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US ratings agency Moody’s has announced it is buying a majority stake in Copal Partners, a provider of outsourced research and analytics to institutional clients.

New channels for domestic investment; Eastern governments pay lower premiums

China-style system; Test trades completed

"I have told senior management that if they insist on taking multi-billion dollar bonuses this year, they might as well hire a bodyguard because they could end up getting shot"

Santander cashes out in Chile; HSBC puts up Losango

Sovereign support essential; Bank stocks at distressed levels

Focus Media’s plight shows how quickly a short report can smash a company.

The decision by Congressman Barney Frank not to seek re-election to the US House of Representatives next year could result in an unexpected financial windfall for some employees of Goldman Sachs.

Predominant retail investors deterred; Stability favoured over market growth

Mortgage lenders under threat; Fischer clashes with housing chief

One firm in particular will be celebrating if Greece, and indeed any other country, has to leave the euro – Fortress Paper.

It is always nice to meet someone who is enthusiastic about what they do. And few come more enthusiastic than Theo Vermaelen, professor of finance at Insead. When he is not teaching MBA and executive programmes, Vermaelen has set himself a challenging task. "I am on a mission to save the world!" he excitedly told a gathering of financiers at a recent meeting on capital innovation and CoCo bonds in London. He plans to do this using his new invention, a new form of contingent capital known as Coerc – the call option enhanced reverse convertible. This essentially avoids the death spiral risk associated with CoCo bonds as they approach their trigger by giving shareholders the option to buy from CoCo holders when the trigger is hit. He says that this will address the risk of market manipulation from short-sellers when the trigger is tripped. Vermaelen is vehemently opposed to capital ratio triggers. "Sometimes the market is right, sometimes it is wrong – but accounting is always wrong!" he declares. For those investors that can be coerc-ed (geddit?) to get behind his new instrument, Vermaelen declares: "Under my Coerc design you will be risk-free – better than a government bond!" Hmmm... perhaps not such a challenging task after all.

Investors offered a banking growth story; No shortage of liquidity

PM vows to retain economic sovereignty; Moody’s downgrades bonds to junk status

Senior unsecured debt appears unfeasible; Italy could repeat Spanish funding war

The Turkish banking regulator has awarded its first deposit-taking bank licence in more than a decade to Lebanese banking group Audi.

Mercator talks extended; NLB seeks new capital

Lack of repossessions hides extent of US’s dire economic situation.

China’s reserves offset imbalance; HSBC and Standard Chartered benefit

The UK banking system is reasonably well fixed, but relentless regulatory pressure renders it useless to the real economy.

Bank of America recently issued a footnoted warning in a regulatory filing about $11.5 billion of additional collateral payments on derivatives it faces because of rating agency downgrades. At the end of September the bank was on the hook for $4.9 billion of extra collateral that it might be required to pay but had not yet posted, including $3.2 billion linked to its September 21 downgrade by Moody’s.

Deposits flow to US banks; Syndicated loan market opens up

"We think this is a once in 35 year opportunity for the banking system. We are in a perfect storm as customer loyalty to their bank is low and customer service has been a key differentiator"

Decoupling the country’s economy from inflation will take a long time and prevents long-term credit from developing.

BR Partners enters investment banking; Acquisition route proves quickest

New investment fund Vinculum is promising to do things differently. Set up by former Liontrust chief executive Nigel Legge, Vinculum says its global equity fund – launched into the UK retail market on January 3 – will be free of the star fund manager premium that many of its rivals demand payment for.

Polish media entrepreneur Zygmunt Solorz-Zak took control of mobile operator Polkomtel last month in a $5 billion buyout, the country’s largest ever. Companies controlled by the tycoon bought 100% of the mobile phone operator from four state-owned Polish firms and the UK’s Vodafone, which owned 24.4%.

Euromoney goes where other publications fear to tread. And at the end of a long day, there’s nothing like a quiet drink at a local bar to get a feel for what people in the city we’re visiting really think. On a recent trip to Moscow, one of the team was doing just that in a rather unassuming hostelry.

Press offensive launched; Q&A faux pas