20 November 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Anthony Rowley
• Source: Business Times Singapore

WORLD leaders keep insisting that their first priority in dealing with the economic and financial crisis is to ‘restore growth’ - whether by monetary or fiscal means, or both. Yet, it will need stimulus on a truly massive scale to compensate for the colossal loss of real and paper wealth unleashed by the financial implosion which is now destroying spending power, consumption and economic activity around the world. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, Macroeconomic Policy, Investment and Competition Policy

22 September 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Xinhua News Agency

BERLIN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday renewed her calls for an “international framework” to regulate financial market and promote transparency.

“These measures aren’t new, they have been elaborated at the G8 summit at Heiligendamm” during Germany’s presidency last year of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations,” Merkel said at a meeting of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under International Financial Architecture Reform, Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

22 September 2008
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• Author: Glenn Somerville and David Milliken
• Source: Reuters News

WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT, Sept 22 (Reuters) - U.S. allies on Monday spurned entreaties from Washington that they enact large-scale financial bailouts, saying their banks were not exposed to the same level of reckless lending that put the American economy at risk of a deep recession.

While some European central banks offered more funding for stressed financial markets and Japan said it would offer dollar liquidity, finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations, who consulted by phone, issued only guarded promises to cooperate in efforts to keep market turmoil in check. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, International Financial Architecture Reform, Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Macroeconomic Policy, Investment and Competition Policy

22 September 2008
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• Source: States News Service

The following information was released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury:

The Group of Seven Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors released the following statement today:

The G-7 held a conference call today to discuss global financial markets. We reaffirm our strong and shared commitment to protect the integrity of the international financial system and facilitate liquid, smooth functioning markets, which are essential for supporting the health of the world economy. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, International Financial Architecture Reform, Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

3 September 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Kyodo News

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday countries managing state-backed sovereign wealth funds agreed on draft principles, which they are supposed to voluntarily respect in conducting their investment activities.

After being debated by the finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in October, the draft accord is expected to be finalized at the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington later in the month. (more…)

Filed by Ozlem Yucel under Investment and Competition Policy

7 August 2008
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• Author: John Spears
• Source: Toronto Star

Chin up, Toronto. The website of U.S. business magazine Forbes has ranked Toronto as the world’s 10th most economically powerful city.
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Filed by Anita Li under Other, Investment and Competition Policy, Development

24 July 2008
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• Source: Canada NewsWire

TORONTO, July 24 /CNW/ - Canada is a laggard compared to other Western countries when it comes to business investment per worker, a bellwether measure of future prosperity for Canadians, according to a study released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. This underperformance is troubling since providing workers with state-of-the-art tools and equipment helps preserve their competitive edge, raises incomes and reduces environmental stress, says the report, “New Tools for a Richer, Greener Future: Why Canadian Workers Need More Robust Business Investment.”
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Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Investment and Competition Policy

23 July 2008
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• Source: Nikkei Report

TOKYO (Nikkei)–The brokerage industry plans to standardize disclosure requirements for securitized financial products and discourage the repackaging of such instruments.

In its interim report compiled Tuesday, the Japan Securities Dealers Association outlined a disclosure list for vehicles including collateralized loan obligations, asset-backed securities, and residential- and commercial-mortgage-backed securities. The JSDA seeks to provide investor-oriented information on the underlying collateral as part of a broader overhaul of the market for securitized products, heeding lessons from the subprime mortgage turmoil. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

6 July 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Erin Fitzgerald
• Source: G8 Newswire

Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for approximately forty-five minutes, in their first meeting of the 2008 Hokkaido G8 Summit. Prime Minister Stephen Harper admired the natural beauty of Lake Toya and introduced Prime Minister Fukuda to the Honourable Beverley Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, the first Japanese-Canadian elected to Parliament. (more…)

Filed by Cliff Vanderlinden under Macroeconomic Policy, Investment and Competition Policy, Development

5 July 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Irish Times

GROUP OF eight countries are failing to stamp out corruption and bribery, with damaging implications for trade, business and broader international goals, such as tackling poverty, according to Transparency International.

The report, released on the eve of the G8 summit in Tokyo, criticises Japan, Germany and Italy for not ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption. More broadly, it reproaches Japan, the UK and Canada for “failure to demonstrate enforcement of their foreign bribery laws”. (more…)

Filed by Marina Garbutt under Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

19 June 2008
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• Author: Aaron Back and David Winning
• Source: Dow Jones International News

China isn’t doing enough to boost its oil output because it continues to restrict foreign investors’ access to oil blocks, an official at the European Chamber of Commerce said Thursday.

Xavier Chen, chairman of the European Chamber’s Energy Working Group said China should learn lessons from Brazil which ended the state monopoly of the oil sector and became a net exporter of crude.
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Filed by Anita Li under Investment and Competition Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

21 May 2008
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• Source: States News Service

It is an honor to be at the Baker Institute. James Baker is one of the finest diplomats of our time. As you know well, few Americans have served their country with greater distinction. He began his public service as a Marine, served as the White House Chief of Staff, Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State. Secretary Baker’s breadth of experience is truly remarkable. (more…)

Filed by Nicole Cargill under Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Multilateral Trade, Investment and Competition Policy, The Environment, Energy and Nuclear Safety

27 March 2008
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• Author: Matthew Vincent
• Source: Financial Times

It was in November 2001 that Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill coined the term now used to describe the rapidly emerging markets of Brazil, Russia India and China, in the research paper “Building Better Global Economic Brics”. He argued that these four economies could make up more than 10 per cent of world gross domestic product by the end of the decade.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Other, Investment and Competition Policy

20 March 2008
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• Source: Asia Pulse

Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have agreed that Bangladesh and Britain would enter into a new strategic partnership based on shared values and vibrant economic ties.
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Filed by Anita Li under Multilateral Trade, Investment and Competition Policy

20 March 2008
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• Source: The Wall Street Journal

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board is expected tomorrow to bless the staff’s effort to create a voluntary code of “best practices” to guide sovereign-wealth funds, giving a political boost to the efforts.
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Filed by Anita Li under Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

13 March 2008
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• Source: WPS Russian Media Monitoring Agency

The head of the committee Martin Shakkum made no secret of the fact that the document agreed with the Federal Security Service and approved by Vladimir Putin would not be subjected to any further corrections. The law is supposed to be approved in the second reading on March 19. The previous wording of the bill drawn up by the Ministry of Industry and Energy and approved by the State Duma in the first reading in September 2007 provided for a mild administrative procedure of purchasing controlling stocks of strategic enterprises by foreign investors. “We hope the new provisions of the bill will be no serious obstacle in the way of foreign investments in the economy,” said Vladimir Taraskin, the mover of the first wording of the bill and the Head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Industry and Energy.
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Filed by Anita Li under Investment and Competition Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

7 March 2008
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• Source: Nikkei Report

The Japanese economy is not as reliant on exports as is widely believed, data from the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund shows.

Japan’s dependence on exports rose to a record level in 2007, with exports accounting for 16.3% of nominal gross domestic product — up 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier. But the figure is still lower than those of its peers in the Group of Seven industrialized nations, except for the U.S.
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Filed by Anita Li under Multilateral Trade, Investment and Competition Policy

7 March 2008
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• Author: Victoria Ruan
• Source: Dow Jones International News

China’s US$200 billion sovereign wealth fund Thursday criticized as unnecessary a Western proposal for a code of conduct aimed at pushing such funds into accepting outside scrutiny.

“The claim that sovereign wealth funds are causing threats to state security and economic security is groundless,” Jesse Wang, an executive vice president and chief risk officer of China Investment Corp. told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under International Financial Architecture Reform, Investment and Competition Policy

7 March 2008
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• Author: Peter Muello
• Source: Associated Press Newswires

Rising tensions between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador are unlikely to have a broader economic impact on Latin America, directors of the Institute of International Finance said Thursday.

William Rhodes, president of Citibank NA and first vice chairman of the institute’s board of directors, said investors doubt there will be war in the wake of a Colombian military attack on rebels across the border in Ecuador.
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Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Investment and Competition Policy

23 February 2008
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• Source: Reuters

The European Commission will consider a code of conduct asking sovereign wealth funds run by countries to stress commercial goals rather than strategic considerations when making investments, EU officials said.

“Our position is very clear that there won’t be legislation. We are looking more to a code of conduct,” an EU official with knowledge of the matter said.
(more…)

Filed by Tina Park under Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Investment and Competition Policy

28 January 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Nikkei Weekly

The stock market jitters emanating from the U.S. subprime loan turmoil are now spreading even to China, India and other emerging economies.

“Shipments from Asia to North America have leveled off since summer, although we expected a year-on-year increase of 5-6%,” said Makoto Igarashi, director of Nippon Yusen KK, Japan’s largest shipping company. (more…)

Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Investment and Competition Policy

25 January 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Mike Dolan
• Source: Reuters News

DAVOS, Switzerland - Sovereign wealth funds have an important role to play in the world economy, but agreed international guidelines on the nature of their investments would be welcome, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters, Flaherty said concerns about the motivation of these funds, which are run by governments mostly in the Middle East and Asia to invest windfall income from oil and other exports, needed to be tackled. (more…)

Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Investment and Competition Policy

24 January 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Natsuko Waki and Clara Ferreira-Marques
• Source: Reuters News

DAVOS, Switzerland - Some of the world’s biggest state-run investors said on Thursday they should not be demonised by the United States or other countries after they recently came to the aid of troubled U.S. banks.

Sovereign funds have replaced hedge funds and private equity as a major driver of the global market as they seek to invest huge currency reserves in Western businesses, notably in banks.

On Wednesday, President George W. Bush issued an order to clarify procedures for a U.S. law strengthening national security reviews of foreign deals, at the same time saying the United States welcomed foreign investment. (more…)

Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Investment and Competition Policy

24 January 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Agence France Presse

DAVOS - Sovereign wealth funds are in Davos this year in force, reflecting their new-found power, but even at this meeting celebrating globalisation they face suspicion in some quarters.

The state-run investment funds, founded in oil-exporting countries and Asian exporters to invest their reserves, are feared by some as Trojan horses that could be used by governments for political rather than commercial ends. (more…)

Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Investment and Competition Policy

22 January 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Ingrid Smith
• Source: AFX UK Focus

LONDON - The Hedge Fund Working Group (HFWG) today published its report on best practices for UK hedge fund managers, including a recommendation for independent third parties to value assets.

The group has also delivered a detailed set of voluntary standards; a ‘conformity’ statement for managers to commit to those standards; and the structure of the new monitoring body to make sure the standards remain ‘fit for purpose’. (more…)

Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Investment and Competition Policy