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Bunds get caught in stampede for the exit
November 25, 2011--The dominance of an overarching ‘risk trade’ has been perhaps the most prominent feature of capital markets ever since the debt crisis moved from being a banking problem to one of sovereign debt.
On one side there are things like equity and the euro. They’re highly correlated and charge higher on the increasingly rare days when investors have some hope for the future. German government bonds have been part of a select group of assets on the other side of the trade: in demand when investors want low-risk parking slots for their money.
The group includes U.S. Treasurys, U.K. gilts, the yen, Swiss franc and gold. Risk aversion took both yen and franc to such heights that their central banks are busily attempting to keep financial refugees away with the threat of vast selling. Now Wednesday’s shocking bund auction has raised the odd doubt about German debt’s membership of the club.
Europeans more fearful of debt crisis than terrorism
November 25, 2011--Europeans see the economic crisis as a bigger threat to their security than terrorism or organised crime, an EU-wide poll showed on Friday.
When asked "what are the most important challenges to the security of EU citizens at the moment?", 34 percent cited the economic and financial crises, 33 percent named terrorism and 21 percent said organised crime.
The economy is an even bigger worry in eurozone nations that have been bailed out or are under pressure from the markets: 61 percent in Ireland see the crisis as the biggest security challenge to their country, 57 percent in Spain, 56 percent in Greece, 44 percent in Italy and 41 percent in Portugal.
view the Special Eurobarometer 371 INTERNAL SECURITY report
Euro warning as Italy borrowing costs soar to record highs
November 24, 2011--Italy had to pay record rates to raise 10-billion euros ($13.2-billion) on Friday after France and Germany warned that a blow-out in its giant debt mountain would signal "the end of the euro."
The EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn meanwhile ratcheted up the pressure further on Prime Minister Mario Monti's new government, calling for "an ambitious timeline" on economic reforms.
UK banks must plan for disorderly euro zone break-up
Bailey says UK banks must plan for the worst
Says banks resilience has improved since 2007-2009 crisis
Banks don't have large exposures to vulnerable euro zone
Welcomes moves by banks to ditch non-core assets
November 24, 2011--Britain's banks are drawing up contingency plans in case there is a disorderly break-up of the euro zone or exit of some countries from the single currency as the sovereign debt crisis rages on, a top UK regulator said on Thursday.
Andrew Bailey, deputy head of the Prudential Business Unit at the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), said UK banks do not have large exposures to the euro zone, but must plan for the worst.
European Commisson-An agenda for growth
November 23, 2011--Package of economic and budgetary recommendations sets priorities for 2012 and includes new measures to reinforce eurozone financial governance and stability.
Governments need to put public finances in order and make structural reforms to boost growth and jobs, says the Commission in its 2012 growth survey .
The survey marks the start of the second “European semester”, an annual 6-month cycle during which governments benefit from the input of their EU peers as they formulate national budgetary and economic policies.
It calls on governments to focus on 5 priorities and related measures. These include:
implementing growth-friendly budget policies – tailor public investment and tax approaches to each country’s needs restoring loan activity to pre-crisis levels – ease banks’ access to funding, support small businesses' access to finance and develop a new European venture capital regime
view the PROGRESS REPORT ON THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY
Eurozone already in recession: banking group
November 23, 2011--The eurozone has sunk into recession, a leading international banking organization said Wednesday, adding that conditions in the 17-nation bloc had deteriorated swiftly.
"The situation in the euro area has taken a serious turn for the worse in the past month," the Institute of International Finance said in global outlook report.
"The economy has tipped into what we believe to be a recession, which will only serve to widen budget deficits and weaken bank asset quality further," the IIF said.
Incoming economic data for the just-ended third quarter and the early fourth quarter have been weaker than expected, the Washington-based trade group said.
Euro withstands debt doubts
November 22, 2011--The euro bounced as investors appeared more willing to take on risk following several sessions of retrenchment on equity markets.
The single currency climbed 0.1 per cent to $1.3512 against the dollar and was up 0.2 per cent to Y103.98
Turkish exchanges plan combination
November 22, 2011--Turkey’s two biggest exchanges, the Istanbul Stock Exchange and TurkDex, will be combined under a plan unveiled by Ankara to develop Istanbul into a regional financial centre.
The development is the latest sign that countries with multiple exchanges are coming under pressure to consolidate their trading infrastructure to ensure the competitiveness of their capital markets.
NASDAQ OMX strengthens clearing house offering - launches first multi-asset risk management platform in Europe
November 21, 2011--- NASDAQ OMX today launches Genium Risk, a new risk management platform for its Nordic clearing house, NASDAQ OMX Clearing. Genium Risk, a state of the art risk system, provides the clearing house with a real-time risk management solution, including new tools for improved risk monitoring and handling of incidents for derivatives clearing. In addition, capital efficient risk models for fixed income and equities will optimize the use of member collaterals.
Our clearing house will have Europe's first risk management system capable of integrating all asset classes, and with the ability to handle both OTC and exchange traded instruments. This further enhances NASDAQ OMX's strong offering in the post trade business." says Hans-Ole Jochumsen, President of NASDAQ OMX Nordic. "Genium Risk is the foundation for growing our clearing business, as well as enabling us to launch risk management products to external clearing houses and members."
NASDAQ OMX's Genium Risk platform meets trading members' increasing needs of advanced technical solutions and capital efficiency as non-exchange traded financial instruments are forced into centralized clearing, in line with new transparency regulations (Dodd-Frank in the US and EMIR, European Markets Infrastructure Regulations, in Europe).
"Our main ambition has been to make Genium Risk as flexible as possible, allowing a high degree of customization", says Fredrik Ekström, Vice President of Risk Management at NASDAQ OMX. "By being able to customize risk models and risk parameters for different types of asset classes and credit risks, the risk measures can be much more accurate."
Spaniards vote to find way out of crisis
September 20, 2011--Spaniards reeling from an economic crisis voted on Sunday in an election expected to throw out the ruling Socialists and bring in a centre-right party which promises only harsher austerity measures.
A grim mood dominated as people went to the polls against a background of soaring unemployment, cuts in public spending and a debt crisis that has put Spain in the front line of the euro zone's fight for survival. "Being a civil servant I'm not optimistic about it as we're already seeing the cuts coming through," said Jose Vasquez, 45, who was among the early voters in the capital Madrid. "We can choose the sauce they will cook us in, but we're still going to be cooked."
