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The Venezuelan parliament has begun a process that could allow president Hugo Chávez unlimited re-election and back his bid to rule until 2021. The proposed constitutional amendment must now be read twice in parliament before it can be brought to referendum. Chávez, who came to power in 1999, was re-elected president of Venezuela in December 2006, for a term expiring in 2013. Two debates are also necessary, one took place on December 18, and the second is expected in mid-January. The National Electoral Council will then convene a referendum within 30 days.

James Buckley as been appointed head of Asia property multi-manager at Schroders, a new position in the firm.

Kazakhstan’s bankers are taking a defiant stance towards the financial crisis. Despite the fact that important sectors of the economy such as banking and construction have been hit hard by the global credit crisis, which has cut off the supply of cheap foreign funding that backed their rapid expansion, investment bankers believe there is still plenty of potential business to be fought over.

The Future of Capital

Madoff should mark the end of feeder funds.

The $20 billion Texas Permanent School Fund has mapped out a proposal for implementing its new 6% allocation to real estate, which is up for approval this month.

India’s largest corporates, desperate to shore up working capital or pay the interest on overpriced flagship acquisitions, are trying every trick in the book to raise cash from investors, banks and non-bank financial institutions.

A fuller understanding of true trading costs should help decisions about post-trade functions.

TraderTools has unveiled a compact keyboard, the AI-1, which it says will simplify the trading process. It comes with extra-large, colour-coded keys that should prove extremely useful for those old spot dealers who have delayed their retirement because of the lack of a bonus in 2008. The keyboard can be connected to a wide range of trading platforms. I did suggest to TraderTools that it should launch a version with a ‘mom tick’ button for all the snipers that still exist in the market, but apparently there’s not that great a demand for it any more in spot. In options, though, it’s a different matter.

Hedge funds were ill-prepared for a downturn. Survivors of the shake-out will need to develop their business management skills to cope, says Nick Evans, editor of EuroHedge.

Trichet is determined that extreme economic conditions should not lead to the abandonment of fiscal stability.