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The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has expanded its create and redeem service for Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) to include using cash as the sole underlying component.

At a town hall meeting in New York on November 17, embattled Citi chief executive Vikram Pandit felt compelled to spell out the basics of banking to his assembled troops.

Newly peaceful, liberalized Algeria is an attractive prospect for Middle Eastern and European investors. But a change in the political wind has blown in a whiff of protectionism. Dominic O’Neill reports from Algiers.

The global financial crisis has taken hold in the region, leading to a drastic slowdown in traditional capital-raising. With job cuts expected soon, investment bankers are working hard to meet nervous clients’ needs and perhaps simultaneously save their own jobs. Lawrence White reports.

"You may ask what there is to celebrate," said Hans Van Beeck to a decent-sized crowd of clients at Société Générale’s Beaujolais Nouveau party in Tokyo on October 20. Referring to the markets’ gloomy mood, Van Beeck, chief country officer for the French bank’s securities operation in Japan, suggested that the young wine might stand as "a symbol of nature’s ability to rejuvenate itself" and thus lift his guests’ spirits, if only temporarily.

Brazilian corporates are starting to feel the crunch, with some particularly exposed by their use of derivatives to hedge the value of the real and earnings under pressure for commodity producers as demand falls. But Brazil’s broad industrial base and generally responsive government policies should stand it in good stead.

The $1 billion Stanislaus County (Calif.) Employees Retirement Association has hired Capital Prospects and Legato Capital Management as managers of emerging managers. Capital Prospects will handle a $50 million small-cap value equity portfolio, which is currently invested in the iShares Russell 2000 Value Index Exchange Traded Fund. Legato will handle a $33.5 million small-cap growth portfolio, replacing Mazama Capital Management, which was terminated for performance reasons. For the year to date ending Oct. 31, Mazama’s small-cap portfolio returned -46.1%, compared with the Russell 2500 Growth Index at -37.25%. Brian Alfrey, chief operating officer, declined to comment.

Growing oil and gas revenue has given less impetus to the creation of a more advanced private sector.

Don’t shed a tear for government authorities working overtime to sort out the financial crisis. The dire situation is playing into their hands by not only increasing their influence but also helping to solve one of their own long-running challenges – how to attract top talent on the cheap.

Investors’ fears about the limitations of the debt capital markets have reached extreme levels of late. A UK treasurer recently told Euromoney about an incident his firm experienced earlier this year.

Monday Properties wants to expand in the Washington, D.C., metro area and New York and plans on making acquisitions the old-fashioned way.

It is not only baguettes that France gifted to Algeria. There is also the passion for big infrastructure projects, bureaucracy and saving.