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Bad weather poses threat to wheat supplies
May 26, 2011--Expectations for a sharp rebound in global wheat supplies were lowered on Thursday after an intergovernmental trading group said bad weather threatened key breadbaskets.
The International Grains Council trimmed its forecast for the annual global wheat crop by 5m tonnes to 667m tonnes, citing “unfavourable weather”, especially in Europe and the US.
Draghi warns on global recovery
May 25, 2011--Mario Draghi, the Italian central bank governor widely expected to become the head of the European Central Bank in November, has warned that rising inflation and ballooning public debt could hamper the global recovery.
In his first speech in Germany since being nominated to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet, Mr Draghi said overheating was a “clear and present danger.”
China to buy Europe bail-out bond
May 25, 2011--The European Union enjoyed strong demand for its third bond to raise money for the rescues of Portugal and Ireland, in a sign of investors’ confidence that the eurozone can survive the debt crisis.
Despite rising concern over contagion, and the single currency coming under pressure this week, banks, pension funds, insurers and other investors from Europe and Asia, including some big sovereign wealth funds, bought the debt.
TMX Group Obtains Interim Order For Plan Of Arrangement Involving London Stock Exchange Group
May 25, 2011-- TMX Group Inc. announced today that it has obtained an interim order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The interim order provides for, among other things, the holding of a special meeting of holders of common shares of TMX Group to approve the previously announced plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) regarding the proposed merger with London Stock Exchange Group plc.
The annual and special meeting of shareholders is scheduled to be held at The Design Exchange, located at 234 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario on June 30, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time).
TMX Group will mail the meeting materials, including the Notice of Annual and Special Meeting, Management Information Circular and form of proxy to shareholders of record as of May 20, 2011. The meeting materials will also be available at www.sedar.com and on TMX Group's website at www.tmx.com once they are posted on SEDAR.
Completion of the arrangement is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of requisite approval by TMX Group's shareholders, the final approval of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and approvals by provincial securities regulators and by Industry Canada under the Investment Canada Act. If all necessary approvals are obtained and the conditions of the completion of the arrangement are satisfied or waived, it is expected that the arrangement will be completed in the Fall of 2011.
TMX Merger - Shareholder Meetings
May 25, 2011-The Board of London Stock Exchange Group plc (“LSEG”) notes the announcement today from TMX Group Inc. (“TMX”) that it has obtained an interim order of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice which provides for, amongst other things, the holding of a special meeting of holders
of common shares of TMX to approve the previously announced plan of arrangement regarding the proposed merger with LSEG (the “Merger”) and that the annual and special meeting of TMX shareholders is scheduled to be held on June 30, 2011.
LSEG also expects to hold its general meeting to approve the Merger on 30 June 2011.
IMF Executive Board Discusses Monitoring Financial Interconnectedness, Including the Data Template for Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions
May 25, 2011--On May 18, 2011, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussed progress in closing the identified data gaps related to financial interconnectedness, particularly with reference to the data template for the global systemically important financial institutions (G - SIFIs).
Background
The global financial crisis highlighted the need to strengthen the information relevant to ascertain risks and understand financial interconnectedness. The focus of the effort to meet this need has been the IMF/Financial Stability Board (FSB) work, in collaboration with other international institutions, on the Group of 20 Economies (G-20) Data Gaps Initiative,1 which was endorsed by the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors and by the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) in 2009, 2010, and more recently at the 2011 Spring Meetings.
A key component of the G-20 Data Gaps Initiative is better capturing in a consistent and comprehensive manner the activities of the G-SIFIs. In April 2011, following the work of the FSB Working Group on Data Gaps and Systemic Linkages, on which the IMF was represented, the FSB approved proposals to progress work on a consistent template for improving the collection, and sharing among relevant authorities, of data on G-SIFIs.
Global recovery firmly underway but surrounded by risks, says OECD Economic Outlook
May 25, 2011--The global recovery is firmly under way, but is taking place at different speeds across countries and regions, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.
Historically high unemployment remains among the most pressing legacies of the crisis. It should prompt countries to improve labour market policies that boost job creation and prevent today’s high joblessness from becoming permanent, the report said.
World gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to increase by 4.2% this year and by 4.6% in 2012. Across OECD countries GDP is projected to rise by 2.3% this year and by 2.8% in 2012, in line with the previous forecasts of November 2010.
Environment: Green and growth go together
May 25, 2011-- Governments must look to the green economy to find new sources of growth and jobs. They should put in place policies that tap into the innovation, investment and entrepreneurship driving the shift towards a greener economy.
Green growth makes economic as well as environmental sense. In natural resource sectors alone, commercial opportunities related to investments in environmental sustainability could run into trillions of dollars by 2050.
The OECD Green Growth Strategy, and the new report, Towards Green Growth, provide a practical framework for governments to boost economic growth and protect the environment.
US, European banks invest billions in cluster bombs: NGOs
May 25, 2011-- US and European financial firms are still investing billions of dollars in cluster bomb producers despite a global ban on a weapon that maims and kills civilians, NGOs said Wednesday.
The US financial titans JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are joined by Royal Bank of Scotland, Germany's Deutsche Bank and China's Changjiang Securities in a "hall of shame" of investors in cluster munitions.
They are among 166 private and public financial institutions from 15 countries that have invested a total of $39 billion in eight cluster munition producers since May 2008, according to a report by two Dutch non-governmental organisations that are members of the Cluster Munition Coalition.
ETFs Don't Accentuate Market Drops – ETF Securities' Rhind
May 25, 2011--Precious metals and other commodity markets saw steep price declines in May but exchange-traded funds didn't accentuate the price drops, they only reflect the activity in the market, said the director for an exchange-traded fund.
Critics of ETFs, whether physically backed or ones that use derivatives, say these investment vehicles can influence the action in the markets. They suggested that ETFs push up prices higher than fundamentals allow, or by triggering sales when prices start to crumble, causing prices to fall further.
"I don't agree with that. We didn't see that pattern (of trading) in the market. If we saw massive liquidation of holdings perhaps… but that wasn't the pattern we saw. You see that in the futures market where there's more speculation going on there. The ETF investor is not setting the price discovery. That's being done in the futures and spot market," said William Rhind, managing director at ETF Securities.
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