Interesting

Tide turns for Böcker’s Sydney raid
Magnus Böcker, CEO of the Singapore Exchange, is playing a subtle game rather than an assault to win his deal for the Australian Securities Exchange, writes Kevin Brown
 

Obama’s trimming won’t end a fiscal nightmare
America’s deficit plans are turning out to be tissue-thin and aimed more at winning points than pushing reform, writes Steven Rattner


Huawei in challenge to US
The decision by the Chinese company to bypass an official recommendation to walk away from a US acqusition has astounded many in Washington
 
 
Ukrainian growth 'better than expected'
Further talks needed with officials before IMF approval of a fresh billion-dollar aid disbursement, according to Thanos Arvanitis, the fund's mission chief for the country


Barclays vows to double profit over three years
Bob Diamond vowed to "eliminate or improve" the third of the bank's business that is underperforming in an attempt to nearly double profitability over the next three years


CBRE to buy ING real estate business
World's largest property group will become the biggest real estate investment manager after acquiring most of the insurer's property division for $940m



Cyprus court lifts injunction on Russian tycoon
A Cyprus court has unfrozen a large part of Suleiman Kerimov's business empire, including the Russian tycoon's 25 per cent stake in Uralkali



China and Russia continue US Treasuries sell-off - FT



Save money but lose weight with Korean banks
15 FEB 2011 12:39 GMT
SEOUL (Reuters) - Park Keun-jun is determined to fulfil two resolutions this year: bulk up his bank account but slim down himself.



"Darkness Inc" means power cuts to weary Senegalese 
16 FEB 2011 11:17 GMT
DAKAR (Reuters) - When Senegalese tailor Ousmane Tom threw out the foot-operated machines in his Dakar workshop and converted to electricity, he thought business would take off.
 


BATS and Claritas consider Brazilian exchange  

BATS Global Markets, the US alternative trading venue, is in talks with Claritas, the Brazilian asset manager, about building a new stock exchange in Brazil, challenging BM&F Bovespa’s monopoly
 

Goldman winds down proprietary trading arm
Goldman Sachs plans to wind down its eight-person Global Macro Proprietary Trading arm to comply with new US rules restricting large banks from placing bets with its own capital 


Capital rules force Protium charge
One of the more striking revelations in Barclays' results was the news it had taken an unexpected £621m impairment charge on the value of its loan to Protium




Chronic hunger to affect 1bn people  
As G20 ministers prepare to discuss inflation, Robert Zoellick, the World Bank president, has said food prices are rising to ‘dangerous levels’ and have already pushed another 44m people into extreme poverty

Process the tonnes of food western supermarkets mark as waste and donate it to the starving instead of throwing them away



Livestock costs likely to hit consumer prices
The prices of pork chops and hamburgers are set to rise as smaller animal herds and depleted corn stocks strain livestock markets
 


BHP boosts buy-back plan to $10bn
The Anglo-Australian miner, which has faced pressure to return more cash to shareholders, more than doubled its buy-back programme after reporting record first-half profits on boom prices for iron ore, coal and copper



StanChart exits loan trading to focus on lending 
16 FEB 2011 06:04 GMT
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Emerging markets focussed lender, Standard Chartered Bank , has shuttered its global loans trading unit, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, ending a unique experiment in Asia, as it moves to focus on lending to clients.


 Lloyds to close equity markets arm
16 FEB 2011 08:30 GMT
LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds has decided to close down its Equity Markets unit, which had around 13 employees, as the part-nationalised bank continues its programme of exiting non-core businesses.



 Hotelier M&C profit surges as conditions improve
16 FEB 2011 07:26 GMT
LONDON (Reuters) - Hotelier Millennium & Copthorne reported a 53 percent increase in full-year pretax profit, in line with expectations, benefiting from improved revenues as economic conditions improved in its key markets.





Lloyds to close equity markets arm
16 FEB 2011 08:30 GMT
LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds has decided to close down its Equity Markets unit, which had around 13 employees, as the part-nationalised bank continues its programme of exiting non-core businesses.


 Divisions threaten hope for G20 policy deal
Reuters Wednesday 16 February 2011 05:10
PARIS (Reuters) - Wide differences between rich and poor countries may frustrate France's hope of taking a bold step towards stabilising the global economy at a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting this week. The two-day talks in Paris will launch debate on French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ambitious agenda for his country's year-long presidency of the G20. The agenda includes grand proposals to curb the volatility of food and fuel prices and to reduce gradually the world's reliance on the U.S. dollar.

  Obama budget targets brand name medicines
15 FEB 2011 19:17 GMT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Big pharmaceutical companies could face increased competition from generic drugmakers under two proposals put forth by the Obama administration on Monday despite earlier savings extracted from drugmakers as part of last year's healthcare law. 
 

 
BHP in $80 billion expansion spree
16 FEB 2011 07:00 GMT
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton , the world's biggest miner, plans to pour $80 billion (49 billion pounds) into expansions over the next five years rather than chase ambitious takeovers, after nearly doubling first-half profits to a record on booming demand for iron ore and copper.


Judge delays vote on Del Monte takeover by KKR
16 FEB 2011 01:59 GMT
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Delaware judge put a 20-day delay on the shareholder vote for Del Monte Foods Co's takeover by a consortium led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co .



Mongolia may pick banks for $3 billion coal IPO by next 
16 FEB 2011 07:45 GMT
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - The Mongolian government is expected to appoint banks by next week to manage the roughly $3 billion initial public offering of its Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
 
 

Air Products ends year-long fight for Airgas

16 FEB 2011 01:18 GMT
WILMINGTON, Del./NEW YORK (Reuters) - Air Products & Chemicals Inc ended its year-long battle to buy Airgas Inc after a judge upheld Airgas's use of a "poison pill" defense against the hostile $5.9 billion takeover offer.



Analysis: China's plan to create steel super firms seen
16 FEB 2011 06:46 GMT
TANGSHAN, China (Reuters) - China is likely to fail in its drive for state-owned steel giants to swallow small mills and create iron ore super buyers to wring better prices from leading sellers Vale , Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton .

China defends security checks on M&A
16 FEB 2011 07:16 GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - New rules for vetting merger and acquisition deals based on national security concerns do not imply that Beijing is tightening control over foreign direct investment, the country's economic planning agency said on Wednesday.




Chinese telco gearmakers aim to leap U.S. barriers16 FEB 2011 07:22 GMT

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Chinese telecom equipment makers have their sights set on the United States, a massive market that has so far been largely off limits to them because of fears over the security of key national infrastructure.






Apple subscription service challenges publishers
15 FEB 2011 20:54 GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc is launching a long-awaited subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos and music -- a move that could dent the fortunes of successful services such as Netflix and Hulu.