. officials in his first days on the job, his daybook showed today.
http://jlne.ws/h8NqSg
ISDA Launches Initiative to Promote Portfolio Reconciliation and Reduce Risk in Asia Pacific Region
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published the Asia Pacific Portfolio Reconciliation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote portfolio reconciliation and reduce risk in the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the MoU is to outline the process and frequency with which participating firms reconcile portfolios of collateralized derivatives transactions.
http://jlne.ws/dKTJ7V
OTC and Swaps
2011 to be a Defining Moment for Swap Execution Facilities
Finance Technology Network
Industry players are jockeying for position to compete as Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs). But regulators are still writing the rules.
http://jlne.ws/emY3Tt
Global News
UK banks to give month's notice on capital raising
By Huw Jones, Reuters
Banks in Britain will have to give their supervisor at least a month's notice if they want to raise fresh capital for inclusion in mandatory buffers, the country's financial watchdog said on Thursday. "Under the proposed change, a firm must tell us before it or another undertaking in its group issues any capital instrument which it wishes to include as regulatory capital," the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said in a consultation paper.
http://jlne.ws/fGFqIH
China PBOC: To Give Higher Priority To Curbing Inflation
WSJ.com
China's central bank will give a higher priority to curbing inflation in 2011, the People's Bank of China said Thursday, boosting expectations that it will adopt more tightening measures, such as raising interest rates.
http://jlne.ws/gZ34Le
Moody's Raises Philippines Outlook
BY ARRAN SCOTT AND RHEA SANDIQUE-CARLOS, WSJ.com
Moody's Investors Service raised its credit-rating outlook on the Philippines to positive from stable, bringing into view a possible upgrade for the Southeast Asian nation and highlighting improving economic conditions in the region.
http://jlne.ws/gL0bZ7
World Bank issues bond denominated in Chinese Yuan
BBC
The World Bank has issued its first bond denominated in the Chinese currency, joining a small but fast-growing market. The yuan-denominated bond is being issued to promote the use of the Chinese currency in international markets.
http://jlne.ws/fMmB4f
Eurobond launch intended to aid Ireland
By David Oakley, Financial Times
The European Union will today launch a multibillion-euro bond to raise money for the effort to rescue Ireland's finances, in this year's first important test of investor sentiment for Europe's troubled government debt markets. Bankers said there was strong demand for the bonds from European, Asian and Middle Eastern investors, even before the official opening of order books expected today.
http://jlne.ws/eB4hLC
UK Government Introduces Bank Levy
Press Release
The UK Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks' balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Euro rates to stay low even as banks borrow less
By Jessica Mortimer and Marc Jones, Reuters
Euro zone short-term interest rates looked set to remain low as the central bank's
limit-free lending continued to distort money markets, even as
banks scaled back borrowing after the year end.
http://jlne.ws/eBtrSD
Venezuela estimates economy shrank 1.9 percent in 2010
By Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters
Venezuela's economy shrank an estimated 1.9 percent in 2010, marking a second year of recession as the South American nation fails to match the recovery in other countries after the global financial crisis, the Central Bank said on Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/hH44ZL
Venezuela to Devalue Currency
BY KEJAL VYAS AND DAVID LUHNOW, WSJ.com
Venezuela will devalue its "strong bolÃvar" currency on New Year's Day, the government said Thursday, the second such devaluation within a year and at least the fifth major devaluation during the decade-long populist government of President Hugo Chávez. News of the devaluation came just after the central bank said the Venezuelan economy contracted 1.9% in 2010, the second consecutive year of declining output in the oil-rich nation after a 3.3% decline in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/gNyX80
China's CICC investment banking head quits
Reuters
The head of investment banking of China International Capital Corp (CICC), the country's top investment bank, is stepping down, local media reported on Friday.
http://jlne.ws/feTjym
Germany 'stronger' after economic crisis
BBC News
The German people have emerged stronger from Europe's economic crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her annual new year's message. The country now enjoys its lowest unemployment rate since reunification 20 years ago despite the worst crisis in more than 60 years, she said.
http://jlne.ws/eI0KNp
IMF to discuss Polish credit line in mid-Jan
Reuters
The IMF's executive board has not yet approved an extension and increase of Poland's flexible credit line (FCL) facility but will consider the request in mid-January, Poland's deputy finance minister said on Thursday. The ministry said on December 23 that the International Monetary Fund had initially approved an increase in the credit line to $29 billion from $21 billion in a previous facility and its extension by two years.
http://jlne.ws/fMrgtO
Canadian Bonds Beat World With Their Biggest Gain Since '05: Canada Credit
Bloomberg
Returns in Canada's bond market exceeded the rest of the world in 2010, gaining the most in five years, and may outperform again this year amid record foreign purchases of the nation's fixed-income securities.
http://jlne.ws/hPNLwi
China Says Spain Debt Buys to Continue
BY Jonathan House, WSJ.com
MADRID-China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying its government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial on the eve of a visit to Spain.
http://jlne.ws/fpwsWQ
Fee Squeeze Seen in 2011 by Top India Stock Arranger Citigroup
BusinessWeek
Fees for underwriting stock sales in India may remain near all-time lows as investment banks battle for market share, according to an executive at Citigroup Inc., the top-ranked adviser on equity offerings in the country.
http://jlne.ws/htbfmz
U.K. Think Tank Sees 20% Chance Of Euro’s Survival
By Javier E. David, WSJ.com
Europe’s common currency, battered for more than a year by a sovereign debt crisis, is unlikely to survive the next decade in its current form, the Center for Economics and Business Research warned Friday.
http://jlne.ws/i9Re3L
Greece in talks on extending debt repayment
Reuters
Greece is in talks with commercial banks on extending the repayment of its outstanding debt, in line with a similar plan to stretch out paying back its EU/IMF bailout, an Athens weekly reported on Friday.
http://jlne.ws/glsLeN
Most British financiers happy to stay in UK: survey
Reuters
The majority of people working in Britain's financial services industry are happy to stay in the UK, said a survey by the eFinancialCareers.com website, despite fears a clampdown on pay may force top performers overseas. The online poll of 415 workers in London's City finance district said only 14 percent were actively seeking a job overseas, with the rest happy to remain in the UK.
http://jlne.ws/fUxTAT
Argentina Reaches 80% Acceptance in 'Brady Bond' Swap
BY Shane Romig, WSJ.com
The holders of more than 80% of Argentina's defaulted Brady bonds have accepted a debt-swap offer in exchange for a basket of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds and a cash payment, Economy Minister Amado Boudou said in comments to local radio stations Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/fOjJZz
Italy's debt costs approach red zone
The Telegraph
Italy's borrowing costs have jumped to the highest level since the financial crisis over two years ago, raising concerns that Europe's biggest debtor may slip from the eurozone's stable core into the high-risk group on the periphery.
http://jlne.ws/gf7s34
Venezuela devalues currency again
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
Venezuela said Thursday it was abolishing the lowest exchange rate of 2.6 bolivars to the U.S. dollar in a measure effectively devaluing the South American OPEC nation’s currency for a second time in 12 months.
http://jlne.ws/dOhNnw
Brazil's inflation seen easing-finance minister
Reuters
Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday that inflation is giving signals of easing, and that lower economic activity in 2011 would help control prices next year.
http://jlne.ws/hT6d03
Economists: China won't hurt growth with excessive tightening
People’s Daily Online
China increased its benchmark interest rates last week for the second time in two months. While expecting similar moves to come in the near future, economists from major international investment banks do not seem to be worried about the impact of China's increasingly tight monetary policy on economic growth.
http://jlne.ws/dNnqdP
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that the United States may hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow by March 31 and faces serious consequences unless Congress acts by then to raise it. Geithner said it was hard to pin down exactly when the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling would be breached. He urged Congress, however, to take action before the end of the first quarter to avoid the risk of pushing the U.S. into default.
See the letter that Geithner sent to Congress here.
Related news stories:
Geithner Warns Congress: Don't Play Games on Debt Limit
By Mark Knoller, CBS News
Facing a new Congress in which Republicans are more dead-set than ever on reducing government spending, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner served notice that the U.S. government could hit the statutory debt limit as early as March 31 and no later than May 16.
http://jlne.ws/dZqGA6
Geithner presses Republicans to lift U.S. debt limit
By David Lawder and Glenn Somerville, Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday stepped up pressure on Republican lawmakers to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt limit, warning failure to act would lead to an economic catastrophe.
http://jlne.ws/hzKfs3
Raise debt limit to avoid national catastrophe, Geithner warns Congress
By Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned lawmakers Thursday that the national debt could hit the legal limit on federal borrowing as soon as March 31, and he urged them to act quickly to avoid a government default that would spark "catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades."
http://jlne.ws/eBIMz4
Lead Stories
Obama names moderate Daley as chief of staff
If President Obama wanted a tough manager with sharp political instincts who wouldn't seek the spotlight as his next White House chief of staff, he found his man in William Daley....He comes steeped in business, a quality that has been lacking in the Obama administration. He ran Amalgamated Bank of Chicago before joining the Clinton administration. Since 2001, he has been president of SBC Communications, then Midwest chairman of JPMorgan Chase.
http://jlne.ws/fmaXDt
**CN: Obama brings another Chicago guy to the White House. Daley has strong ties to the banking and Wall Street communities.
PIMCO | Investment Outlook, William H. Gross - Off With Our Heads!
By Cordell Eddings, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should favor emerging market corporate and sovereign debt as “mindless’ U.S. deficit spending may result in higher inflation, a weaker dollar and the eventual loss of America’s AAA credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/eEU7Lu
**CN: PIMCO's Gross starts the year off with some strong words in his monthly column on the firm's Web site.
Dodd-Frank and the Return of the Loan Shark
BY TODD ZYWICKI, WSJ.com
The least surprising event of 2010 was that, in the wake of new federal limits on how credit-card issuers can price risk and adjust interest rates, more Americans had to go to payday lenders, pawn shops and local loan sharks in order to get credit. It's simply the latest installment in the old story of regulators thinking they can wish away the unintended consequences of consumer credit regulation.
http://jlne.ws/e8y44E
Banks Boost Income From High-Yield Bonds
Radi Khasawneh, Financial News
Investment banks almost doubled their fees from high-yield bonds last year, topping revenues from investment grade issues for the first time since 2006.
http://jlne.ws/fHg10l
Economy's Overheating? We Should Be So Lucky: Caroline Baum
By Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Wall Street lives in a world of extremes. Today’s raging bull market may morph into tomorrow’s angry bear. Forecasts of inflation and deflation can be found on the same page. The Federal Reserve’s plans for an early exit from its emergency stimulus were derailed by the need to re-enter the treatment arena.
http://jlne.ws/esORCJ
FRB: Press Release--FOMC statement--December 14, 2010
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment. Household spending is increasing at a moderate pace, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, though less rapidly than earlier in the year, while investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak. Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. The housing sector continues to be depressed. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, but measures of underlying inflation have continued to trend downward.
http://jlne.ws/g1hn1y
Fed sees fairly high bar for stopping bond buys
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
The Federal Reserve felt at its December meeting that the U.S. economy still needed help despite signs of strength, according to minutes released on Tuesday that showed little appetite to trim bond-buying plans.
http://jlne.ws/dGIQrY
CFTC needs "Plan B" for costly swaps rules
By Roberta Rampton , Reuters
The U.S. futures regulator needs to consider a "Plan B" on how it will police the $600 trillion swaps market if Congress fails to deliver a 50 percent increase in its budget, one of its top officials said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/gXhDmx
Mortgage-Backed Securities to Save Financials?
By Catherine Holahan, CNBC
The "Fast Money" traders were focused on the financial sector early Wednesday morning after reports that three major Wall Street firms were planning to sell $4 billion in mortgage-backed bonds.
http://jlne.ws/iecQ6E
Furor over BofA's $2.8B mortgage settlement
By MARK DeCAMBRE, NY Post
Bank of America is getting blasted with accusations of a "backdoor bailout" for its $2.8 billion settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over billions of bad mortgages.
http://jlne.ws/fsARcv
Experts Expect Fewer Bankruptcies in 2011
By Sara Murray, WSJ.com
With consumer bankruptcies at a five-year high, experts are already handicapping this year’s trend — and there’s reason to believe 2011 will be brighter. There are two indications that Americans won’t be quite so overwhelmed by debt this year that they opt to file for bankruptcy. The first is that they’re simply carrying less debt. There was $2.40 trillion in outstanding consumer credit as of October, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s down nearly 4.1% from October 2007, before the recession began.
http://jlne.ws/fdh98W
F.D.I.C. Seeks $2.5 Billion From Execs of Failed Banks
By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON, NY Times
The F.D.I.C. said Tuesday that as of mid-December it had authorized suits against 109 directors and officers of failed financial institutions as it tries to recover nearly $2.5 billion.
http://jlne.ws/eZ8emP
Issuance Plunges 91% From Year Ago as Build America Bonds End
By Brendan A. McGrail, Bloomberg
Municipal-debt issuance plunged 91 percent this week from a year earlier after federal initiatives such as the Build America Bonds program ended Dec. 31.
http://jlne.ws/hkV7EK
Currency Carry Trade Losses Exceeding Lehman Crisis Bolster Dollar Outlook
By Ron Harui and Wes Goodman, Bloomberg
Currency traders that seek profits by borrowing in nations with low interest rates to fund purchases in countries with higher yields are losing more money than at any time in at least a decade.
http://jlne.ws/ig4IFY
Private investors head for hills as default fears mount
By Nicole Bullock in New York
A fierce debate has erupted over the standing of US municipal bonds, the once sleepy corner of the credit markets where states and local governments raise money for roads, bridges, schools and other projects.
http://jlne.ws/hpMNPB
ECB Rate Hike Likely Sooner Than Expected
By Nina Koeppen, WSJ The Source
Strong euro-zone inflation data for December are an important reminder that interest rates won’t stay at current emergency levels indefinitely, and that the ECB may raise rates later this year.
http://jlne.ws/eoZzjl
Fed Likely To Add New Treasury Market Dealers
By Min Zeng, Dow Jones Newswires
After a hiatus of more than one year, the Federal Reserve is likely to expand a select group of dealers to help with hefty Treasury debt sales and the central bank's monetary-policy operations, according to traders and dealers familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/hVmqay
Three risks to start 2011
By Jeremy Gaunt, Reuters
Financial markets enter 2011 with many investors persuaded that the world economy is on the mend and that riskier assets such as stocks are set to do well.
http://jlne.ws/h54N1W
Six Financial Institutions Repay TARP Funds, Deliver $626 Million In Proceeds For Taxpayers
Press Release
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the following six financial institutions have repurchased Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Capital Purchase Program (CPP) investments, delivering a total of $626.0 million in proceeds today for taxpayers.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Schwarzenegger's Build America Bonds Outperform With 7% Yield: Muni Credit
By Brendan A. McGrail and Ashley Lutz, Bloomberg
Build America Bonds from California, the biggest issuer of the taxable debt in 2010, outperformed the market in the last six weeks as the state’s 7.25 percent yield lured investors unfazed by the lowest state credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/i9gTjU
Events
Introduction to Treasury Futures: Factoring the Risks, New York
When: January 13, 2011
Where: New York
Who: Institute for Financial Markets
Full Info: www.theifm.org
Details: Treasury futures are one of the most popular futures contracts for both hedging and speculating. Some of the factors that influence value in the treasury complex include: interest rate risk, inflation risk, and the willingness of investors to continue buying Treasury debt. These factors lead to volatility in the underlying value of debt instruments as interest rates move up or down. If your business borrows money, you can mitigate the effects of higher or lower interest rates by trading the treasury future complex. Moreover, with treasury interest rate levels at multi-generational lows, a robust case can be made for hedging the threat of higher interest rates in the future now -before interest rates return to 'normal' levels. This IFM short course provides the foundation to understand how the cash and futures markets are connected, and how to guard against interest rate volatility.
The 36th Annual International Futures Industry Conference
When: March 15-18, 2011
Who: FIA
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Full info: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=fwgtyucab&v=001WeBrwlP3VB1EJrvzuxUwxDg8fsg1Z8ZYjylTYIAfiEPOHumaM4PToYW-FxqnOsfyAaSlhRYAWrgj0P8-SYrVuEM53baCN9cyh3I5I-IOKZ3QwiUb2qUbyhwPmrOiHmw_Gt-oUr577qg%3D
Details: As one of FIA's premier events, the 36th Annual International Futures Industry Conference is host to an influential audience of 800 senior-level futures industry professionals, brokerage executives, technology and operations officers, exchange officials, money managers, and public policy leaders. Delegates from more than 30 countries attend this annual event.
SIFMA 2nd Annual Private Client Conference
When: Apr. 7 and 8, 2011
Who: SIFMA
Where: New York City
Full info: http://www.sifma.org/events/event.aspx?id=22289
Details: On April 7 and 8, the SIFMA 2nd Annual Private Client Conference, "Client First: Delivering the Vision," will build on the success of the inaugural Private Client Conference during the spring. This two-day event combines the strengths of SIFMA's former Sales & Marketing, Small Firms and Independent Firms conferences, producing North America's premier conference for private client groups at all levels. This conference is designed for senior managers in private client groups at global, regional, independent contractor and small broker-dealers, including national sales managers, regional directors, branch managers, wealth-management specialists, marketing specialists, and individual financial advisers and investment consultants.
Economic News
Fixed mortgage rates slip in latest week
By Michelle Donley, MarketWatch
Freddie Mac said Thursday that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average declined to 4.77% with an average 0.8 point for the week ending Jan. 6. Last week, the average was 4.86%, and the year-ago average was 5.09%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.13% with an average 0.8 point, down from last week's 4.2% and the year-ago 4.5%. "Mortgage rates began the new year a little lower this week and remained below those at the start of 2010, which should help aid the recovery in the housing market," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac.
http://jlne.ws/f5uObo
U.S. Companies Added 297,000 Jobs in December, ADP Says
By Timothy R. Homan, Bloomberg
Companies in the U.S. boosted payrolls in December by the most since records began in 2001, showing a stronger labor-market recovery at the end of last year, data from a private report showed today.
http://jlne.ws/gkNVai
Sales at U.S. Retailers Increased 3.6% Last Week
By Leslie Patton, Bloomberg
Sales at U.S. retailers rose 3.6 percent last week from a year earlier, as some shoppers returned to stores to take advantage of post-Christmas discounts, dodging a snowstorm that assailed the East Coast.
http://jlne.ws/eNs6P3
U.S. factory orders rebound
Reuters
New orders received by U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in November, and orders excluding transportation recorded their largest gain in eight months, providing more signs the economic recovery was on sustainable path.
http://jlne.ws/gddah5
ISM Index at 57.0 in December vs. 56.6 in November
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The overall economy grew for the twentieth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the seventeenth time, the Institute for Supply Management reported this morning.
http://jlne.ws/e0Gd6Q
Manufacturing activity expands for 17th month in a row
By Blake Ellis, CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing activity expanded for a 17th month in a row in December, rising to the highest level in seven months, a purchasing managers' group said Monday.
http://jlne.ws/eXslBK
U.S. consumer bankruptcies rose 9% in 2010
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
The number of U.S. consumers who filed for bankruptcy protection rose 9 percent in 2010, and the number could increase in 2011 because of high debt loads and stagnant income growth, a report issued Monday shows.
http://jlne.ws/i2Qwzz
World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
Global manufacturing ended the year on a strong note, according a global purchasing managers’ index released by J.P. Morgan Chase and Markit. The JPMorgan global PMI hit a six-month high of 55 in December from 53.9 the prior month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The expansion was broad based led by the U.S. and the euro zone. China also continued to expand, though at a slightly slower rate. Only Japan and Greece were in contractionary territory.
http://jlne.ws/fa7F56
Business Activity in U.S. Grows at Fastest Pace in Two Decades
Bob Willis, Bloomberg
Businesses in the U.S. expanded in December at the fastest pace in two decades, adding to evidence the world’s largest economy is accelerating heading into 2011.
http://jlne.ws/e7kalc
Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Rose 3.5% in November
By Bob Willis, Bloomberg
The number of contracts to buy previously owned homes rose more than forecast in November, a sign sales are recovering following a post-tax credit plunge.
http://jlne.ws/gFfKo0
US mortgage foreclosures rise sharply
By Suzanne Kapner, Financial Times
US mortgage foreclosures jumped in the third quarter as fewer borrowers qualified for loan modifications that would have reduced their monthly payments, bank regulators have said.
http://jlne.ws/eg2yUX
Coincident indexes for 11 states expected to grow 4.5 % over next 6 months
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia produces leading indexes for each of the 50 states. The indexes are calculated monthly and are usually released a week after the release of the coincident indexes. The Bank issues a release each month describing the current and future economic situation of the 50 states with special coverage of the Third District: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
http://jlne.ws/eiV8ug
Exchanges, Clearing Houses & MTFs
ELX Futures - ELX Announces 2010 Year-End Results; ADV in U.S. Treasury Futures Up 14% Year-Over-Year; ADV in Euro
ELX Futures, L.P. (ELX), a leading electronic futures exchange offering market competition in U.S. Treasury and Eurodollar futures contracts, announced today its 2010 year-end results. Total volume exceeded 13MM contracts for the year, with ADV surpassing 47K contracts in U.S. Treasury futures, an increase of 14% from 2009. ELX’s Eurodollar futures contract, which was launched in June 2010, established several record-breaking milestones. By December, ADV reached over 18K contracts traded with an open interest (OI) exceeding 200K contracts. From the third quarter of 2010 (the contract’s first full quarter) to the fourth quarter of 2010, ADV grew by 390%, average OI by 771%, and market share by 298%.
http://jlne.ws/gVsmZK
CME Group Volume Averaged 12.2 Million Contracts per Day in 2010, up 19 Percent; Double-Digit ADV Growth for Fourth Quarter and December
Press Release
CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that 2010 volume averaged 12.2 million contracts per day, up 19 percent from 2009.
In December, CME Group interest rate volume averaged 5.0 million contracts per day, up 29 percent compared with the prior December. Treasury futures volume averaged 1.9 million contracts per day, up 37 percent compared with the same period in 2009, and Treasury options volume averaged 275,000 contracts per day, up 16 percent. Eurodollar futures volume averaged 2.2 million contracts per day, up 30 percent versus December 2009, and Eurodollar options volume averaged 649,000 contracts per day, up 20 percent.
http://jlne.ws/fuqRU2
Total trading volume at Eurex Group at 2.64 billion contracts in 2010
Press Release
The international derivatives markets of Eurex Group ended 2010 with a turnover of approximately 2.64 billion contracts, compared with 2.65 billion in 2009. The total volume for 2010 splits into 1.9 billion contracts traded at Eurex (2009: 1.7 billion) and 745.2 million contracts traded at the International Securities Exchange (ISE) (2009: 960.2 million). This corresponds to a daily average trading volume of 10.4 million contracts compared with 10.5 million in 2009.
A total of 39.6 million contracts were traded in the interest rate derivatives segment in December 2010, compared with 39.2 million in the same period last year.
http://jlne.ws/etXyKb
Firms & Banks
At Banks, New Fees Replacing Old Levies
By ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ
Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts. As regulation curtailing financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws. Credit-card users have experienced new inactivity fees and foreign-exchange charges, while checking accounts have gotten hit with new monthly maintenance fees.
http://jlne.ws/hNGXa4
Morgan Stanley Names Rosenthal as Chief Operating Officer, Replacing Nides
Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley , the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, named Jim Rosenthal chief operating officer to succeed Thomas Nides, who left the firm to take a position in the U.S. State Department.
http://jlne.ws/h97nRi
**CN: Rosenthal has been overseeing the company’s integration of its brokerage joint venture with Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney unit.
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/fid0tF
Citi's service guru Tweets more bank customers
Reuters
Citigroup Inc is hoping that one of the country's most famous customer service gurus can help it rebuild its reputation -- one Tweet at a time.
http://jlne.ws/gqAcHD
Eurozone inflation soars to new high
By Gerrit Wiesmann, CNN
Eurozone inflation rose in June to its highest since the bloc's 1999 formation, data showed on Monday as political opposition mounted to an expected European Central Bank move to raise its main interest rate this week.
http://jlne.ws/dSG1wW
Goldman Sachs Investment in Facebook May Draw SEC Scrutiny
BusinessWeek
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s plan to offer clients up to $1.5 billion in Facebook Inc. equity may invite U.S. regulators to take a closer look at whether the owner of the world's most popular social-networking site is circumventing disclosure rules, securities lawyers said.
http://jlne.ws/i5mOBV
Citi Closes Student-Loan Deals
TheStreet.com
Citigroup said Monday that its Citi Holdings division of noncore assets now represents less than 20% of its balance sheet, after having closed the sale of $31 billion worth of student-loan assets. In two transactions, the New York-based banking giant sold $27 billion worth of loans to SLM Corp. , the holding company of Sallie Mae, and another $4.2 billion worth of assets ...
http://jlne.ws/g5li5M
Is Bob McCann's Spread In The Continental In-flight Magazine Offensive Or Just Embarrassing?
Business Insider
It's like Bob McCann is actively trying to piss off the higher-ups at UBS.
http://jlne.ws/i2hgw7
Bank of America pays Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6bn
BBC News
Bank of America has agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
http://jlne.ws/f9qaFC
Goldman Sachs returned to M And A; A top spot in 2010
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) was the top global mergers and acquisitions advisor last year, retaking the position from rival Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which derailed its multiyear grip on the ranking in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/ibe7Nx
Citi Employee Arrested in Indian Probe: Report
TheStreet.com
A Citigroup employee in India has been arrested on charges of forging documents to lure investors. Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at the Gurgaon branch, alledgedly forged company statements and created multiple bank accounts to swindle funds that could total about $66.8 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The money involved was alledgedly taken ...
http://jlne.ws/f9482y
PIMCO Settles Suit, Promotes Emerging-Markets Bond Skipper
Morningstar
Plus, equities and fixed income now under single CIO at DWS, and more.
http://jlne.ws/hwo4Vb
Pimco to Pay $92 Million to Settle Market Manipulation Lawsuit
By Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, agreed to pay $92 million to settle a private class-action lawsuit that accused it of manipulating the price of Treasury futures contracts.
http://jlne.ws/ew7eXd
PIMCO's El-Erian, managing the “new normal” investment landscape
Daniel P. Collins, Futures Mag.com
Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-chief investment officer of PIMCO, is one of the most knowledgeable people you can find on global financial issues. Prior to joining Bill Gross as co-CIO at PIMCO, El-Erian managed the Harvard University endowment fund, was a managing director at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup and spent 15 years at the International Monetary Fund.
http://jlne.ws/hKSAQJ
Bank Of America to Buy Back Bad Loans from Fannie, Freddie
By TESS STYNES - WSJ
Bank of America Corp. expects to take a provision of about $3 billion in the fourth quarter to buy back bad loans from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that were issued by its troubled Countrywide Financial unit.
http://jlne.ws/gfbMXI
Time to stop seeing bankers as bogey men
AFP Telegraph Finance News via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
In 2008, the world changed for good. Names once held dear disappeared. Whole institutions imploded, almost overnight. Governments intervened. And taxpayers moaned as the full scale of the banking crisis ...
http://jlne.ws/i1HLDS
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/hmGuCS
Deutsche Bank Challenges JPMorgan's Bond Dominance
BusinessWeek
Deutsche Bank AG climbed three places to No. 2 in the global corporate bond underwriter rankings this year, challenging JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s three- year reign as the top manager of debt offerings.
http://jlne.ws/fjaYYn
Bank of America Settlement with Lehman Not Yet Final
American Banking & Market News
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) may be in for an expensive settlement, pending a final decision by a bankruptcy judge. The firm had received notice that a bankruptcy judge amended his order that they pay Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. $590 million in compensation for taking its deposits, saying “the judgment is hereby deemed not to be a final judgment.”
http://jlne.ws/eCime9
Auctions & Statistics
Fed buys $1.5 bln in Tsys maturing 2028-2040 in today's open mkt operation of $9.36 bln
Press Release
The purchase or sale of Treasury securities on an outright basis adds or drains reserves available in the banking system.
http://jlne.ws/dcRpcM
Treasury 4-Weeks Go At 0.120% High Yield
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.120% high yield, a price of 99.990667.
http://jlne.ws/gizIv6
Regulators
Fed’s Hoenig Defends Role of Dissenter
By Michael S. Derby, WSJ.com
The man who opposed every official action taken by the Federal Reserve last year continued to express his opposition to the current stance of monetary policy Wednesday, and said he believes the economy should continue to recover and add jobs in 2011.
http://jlne.ws/gT1GbY
EU mulls pushing wind-up costs on bank lenders-official
Reuters
The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force lenders to banks to share the costs of their winding up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/gbM7cz
Fed's Dudley Scheduled Meetings With Wall Street, Global Chiefs
BusinessWeek
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley scheduled meetings with top Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. officials in his first days on the job, his daybook showed today.
http://jlne.ws/h8NqSg
ISDA Launches Initiative to Promote Portfolio Reconciliation and Reduce Risk in Asia Pacific Region
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published the Asia Pacific Portfolio Reconciliation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote portfolio reconciliation and reduce risk in the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the MoU is to outline the process and frequency with which participating firms reconcile portfolios of collateralized derivatives transactions.
http://jlne.ws/dKTJ7V
OTC and Swaps
2011 to be a Defining Moment for Swap Execution Facilities
Finance Technology Network
Industry players are jockeying for position to compete as Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs). But regulators are still writing the rules.
http://jlne.ws/emY3Tt
Global News
UK banks to give month's notice on capital raising
By Huw Jones, Reuters
Banks in Britain will have to give their supervisor at least a month's notice if they want to raise fresh capital for inclusion in mandatory buffers, the country's financial watchdog said on Thursday. "Under the proposed change, a firm must tell us before it or another undertaking in its group issues any capital instrument which it wishes to include as regulatory capital," the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said in a consultation paper.
http://jlne.ws/fGFqIH
China PBOC: To Give Higher Priority To Curbing Inflation
WSJ.com
China's central bank will give a higher priority to curbing inflation in 2011, the People's Bank of China said Thursday, boosting expectations that it will adopt more tightening measures, such as raising interest rates.
http://jlne.ws/gZ34Le
Moody's Raises Philippines Outlook
BY ARRAN SCOTT AND RHEA SANDIQUE-CARLOS, WSJ.com
Moody's Investors Service raised its credit-rating outlook on the Philippines to positive from stable, bringing into view a possible upgrade for the Southeast Asian nation and highlighting improving economic conditions in the region.
http://jlne.ws/gL0bZ7
World Bank issues bond denominated in Chinese Yuan
BBC
The World Bank has issued its first bond denominated in the Chinese currency, joining a small but fast-growing market. The yuan-denominated bond is being issued to promote the use of the Chinese currency in international markets.
http://jlne.ws/fMmB4f
Eurobond launch intended to aid Ireland
By David Oakley, Financial Times
The European Union will today launch a multibillion-euro bond to raise money for the effort to rescue Ireland's finances, in this year's first important test of investor sentiment for Europe's troubled government debt markets. Bankers said there was strong demand for the bonds from European, Asian and Middle Eastern investors, even before the official opening of order books expected today.
http://jlne.ws/eB4hLC
UK Government Introduces Bank Levy
Press Release
The UK Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks' balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Euro rates to stay low even as banks borrow less
By Jessica Mortimer and Marc Jones, Reuters
Euro zone short-term interest rates looked set to remain low as the central bank's
limit-free lending continued to distort money markets, even as
banks scaled back borrowing after the year end.
http://jlne.ws/eBtrSD
Venezuela estimates economy shrank 1.9 percent in 2010
By Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters
Venezuela's economy shrank an estimated 1.9 percent in 2010, marking a second year of recession as the South American nation fails to match the recovery in other countries after the global financial crisis, the Central Bank said on Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/hH44ZL
Venezuela to Devalue Currency
BY KEJAL VYAS AND DAVID LUHNOW, WSJ.com
Venezuela will devalue its "strong bolÃvar" currency on New Year's Day, the government said Thursday, the second such devaluation within a year and at least the fifth major devaluation during the decade-long populist government of President Hugo Chávez. News of the devaluation came just after the central bank said the Venezuelan economy contracted 1.9% in 2010, the second consecutive year of declining output in the oil-rich nation after a 3.3% decline in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/gNyX80
China's CICC investment banking head quits
Reuters
The head of investment banking of China International Capital Corp (CICC), the country's top investment bank, is stepping down, local media reported on Friday.
http://jlne.ws/feTjym
Germany 'stronger' after economic crisis
BBC News
The German people have emerged stronger from Europe's economic crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her annual new year's message. The country now enjoys its lowest unemployment rate since reunification 20 years ago despite the worst crisis in more than 60 years, she said.
http://jlne.ws/eI0KNp
IMF to discuss Polish credit line in mid-Jan
Reuters
The IMF's executive board has not yet approved an extension and increase of Poland's flexible credit line (FCL) facility but will consider the request in mid-January, Poland's deputy finance minister said on Thursday. The ministry said on December 23 that the International Monetary Fund had initially approved an increase in the credit line to $29 billion from $21 billion in a previous facility and its extension by two years.
http://jlne.ws/fMrgtO
Canadian Bonds Beat World With Their Biggest Gain Since '05: Canada Credit
Bloomberg
Returns in Canada's bond market exceeded the rest of the world in 2010, gaining the most in five years, and may outperform again this year amid record foreign purchases of the nation's fixed-income securities.
http://jlne.ws/hPNLwi
China Says Spain Debt Buys to Continue
BY Jonathan House, WSJ.com
MADRID-China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying its government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial on the eve of a visit to Spain.
http://jlne.ws/fpwsWQ
Fee Squeeze Seen in 2011 by Top India Stock Arranger Citigroup
BusinessWeek
Fees for underwriting stock sales in India may remain near all-time lows as investment banks battle for market share, according to an executive at Citigroup Inc., the top-ranked adviser on equity offerings in the country.
http://jlne.ws/htbfmz
U.K. Think Tank Sees 20% Chance Of Euro’s Survival
By Javier E. David, WSJ.com
Europe’s common currency, battered for more than a year by a sovereign debt crisis, is unlikely to survive the next decade in its current form, the Center for Economics and Business Research warned Friday.
http://jlne.ws/i9Re3L
Greece in talks on extending debt repayment
Reuters
Greece is in talks with commercial banks on extending the repayment of its outstanding debt, in line with a similar plan to stretch out paying back its EU/IMF bailout, an Athens weekly reported on Friday.
http://jlne.ws/glsLeN
Most British financiers happy to stay in UK: survey
Reuters
The majority of people working in Britain's financial services industry are happy to stay in the UK, said a survey by the eFinancialCareers.com website, despite fears a clampdown on pay may force top performers overseas. The online poll of 415 workers in London's City finance district said only 14 percent were actively seeking a job overseas, with the rest happy to remain in the UK.
http://jlne.ws/fUxTAT
Argentina Reaches 80% Acceptance in 'Brady Bond' Swap
BY Shane Romig, WSJ.com
The holders of more than 80% of Argentina's defaulted Brady bonds have accepted a debt-swap offer in exchange for a basket of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds and a cash payment, Economy Minister Amado Boudou said in comments to local radio stations Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/fOjJZz
Italy's debt costs approach red zone
The Telegraph
Italy's borrowing costs have jumped to the highest level since the financial crisis over two years ago, raising concerns that Europe's biggest debtor may slip from the eurozone's stable core into the high-risk group on the periphery.
http://jlne.ws/gf7s34
Venezuela devalues currency again
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
Venezuela said Thursday it was abolishing the lowest exchange rate of 2.6 bolivars to the U.S. dollar in a measure effectively devaluing the South American OPEC nation’s currency for a second time in 12 months.
http://jlne.ws/dOhNnw
Brazil's inflation seen easing-finance minister
Reuters
Brazil's Finance Minister Guido Mantega said on Thursday that inflation is giving signals of easing, and that lower economic activity in 2011 would help control prices next year.
http://jlne.ws/hT6d03
Economists: China won't hurt growth with excessive tightening
People’s Daily Online
China increased its benchmark interest rates last week for the second time in two months. While expecting similar moves to come in the near future, economists from major international investment banks do not seem to be worried about the impact of China's increasingly tight monetary policy on economic growth.
http://jlne.ws/dNnqdP
Rabu, 05 Januari 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 01-05-11: Fed’s Hoenig Defends Role of Dissenter
Fed’s Hoenig Defends Role of Dissenter
By Michael S. Derby, WSJ.com
The man who opposed every official action taken by the Federal Reserve last year continued to express his opposition to the current stance of monetary policy Wednesday, and said he believes the economy should continue to recover and add jobs in 2011.
http://jlne.ws/gT1GbY
Dodd-Frank and the Return of the Loan Shark
BY TODD ZYWICKI, WSJ.com
The least surprising event of 2010 was that, in the wake of new federal limits on how credit-card issuers can price risk and adjust interest rates, more Americans had to go to payday lenders, pawn shops and local loan sharks in order to get credit. It's simply the latest installment in the old story of regulators thinking they can wish away the unintended consequences of consumer credit regulation.
http://jlne.ws/e8y44E
Mortgage-Backed Securities to Save Financials?
By Catherine Holahan, CNBC
The "Fast Money" traders were focused on the financial sector early Wednesday morning after reports that three major Wall Street firms were planning to sell $4 billion in mortgage-backed bonds.
http://jlne.ws/iecQ6E
U.S. Companies Added 297,000 Jobs in December, ADP Says
By Timothy R. Homan, Bloomberg
Companies in the U.S. boosted payrolls in December by the most since records began in 2001, showing a stronger labor-market recovery at the end of last year, data from a private report showed today.
http://jlne.ws/gkNVai
World Bank issues bond denominated in Chinese Yuan
BBC
The World Bank has issued its first bond denominated in the Chinese currency, joining a small but fast-growing market. The yuan-denominated bond is being issued to promote the use of the Chinese currency in international markets.
http://jlne.ws/fMmB4f
Banks Boost Income From High-Yield Bonds
Radi Khasawneh, Financial News
Investment banks almost doubled their fees from high-yield bonds last year, topping revenues from investment grade issues for the first time since 2006.
http://jlne.ws/fHg10l
Fed buys $1.5 bln in Tsys maturing 2028-2040 in today's open mkt operation of $9.36 bln
The purchase or sale of Treasury securities on an outright basis adds or drains reserves available in the banking system.
http://jlne.ws/dcRpcM
ELX Futures - ELX Announces 2010 Year-End Results; ADV in U.S. Treasury Futures Up 14% Year-Over-Year; ADV in Euro
ELX Futures, L.P. (ELX), a leading electronic futures exchange offering market competition in U.S. Treasury and Eurodollar futures contracts, announced today its 2010 year-end results. Total volume exceeded 13MM contracts for the year, with ADV surpassing 47K contracts in U.S. Treasury futures, an increase of 14% from 2009. ELX’s Eurodollar futures contract, which was launched in June 2010, established several record-breaking milestones. By December, ADV reached over 18K contracts traded with an open interest (OI) exceeding 200K contracts. From the third quarter of 2010 (the contract’s first full quarter) to the fourth quarter of 2010, ADV grew by 390%, average OI by 771%, and market share by 298%.
http://jlne.ws/gVsmZK
PIMCO | Investment Outlook, William H. Gross - Off With Our Heads!
By Cordell Eddings, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should favor emerging market corporate and sovereign debt as “mindless’ U.S. deficit spending may result in higher inflation, a weaker dollar and the eventual loss of America’s AAA credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/eEU7Lu
Economy's Overheating? We Should Be So Lucky: Caroline Baum
By Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Wall Street lives in a world of extremes. Today’s raging bull market may morph into tomorrow’s angry bear. Forecasts of inflation and deflation can be found on the same page. The Federal Reserve’s plans for an early exit from its emergency stimulus were derailed by the need to re-enter the treatment arena.
http://jlne.ws/esORCJ
Fed sees fairly high bar for stopping bond buys
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
The Federal Reserve felt at its December meeting that the U.S. economy still needed help despite signs of strength, according to minutes released on Tuesday that showed little appetite to trim bond-buying plans.
http://jlne.ws/dGIQrY
At Banks, New Fees Replacing Old Levies
By ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ
Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts. As regulation curtailing financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws. Credit-card users have experienced new inactivity fees and foreign-exchange charges, while checking accounts have gotten hit with new monthly maintenance fees.
http://jlne.ws/hNGXa4
CFTC needs "Plan B" for costly swaps rules
By Roberta Rampton , Reuters
The U.S. futures regulator needs to consider a "Plan B" on how it will police the $600 trillion swaps market if Congress fails to deliver a 50 percent increase in its budget, one of its top officials said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/gXhDmx
F.D.I.C. Seeks $2.5 Billion From Execs of Failed Banks
By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON, NY Times
The F.D.I.C. said Tuesday that as of mid-December it had authorized suits against 109 directors and officers of failed financial institutions as it tries to recover nearly $2.5 billion.
http://jlne.ws/eZ8emP
Eurobond launch intended to aid Ireland
By David Oakley, Financial Times
The European Union will today launch a multibillion-euro bond to raise money for the effort to rescue Ireland's finances, in this year's first important test of investor sentiment for Europe's troubled government debt markets. Bankers said there was strong demand for the bonds from European, Asian and Middle Eastern investors, even before the official opening of order books expected today.
http://jlne.ws/eB4hLC
UK Government Introduces Bank Levy
Press Release
The UK Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks' balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Fed Likely To Add New Treasury Market Dealers
By Min Zeng, Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--After a hiatus of more than one year, the Federal Reserve is likely to expand a select group of dealers to help with hefty Treasury debt sales and the central bank's monetary-policy operations, according to traders and dealers familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/hVmqay
Furor over BofA's $2.8B mortgage settlement
By MARK DeCAMBRE, NY Post
Bank of America is getting blasted with accusations of a "backdoor bailout" for its $2.8 billion settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over billions of bad mortgages.
http://jlne.ws/fsARcv
Morgan Stanley Names Rosenthal as Chief Operating Officer, Replacing Nides
Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley , the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, named Jim Rosenthal chief operating officer to succeed Thomas Nides , who left the firm to take a position in the U.S. State Department.
http://jlne.ws/h97nRi
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/fid0tF
Citi's service guru Tweets more bank customers
Reuters
Citigroup Inc is hoping that one of the country's most famous customer service gurus can help it rebuild its reputation -- one Tweet at a time.
http://jlne.ws/gqAcHD
By Michael S. Derby, WSJ.com
The man who opposed every official action taken by the Federal Reserve last year continued to express his opposition to the current stance of monetary policy Wednesday, and said he believes the economy should continue to recover and add jobs in 2011.
http://jlne.ws/gT1GbY
Dodd-Frank and the Return of the Loan Shark
BY TODD ZYWICKI, WSJ.com
The least surprising event of 2010 was that, in the wake of new federal limits on how credit-card issuers can price risk and adjust interest rates, more Americans had to go to payday lenders, pawn shops and local loan sharks in order to get credit. It's simply the latest installment in the old story of regulators thinking they can wish away the unintended consequences of consumer credit regulation.
http://jlne.ws/e8y44E
Mortgage-Backed Securities to Save Financials?
By Catherine Holahan, CNBC
The "Fast Money" traders were focused on the financial sector early Wednesday morning after reports that three major Wall Street firms were planning to sell $4 billion in mortgage-backed bonds.
http://jlne.ws/iecQ6E
U.S. Companies Added 297,000 Jobs in December, ADP Says
By Timothy R. Homan, Bloomberg
Companies in the U.S. boosted payrolls in December by the most since records began in 2001, showing a stronger labor-market recovery at the end of last year, data from a private report showed today.
http://jlne.ws/gkNVai
World Bank issues bond denominated in Chinese Yuan
BBC
The World Bank has issued its first bond denominated in the Chinese currency, joining a small but fast-growing market. The yuan-denominated bond is being issued to promote the use of the Chinese currency in international markets.
http://jlne.ws/fMmB4f
Banks Boost Income From High-Yield Bonds
Radi Khasawneh, Financial News
Investment banks almost doubled their fees from high-yield bonds last year, topping revenues from investment grade issues for the first time since 2006.
http://jlne.ws/fHg10l
Fed buys $1.5 bln in Tsys maturing 2028-2040 in today's open mkt operation of $9.36 bln
The purchase or sale of Treasury securities on an outright basis adds or drains reserves available in the banking system.
http://jlne.ws/dcRpcM
ELX Futures - ELX Announces 2010 Year-End Results; ADV in U.S. Treasury Futures Up 14% Year-Over-Year; ADV in Euro
ELX Futures, L.P. (ELX), a leading electronic futures exchange offering market competition in U.S. Treasury and Eurodollar futures contracts, announced today its 2010 year-end results. Total volume exceeded 13MM contracts for the year, with ADV surpassing 47K contracts in U.S. Treasury futures, an increase of 14% from 2009. ELX’s Eurodollar futures contract, which was launched in June 2010, established several record-breaking milestones. By December, ADV reached over 18K contracts traded with an open interest (OI) exceeding 200K contracts. From the third quarter of 2010 (the contract’s first full quarter) to the fourth quarter of 2010, ADV grew by 390%, average OI by 771%, and market share by 298%.
http://jlne.ws/gVsmZK
PIMCO | Investment Outlook, William H. Gross - Off With Our Heads!
By Cordell Eddings, Bloomberg
Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross said investors should favor emerging market corporate and sovereign debt as “mindless’ U.S. deficit spending may result in higher inflation, a weaker dollar and the eventual loss of America’s AAA credit rating.
http://jlne.ws/eEU7Lu
Economy's Overheating? We Should Be So Lucky: Caroline Baum
By Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
Wall Street lives in a world of extremes. Today’s raging bull market may morph into tomorrow’s angry bear. Forecasts of inflation and deflation can be found on the same page. The Federal Reserve’s plans for an early exit from its emergency stimulus were derailed by the need to re-enter the treatment arena.
http://jlne.ws/esORCJ
Fed sees fairly high bar for stopping bond buys
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters
The Federal Reserve felt at its December meeting that the U.S. economy still needed help despite signs of strength, according to minutes released on Tuesday that showed little appetite to trim bond-buying plans.
http://jlne.ws/dGIQrY
At Banks, New Fees Replacing Old Levies
By ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ
Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts. As regulation curtailing financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws. Credit-card users have experienced new inactivity fees and foreign-exchange charges, while checking accounts have gotten hit with new monthly maintenance fees.
http://jlne.ws/hNGXa4
CFTC needs "Plan B" for costly swaps rules
By Roberta Rampton , Reuters
The U.S. futures regulator needs to consider a "Plan B" on how it will police the $600 trillion swaps market if Congress fails to deliver a 50 percent increase in its budget, one of its top officials said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/gXhDmx
F.D.I.C. Seeks $2.5 Billion From Execs of Failed Banks
By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON, NY Times
The F.D.I.C. said Tuesday that as of mid-December it had authorized suits against 109 directors and officers of failed financial institutions as it tries to recover nearly $2.5 billion.
http://jlne.ws/eZ8emP
Eurobond launch intended to aid Ireland
By David Oakley, Financial Times
The European Union will today launch a multibillion-euro bond to raise money for the effort to rescue Ireland's finances, in this year's first important test of investor sentiment for Europe's troubled government debt markets. Bankers said there was strong demand for the bonds from European, Asian and Middle Eastern investors, even before the official opening of order books expected today.
http://jlne.ws/eB4hLC
UK Government Introduces Bank Levy
Press Release
The UK Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks' balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
http://jlne.ws/cxgbC7
Fed Likely To Add New Treasury Market Dealers
By Min Zeng, Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--After a hiatus of more than one year, the Federal Reserve is likely to expand a select group of dealers to help with hefty Treasury debt sales and the central bank's monetary-policy operations, according to traders and dealers familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/hVmqay
Furor over BofA's $2.8B mortgage settlement
By MARK DeCAMBRE, NY Post
Bank of America is getting blasted with accusations of a "backdoor bailout" for its $2.8 billion settlement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over billions of bad mortgages.
http://jlne.ws/fsARcv
Morgan Stanley Names Rosenthal as Chief Operating Officer, Replacing Nides
Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley , the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, named Jim Rosenthal chief operating officer to succeed Thomas Nides , who left the firm to take a position in the U.S. State Department.
http://jlne.ws/h97nRi
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/fid0tF
Citi's service guru Tweets more bank customers
Reuters
Citigroup Inc is hoping that one of the country's most famous customer service gurus can help it rebuild its reputation -- one Tweet at a time.
http://jlne.ws/gqAcHD
Federal Consumer Agency to Partner with State Regulators on Supervision of Providers of Consumer Financial Products and Services
U.S. Department Of The Treasury Press Release
WASHINGTON – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implementation team currently housed within the US Department of the Treasury and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a foundation of state and federal coordination and cooperation for supervision of providers of consumer financial products and services.
Specifically, state regulators and the CFPB will endeavor to promote consistent examination procedures and effective enforcement of state and federal consumer laws and to minimize regulatory burden and efficiently deploy supervisory resources. Further, the MOU provides that state regulators and the CFPB will consult each other regarding the standards, procedures, and practices used by state regulators and the CFPB to conduct compliance examinations of providers of consumer financial products and services, including non-depository mortgage lenders, mortgage servicers, private student lenders, and payday lenders.
The consumer financial protection regime established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act strikes a constructive balance between federal and state regulation of firms offering many of the financial products families rely on every day. This MOU is an important step in implementing this balance and provides a starting point for additional state agreements as the states and the CFPB work to fulfill their mandates. Whether shopping for a mortgage for their first home or exploring possibilities to finance their child’s education, consumers will benefit from this partnership as the CFPB and CSBS coordinate efforts to enforce applicable federal and state law and to protect consumers. For the first time, a federal agency with the sole job of looking out for consumers as they interact with the financial system will work with state regulators to review businesses’ practices and ensure that firms that provide consumer financial products, such as mortgages, are following the law.
“The new consumer financial agency and the state banking regulators are forging an alliance to protect American families,” said Elizabeth Warren, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB. “This agreement allows us to bring thousands of financial service providers out of the shadows and to begin the process of ensuring that all lenders comply with the same basic rules.”
"Today is an important day for financial supervision," said Thomas Gronstal, Chairman of CSBS. "The formalized coordination between the states and the federal government established by the MOU will do much to create a comprehensive and seamless system of financial supervision and is a step toward a more cooperative system of supervision, which will benefit consumers and financial services providers alike."
WASHINGTON – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implementation team currently housed within the US Department of the Treasury and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a foundation of state and federal coordination and cooperation for supervision of providers of consumer financial products and services.
Specifically, state regulators and the CFPB will endeavor to promote consistent examination procedures and effective enforcement of state and federal consumer laws and to minimize regulatory burden and efficiently deploy supervisory resources. Further, the MOU provides that state regulators and the CFPB will consult each other regarding the standards, procedures, and practices used by state regulators and the CFPB to conduct compliance examinations of providers of consumer financial products and services, including non-depository mortgage lenders, mortgage servicers, private student lenders, and payday lenders.
The consumer financial protection regime established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act strikes a constructive balance between federal and state regulation of firms offering many of the financial products families rely on every day. This MOU is an important step in implementing this balance and provides a starting point for additional state agreements as the states and the CFPB work to fulfill their mandates. Whether shopping for a mortgage for their first home or exploring possibilities to finance their child’s education, consumers will benefit from this partnership as the CFPB and CSBS coordinate efforts to enforce applicable federal and state law and to protect consumers. For the first time, a federal agency with the sole job of looking out for consumers as they interact with the financial system will work with state regulators to review businesses’ practices and ensure that firms that provide consumer financial products, such as mortgages, are following the law.
“The new consumer financial agency and the state banking regulators are forging an alliance to protect American families,” said Elizabeth Warren, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB. “This agreement allows us to bring thousands of financial service providers out of the shadows and to begin the process of ensuring that all lenders comply with the same basic rules.”
"Today is an important day for financial supervision," said Thomas Gronstal, Chairman of CSBS. "The formalized coordination between the states and the federal government established by the MOU will do much to create a comprehensive and seamless system of financial supervision and is a step toward a more cooperative system of supervision, which will benefit consumers and financial services providers alike."
Selasa, 04 Januari 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 01-04-11: FOMC Statement-
FRB: Press Release--FOMC statement--December 14, 2010
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment. Household spending is increasing at a moderate pace, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, though less rapidly than earlier in the year, while investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak. Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. The housing sector continues to be depressed. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, but measures of underlying inflation have continued to trend downward.
http://jlne.ws/g1hn1y
High Threshold For Treasury Purchase Adjustments: FOMC Minutes
By Patrick Temple-West, The Bond Buyer
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee said they have “a fairly high threshold” for adjustments to the Treasury purchase plan, while they expressed concern that state and local government fiscal conditions remain a detriment to growth, according to the minutes of the Dec. 14 meeting, which were...
http://jlne.ws/dYPet5
Experts Expect Fewer Bankruptcies in 2011
By Sara Murray, WSJ.com
With consumer bankruptcies at a five-year high, experts are already handicapping this year’s trend — and there’s reason to believe 2011 will be brighter. There are two indications that Americans won’t be quite so overwhelmed by debt this year that they opt to file for bankruptcy. The first is that they’re simply carrying less debt. There was $2.40 trillion in outstanding consumer credit as of October, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s down nearly 4.1% from October 2007, before the recession began.
http://jlne.ws/fdh98W
Euro rates to stay low even as banks borrow less
By Jessica Mortimer and Marc Jones, Reuters
Euro zone short-term interest rates looked set to remain low as the central bank's
limit-free lending continued to distort money markets, even as
banks scaled back borrowing after the year end.
http://jlne.ws/eBtrSD
Issuance Plunges 91% From Year Ago as Build America Bonds End
By Brendan A. McGrail, Bloomberg
Municipal-debt issuance plunged 91 percent this week from a year earlier after federal initiatives such as the Build America Bonds program ended Dec. 31.
http://jlne.ws/hkV7EK
Treasury 4-Weeks Go At 0.120% High Yield
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.120% high yield, a price of 99.990667.
http://jlne.ws/gizIv6
Currency Carry Trade Losses Exceeding Lehman Crisis Bolster Dollar Outlook
By Ron Harui and Wes Goodman, Bloomberg
Currency traders that seek profits by borrowing in nations with low interest rates to fund purchases in countries with higher yields are losing more money than at any time in at least a decade.
http://jlne.ws/ig4IFY
Eurozone inflation soars to new high
By Gerrit Wiesmann, CNN
Eurozone inflation rose in June to its highest since the bloc's 1999 formation, data showed on Monday as political opposition mounted to an expected European Central Bank move to raise its main interest rate this week.
http://jlne.ws/dSG1wW
Sales at U.S. Retailers Increased 3.6% Last Week
By Leslie Patton, Bloomberg
Sales at U.S. retailers rose 3.6 percent last week from a year earlier, as some shoppers returned to stores to take advantage of post-Christmas discounts, dodging a snowstorm that assailed the East Coast.
http://jlne.ws/eNs6P3
EU mulls pushing wind-up costs on bank lenders-official
Reuters
The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force lenders to banks to share the costs of their winding up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/gbM7cz
U.S. factory orders rebound
Reuters
New orders received by U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in November, and orders excluding transportation recorded their largest gain in eight months, providing more signs the economic recovery was on sustainable path.
http://jlne.ws/gddah5
ECB Rate Hike Likely Sooner Than Expected
By Nina Koeppen, WSJ The Source
Strong euro-zone inflation data for December are an important reminder that interest rates won’t stay at current emergency levels indefinitely, and that the ECB may raise rates later this year.
http://jlne.ws/eoZzjl
Private investors head for hills as default fears mount
By Nicole Bullock in New York
A fierce debate has erupted over the standing of US municipal bonds, the once sleepy corner of the credit markets where states and local governments raise money for roads, bridges, schools and other projects.
http://jlne.ws/hpMNPB
2011 to be a Defining Moment for Swap Execution Facilities
Finance Technology Network
Industry players are jockeying for position to compete as Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs). But regulators are still writing the rules.
http://jlne.ws/emY3Tt
Rhetoric will not spur deal on US deficit
By Robin Harding in Washington - Financial Times
If reality flows from rhetoric then 2011 should be the year of fiscal consolidation in the US. The US public tells pollsters that it wants a bipartisan deal to cut the deficit. Politicians tell the public that they want a bipartisan deal to cut the deficit. Nobody is telling the truth.
http://jlne.ws/e2Yb7f
Goldman Sachs Investment in Facebook May Draw SEC Scrutiny
BusinessWeek
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s plan to offer clients up to $1.5 billion in Facebook Inc. equity may invite U.S. regulators to take a closer look at whether the owner of the world's most popular social-networking site is circumventing disclosure rules, securities lawyers said.
http://jlne.ws/i5mOBV
Citi Closes Student-Loan Deals
TheStreet.com
Citigroup said Monday that its Citi Holdings division of noncore assets now represents less than 20% of its balance sheet, after having closed the sale of $31 billion worth of student-loan assets. In two transactions, the New York-based banking giant sold $27 billion worth of loans to SLM Corp. , the holding company of Sallie Mae, and another $4.2 billion worth of assets ...
http://jlne.ws/g5li5M
Is Bob McCann's Spread In The Continental In-flight Magazine Offensive Or Just Embarrassing?
Business Insider
It's like Bob McCann is actively trying to piss off the higher-ups at UBS.
http://jlne.ws/i2hgw7
Canadian Bonds Beat World With Their Biggest Gain Since '05: Canada Credit
Bloomberg
Returns in Canada's bond market exceeded the rest of the world in 2010, gaining the most in five years, and may outperform again this year amid record foreign purchases of the nation's fixed-income securities.
http://jlne.ws/hPNLwi
ISDA Launches Initiative to Promote Portfolio Reconciliation and Reduce Risk in Asia Pacific Region
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published the Asia Pacific Portfolio Reconciliation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote portfolio reconciliation and reduce risk in the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the MoU is to outline the process and frequency with which participating firms reconcile portfolios of collateralized derivatives transactions.
http://jlne.ws/dKTJ7V
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment. Household spending is increasing at a moderate pace, but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software is rising, though less rapidly than earlier in the year, while investment in nonresidential structures continues to be weak. Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. The housing sector continues to be depressed. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, but measures of underlying inflation have continued to trend downward.
http://jlne.ws/g1hn1y
High Threshold For Treasury Purchase Adjustments: FOMC Minutes
By Patrick Temple-West, The Bond Buyer
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee said they have “a fairly high threshold” for adjustments to the Treasury purchase plan, while they expressed concern that state and local government fiscal conditions remain a detriment to growth, according to the minutes of the Dec. 14 meeting, which were...
http://jlne.ws/dYPet5
Experts Expect Fewer Bankruptcies in 2011
By Sara Murray, WSJ.com
With consumer bankruptcies at a five-year high, experts are already handicapping this year’s trend — and there’s reason to believe 2011 will be brighter. There are two indications that Americans won’t be quite so overwhelmed by debt this year that they opt to file for bankruptcy. The first is that they’re simply carrying less debt. There was $2.40 trillion in outstanding consumer credit as of October, according to the Federal Reserve. That’s down nearly 4.1% from October 2007, before the recession began.
http://jlne.ws/fdh98W
Euro rates to stay low even as banks borrow less
By Jessica Mortimer and Marc Jones, Reuters
Euro zone short-term interest rates looked set to remain low as the central bank's
limit-free lending continued to distort money markets, even as
banks scaled back borrowing after the year end.
http://jlne.ws/eBtrSD
Issuance Plunges 91% From Year Ago as Build America Bonds End
By Brendan A. McGrail, Bloomberg
Municipal-debt issuance plunged 91 percent this week from a year earlier after federal initiatives such as the Build America Bonds program ended Dec. 31.
http://jlne.ws/hkV7EK
Treasury 4-Weeks Go At 0.120% High Yield
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.120% high yield, a price of 99.990667.
http://jlne.ws/gizIv6
Currency Carry Trade Losses Exceeding Lehman Crisis Bolster Dollar Outlook
By Ron Harui and Wes Goodman, Bloomberg
Currency traders that seek profits by borrowing in nations with low interest rates to fund purchases in countries with higher yields are losing more money than at any time in at least a decade.
http://jlne.ws/ig4IFY
Eurozone inflation soars to new high
By Gerrit Wiesmann, CNN
Eurozone inflation rose in June to its highest since the bloc's 1999 formation, data showed on Monday as political opposition mounted to an expected European Central Bank move to raise its main interest rate this week.
http://jlne.ws/dSG1wW
Sales at U.S. Retailers Increased 3.6% Last Week
By Leslie Patton, Bloomberg
Sales at U.S. retailers rose 3.6 percent last week from a year earlier, as some shoppers returned to stores to take advantage of post-Christmas discounts, dodging a snowstorm that assailed the East Coast.
http://jlne.ws/eNs6P3
EU mulls pushing wind-up costs on bank lenders-official
Reuters
The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force lenders to banks to share the costs of their winding up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/gbM7cz
U.S. factory orders rebound
Reuters
New orders received by U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in November, and orders excluding transportation recorded their largest gain in eight months, providing more signs the economic recovery was on sustainable path.
http://jlne.ws/gddah5
ECB Rate Hike Likely Sooner Than Expected
By Nina Koeppen, WSJ The Source
Strong euro-zone inflation data for December are an important reminder that interest rates won’t stay at current emergency levels indefinitely, and that the ECB may raise rates later this year.
http://jlne.ws/eoZzjl
Private investors head for hills as default fears mount
By Nicole Bullock in New York
A fierce debate has erupted over the standing of US municipal bonds, the once sleepy corner of the credit markets where states and local governments raise money for roads, bridges, schools and other projects.
http://jlne.ws/hpMNPB
2011 to be a Defining Moment for Swap Execution Facilities
Finance Technology Network
Industry players are jockeying for position to compete as Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs). But regulators are still writing the rules.
http://jlne.ws/emY3Tt
Rhetoric will not spur deal on US deficit
By Robin Harding in Washington - Financial Times
If reality flows from rhetoric then 2011 should be the year of fiscal consolidation in the US. The US public tells pollsters that it wants a bipartisan deal to cut the deficit. Politicians tell the public that they want a bipartisan deal to cut the deficit. Nobody is telling the truth.
http://jlne.ws/e2Yb7f
Goldman Sachs Investment in Facebook May Draw SEC Scrutiny
BusinessWeek
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s plan to offer clients up to $1.5 billion in Facebook Inc. equity may invite U.S. regulators to take a closer look at whether the owner of the world's most popular social-networking site is circumventing disclosure rules, securities lawyers said.
http://jlne.ws/i5mOBV
Citi Closes Student-Loan Deals
TheStreet.com
Citigroup said Monday that its Citi Holdings division of noncore assets now represents less than 20% of its balance sheet, after having closed the sale of $31 billion worth of student-loan assets. In two transactions, the New York-based banking giant sold $27 billion worth of loans to SLM Corp. , the holding company of Sallie Mae, and another $4.2 billion worth of assets ...
http://jlne.ws/g5li5M
Is Bob McCann's Spread In The Continental In-flight Magazine Offensive Or Just Embarrassing?
Business Insider
It's like Bob McCann is actively trying to piss off the higher-ups at UBS.
http://jlne.ws/i2hgw7
Canadian Bonds Beat World With Their Biggest Gain Since '05: Canada Credit
Bloomberg
Returns in Canada's bond market exceeded the rest of the world in 2010, gaining the most in five years, and may outperform again this year amid record foreign purchases of the nation's fixed-income securities.
http://jlne.ws/hPNLwi
ISDA Launches Initiative to Promote Portfolio Reconciliation and Reduce Risk in Asia Pacific Region
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today published the Asia Pacific Portfolio Reconciliation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote portfolio reconciliation and reduce risk in the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the MoU is to outline the process and frequency with which participating firms reconcile portfolios of collateralized derivatives transactions.
http://jlne.ws/dKTJ7V
UK Government Introduces Bank Levy
01 January 2011
Press Release: Government introduces bank levy
The Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks’ balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
Once fully in place the levy is expected to raise around £2½ billion of annual revenues. This is in line with the Budget estimates.
The levy is intended to encourage banks to move to less risky funding profiles, and the £2½ billion is a fair contribution in respect of the risks the banking system poses to the wider economy, while ensuring that the industry remains competitive.
The rate for 2011 will be 0.05 per cent, and it will rise to 0.075 per cent from 2012 onwards.
The government has consulted on the design of the scheme so that it achieves two objectives: first, ensuring that banks make a fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the UK financial system and wider economy. Second, the final scheme design will encourage the banks to make greater use of more stable sources of funding, such as long-term debt and equity, working with the grain of our wider reform programme.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban said:
“The levy which comes into force today means that banks will now make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the wider economy. This measure will also encourage banks to reduce their dependence on the riskier, short term funding that was one of the main causes of the financial crisis.
“Once fully in place the bank levy is set to raise £2.5 billion per annum and this will go towards helping reduce the record Budget deficit that this Government inherited.”
Notes for Editors
1. In the June Budget, the Government announced that it would introduce a levy based on banks’ balance sheets from 1 January 2011, intended to encourage banks to move to less risky funding profiles.
2. View the initial consultation document, the Government’s response to the consultation and the draft legislation.
3. Following two periods of consultation since June, the final legislation contained changes to the detailed design and rate of the levy. The rate for 2011 will be 0.05 per cent, rather than 0.04 percent, and it will rise to 0.075 per cent from 2012, instead of the 0.07 per cent announced in June. This change in rate reflects changes to the detailed design of the levy, in particular extending the half rate treatment (for longer maturity liabilities) to cover retail deposits not covered by deposit insurance or guarantees, and the introduction of an allowance, rather than a threshold, for those liabilities to which the levy applies. With these changes the levy will generate around £2½ billion of annual revenues, which is in line with the Budget estimates.
4. In addition to introducing a bank levy, the Government is taking action to tackle unacceptable bank bonuses. The Independent Commission on Banking will look at structural and non-structural measures to reform the banking system and promote competition. What’s more, working with international partners, the Government is exploring the costs and benefits of a Financial Activities Tax on profits and remuneration. Separately, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today introduced its revised remuneration code, which will ensure bonuses for material risk-takers are deferred over a number of years and are linked to the performance of the employee and their firm. Significant portions of these bonuses will have to be paid in shares or other securities.
Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on
020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk
This Press Release and other Treasury publications are available on the HM Treasury website
hm-treasury.gov.uk For the latest information from HM Treasury you can subscribe to our RSS feeds or email service.
Media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 5238.
Press Release: Government introduces bank levy
The Government today introduced a permanent levy on banks’ balance sheets as it believes that banks should make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose on the wider economy.
Once fully in place the levy is expected to raise around £2½ billion of annual revenues. This is in line with the Budget estimates.
The levy is intended to encourage banks to move to less risky funding profiles, and the £2½ billion is a fair contribution in respect of the risks the banking system poses to the wider economy, while ensuring that the industry remains competitive.
The rate for 2011 will be 0.05 per cent, and it will rise to 0.075 per cent from 2012 onwards.
The government has consulted on the design of the scheme so that it achieves two objectives: first, ensuring that banks make a fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the UK financial system and wider economy. Second, the final scheme design will encourage the banks to make greater use of more stable sources of funding, such as long-term debt and equity, working with the grain of our wider reform programme.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban said:
“The levy which comes into force today means that banks will now make a full and fair contribution in respect of the potential risks they pose to the wider economy. This measure will also encourage banks to reduce their dependence on the riskier, short term funding that was one of the main causes of the financial crisis.
“Once fully in place the bank levy is set to raise £2.5 billion per annum and this will go towards helping reduce the record Budget deficit that this Government inherited.”
Notes for Editors
1. In the June Budget, the Government announced that it would introduce a levy based on banks’ balance sheets from 1 January 2011, intended to encourage banks to move to less risky funding profiles.
2. View the initial consultation document, the Government’s response to the consultation and the draft legislation.
3. Following two periods of consultation since June, the final legislation contained changes to the detailed design and rate of the levy. The rate for 2011 will be 0.05 per cent, rather than 0.04 percent, and it will rise to 0.075 per cent from 2012, instead of the 0.07 per cent announced in June. This change in rate reflects changes to the detailed design of the levy, in particular extending the half rate treatment (for longer maturity liabilities) to cover retail deposits not covered by deposit insurance or guarantees, and the introduction of an allowance, rather than a threshold, for those liabilities to which the levy applies. With these changes the levy will generate around £2½ billion of annual revenues, which is in line with the Budget estimates.
4. In addition to introducing a bank levy, the Government is taking action to tackle unacceptable bank bonuses. The Independent Commission on Banking will look at structural and non-structural measures to reform the banking system and promote competition. What’s more, working with international partners, the Government is exploring the costs and benefits of a Financial Activities Tax on profits and remuneration. Separately, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today introduced its revised remuneration code, which will ensure bonuses for material risk-takers are deferred over a number of years and are linked to the performance of the employee and their firm. Significant portions of these bonuses will have to be paid in shares or other securities.
Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on
020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk
This Press Release and other Treasury publications are available on the HM Treasury website
hm-treasury.gov.uk For the latest information from HM Treasury you can subscribe to our RSS feeds or email service.
Media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Press Office on 020 7270 5238.
Senin, 03 Januari 2011
Top Interest Rate Headlines 01-03-11: China Says Spain Debt Buys to Continue
China Says Spain Debt Buys to Continue
BY JONATHAN HOUSE - WSJ
MADRID-China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying its government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial on the eve of a visit to Spain.
http://jlne.ws/fpwsWQ
U.S. consumer bankruptcies rose 9% in 2010
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
The number of U.S. consumers who filed for bankruptcy protection rose 9 percent in 2010, and the number could increase in 2011 because of high debt loads and stagnant income growth, a report issued Monday shows.
http://jlne.ws/i2Qwzz
World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
Global manufacturing ended the year on a strong note, according a global purchasing managers’ index released by J.P. Morgan Chase and Markit. The JPMorgan global PMI hit a six-month high of 55 in December from 53.9 the prior month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The expansion was broad based led by the U.S. and the euro zone. China also continued to expand, though at a slightly slower rate. Only Japan and Greece were in contractionary territory.
http://jlne.ws/fa7F56
Berkshire Plans $1.5 Billion Debt Sale to Retire Notes Maturing This Month
By Sapna Maheshwar, Bloomberg
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to sell $1.5 billion of senior debt to retire floating-rate notes maturing this month. Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp. may issue 3- and 10-year notes as soon as today, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set. The company disclosed the use of proceeds in a regulatory filing today that didn’t specify the sale’s size, timing or maturities.
http://jlne.ws/ifMhOA
ISM Index at 57.0 in December vs. 56.6 in November
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The overall economy grew for the twentieth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the seventeenth time, the Institute for Supply Management reported this morning.
http://jlne.ws/e0Gd6Q
Manufacturing activity expands for 17th month in a row
By Blake Ellis, CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing activity expanded for a 17th month in a row in December, rising to the highest level in seven months, a purchasing managers' group said Monday.
http://jlne.ws/eXslBK
Bank of America pays Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6bn
BBC News
Bank of America has agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
http://jlne.ws/f9qaFC
Goldman Sachs returned to M&A top spot in 2010
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) was the top global mergers and acquisitions advisor last year, retaking the position from rival Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which derailed its multiyear grip on the ranking in 2009.
http://jlne.ws/ibe7Nx
Citi Employee Arrested in Indian Probe: Report
TheStreet.com
A Citigroup employee in India has been arrested on charges of forging documents to lure investors. Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at the Gurgaon branch, alledgedly forged company statements and created multiple bank accounts to swindle funds that could total about $66.8 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The money involved was alledgedly taken ...
http://jlne.ws/f9482y
Fee Squeeze Seen in 2011 by Top India Stock Arranger Citigroup
BusinessWeek
Fees for underwriting stock sales in India may remain near all-time lows as investment banks battle for market share, according to an executive at Citigroup Inc., the top-ranked adviser on equity offerings in the country.
http://jlne.ws/htbfmz
Treasuries Poised to Extend Loss on Goldman, Pimco Warnings
BusinessWeek
Treasuries were poised to extend December's biggest monthly rout in a year after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co. issued warnings on the bond market.
http://jlne.ws/fVQmNq
PIMCO Settles Suit, Promotes Emerging-Markets Bond Skipper
Morningstar
Plus, equities and fixed income now under single CIO at DWS, and more.
http://jlne.ws/hwo4Vb
Bank Of America to Buy Back Bad Loans from Fannie, Freddie
By TESS STYNES - WSJ
Bank of America Corp. expects to take a provision of about $3 billion in the fourth quarter to buy back bad loans from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that were issued by its troubled Countrywide Financial unit.
http://jlne.ws/gfbMXI
Time to stop seeing bankers as bogey men
AFP Telegraph Finance News via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
In 2008, the world changed for good. Names once held dear disappeared. Whole institutions imploded, almost overnight. Governments intervened. And taxpayers moaned as the full scale of the banking crisis ...
http://jlne.ws/i1HLDS
Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
http://jlne.ws/hmGuCS
Deutsche Bank Challenges JPMorgan's Bond Dominance
BusinessWeek
Deutsche Bank AG climbed three places to No. 2 in the global corporate bond underwriter rankings this year, challenging JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s three- year reign as the top manager of debt offerings.
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BY JONATHAN HOUSE - WSJ
MADRID-China supports Spain's economic reforms and will continue buying its government debt, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a newspaper editorial on the eve of a visit to Spain.
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U.S. consumer bankruptcies rose 9% in 2010
The Globe And Mail/ Reuters
The number of U.S. consumers who filed for bankruptcy protection rose 9 percent in 2010, and the number could increase in 2011 because of high debt loads and stagnant income growth, a report issued Monday shows.
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World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country
By Phil Izzo, WSJ.com
Global manufacturing ended the year on a strong note, according a global purchasing managers’ index released by J.P. Morgan Chase and Markit. The JPMorgan global PMI hit a six-month high of 55 in December from 53.9 the prior month. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The expansion was broad based led by the U.S. and the euro zone. China also continued to expand, though at a slightly slower rate. Only Japan and Greece were in contractionary territory.
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Berkshire Plans $1.5 Billion Debt Sale to Retire Notes Maturing This Month
By Sapna Maheshwar, Bloomberg
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to sell $1.5 billion of senior debt to retire floating-rate notes maturing this month. Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp. may issue 3- and 10-year notes as soon as today, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who declined to be identified because terms aren’t set. The company disclosed the use of proceeds in a regulatory filing today that didn’t specify the sale’s size, timing or maturities.
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ISM Index at 57.0 in December vs. 56.6 in November
By Gary Siegel, The Bond Buyer
The overall economy grew for the twentieth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the seventeenth time, the Institute for Supply Management reported this morning.
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Manufacturing activity expands for 17th month in a row
By Blake Ellis, CNNMoney.com
Manufacturing activity expanded for a 17th month in a row in December, rising to the highest level in seven months, a purchasing managers' group said Monday.
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Bank of America pays Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.6bn
BBC News
Bank of America has agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
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Goldman Sachs returned to M&A top spot in 2010
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) was the top global mergers and acquisitions advisor last year, retaking the position from rival Morgan Stanley (MS.N), which derailed its multiyear grip on the ranking in 2009.
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Citi Employee Arrested in Indian Probe: Report
TheStreet.com
A Citigroup employee in India has been arrested on charges of forging documents to lure investors. Shivraj Puri, a relationship manager at the Gurgaon branch, alledgedly forged company statements and created multiple bank accounts to swindle funds that could total about $66.8 million, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The money involved was alledgedly taken ...
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Fee Squeeze Seen in 2011 by Top India Stock Arranger Citigroup
BusinessWeek
Fees for underwriting stock sales in India may remain near all-time lows as investment banks battle for market share, according to an executive at Citigroup Inc., the top-ranked adviser on equity offerings in the country.
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Treasuries Poised to Extend Loss on Goldman, Pimco Warnings
BusinessWeek
Treasuries were poised to extend December's biggest monthly rout in a year after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co. issued warnings on the bond market.
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PIMCO Settles Suit, Promotes Emerging-Markets Bond Skipper
Morningstar
Plus, equities and fixed income now under single CIO at DWS, and more.
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Bank Of America to Buy Back Bad Loans from Fannie, Freddie
By TESS STYNES - WSJ
Bank of America Corp. expects to take a provision of about $3 billion in the fourth quarter to buy back bad loans from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that were issued by its troubled Countrywide Financial unit.
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Time to stop seeing bankers as bogey men
AFP Telegraph Finance News via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance
In 2008, the world changed for good. Names once held dear disappeared. Whole institutions imploded, almost overnight. Governments intervened. And taxpayers moaned as the full scale of the banking crisis ...
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Deutsche Bank No. 2 underwriter of corporate bonds
San Francisco Chronicle
Number of the day $176 billion That's the amount of new corporate bonds underwritten by Deutsche Bank last year. The German bank moved up three places to No. 2 in global bond rankings for 2010, trailing only JPMorgan...
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Deutsche Bank Challenges JPMorgan's Bond Dominance
BusinessWeek
Deutsche Bank AG climbed three places to No. 2 in the global corporate bond underwriter rankings this year, challenging JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s three- year reign as the top manager of debt offerings.
http://jlne.ws/fjaYYn
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