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A bond issue by Baltic bank Hansabank has served as a demonstration to corporates and banks alike that EU accession brings cheaper funding.

CFOs in North America are taking less of a role in M&A, IPO and joint venture work, passing control from them and their investment bankers to a new, emerging executive ? the corporate development officer (CDO).

United Airlines, the embattled air transport operator, looks set to spark the biggest pension default in US corporate history as it approaches bankruptcy proceedings. And with investors in US Airways and Delta Airlines also eyeing Chapter 11 proceedings, it seems the worst may be yet to come for employees at US airlines. United's pension fund obligations amount to $6.4 billion and would add to the $9.4 billion deficit already assumed by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Organisation (PBGO), the federal agency that insures US corporate pension plans.

The end of the takeover battle for UK over-50s group Saga is good news for private equity but bad news for the equity capital markets.

The concept of cheaper cross-border euro payments is moving a step closer as a further 14 banks from the EU join the STEP2 programme as direct participants. The programme, created by the European Banking Association (EBA) as a pan-European clearing house, hopes to have more than 300 banking members by 2005: the year-end figure for 2004 will stand at 81. The STEP2 system processes around 110,000 payments every day and provides payments distribution to all banks operating in Europe's main financial hubs. Commission on cross-border trades previously stood at around ?24, but the system reduces costs per trade to less than ?0.5 on many transactions.

Publication: SABI - Business News

The Church of England's senior prelate, Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, hosted a lively discussion about capital flows in the global economy and their impact on emerging markets last month.

For children with backgrounds of poverty, neglect and abuse, the City can seem an incomprehensible and daunting place. Commerzbank's head of treasuries, Can Biritrim, however, is keen to show them it can be a source of support. Working with the charity Kids Company, which supports London children who have severe behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as a result of childhood trauma or neglect, Biritrim, together with head of prop trading Tim Fisher, invited three of the children the charity works with to the London office for the day.

www.breakingviews.com

A study by Peter Wong, the head of Hong Kong's association of corporate treasurers (HKACT), has identified six primary challenges for the convergence of international financial reporting standards (IFRSs). The study, commissioned by the International Federation of Accountants, concludes the main challenges are:

Growing investor interest in foreign exchange as an asset class is leading to a rapid expansion of volume and has prompted service providers to offer new products featuring greater speed, transparency and efficiency.