BPH PBK, the Polish subsidiary of Bank Austria Creditanstalt (BACA) that secured commended status in the 2002 Global Custodian Survey of Agent Banks in Emerging Markets, has had a good first half. Net income before taxes rose by 48 per
Chinese regulators say foreign companies will be allowed to hold stakes of up to 50 per cent in life assurance joint ventures in China. "Foreign life insurance companies can apply to set up life insurance joint ventures with Chinese counterparts
Dematerialisatin of stock certificates in Japan took a major step forward yesterday with the news that the Legislative Council advisory committee had published a fresh draft of the necessary revisions to the Commercial Code. Unlike the interim proposal announced by
Aviva, the UK insurance, life assurance and pensions company formed by the merger of Commercial Union and Norwich Union, says worldwide bancassurance life and pensions sales were up 56 per cent from 179 million to 299 million in the first
Northern Trust says it has launched a new risk management product for its institutional clients. The so called Northern Trust Event Analyst aims to enable clients to select and monitor distinct classes of marketplace events and their impact on institutional
Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase have paid more than $300 million to settle charges that they helped Enron cheat investors. The settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau ends an 18 month investigation
Dutch financial services group ING is in talks to acquire AGF Belgium Bank, a unit of French insurer AGF and German insurance group Allianz . With the acquisition of AGF Belgium Bank, ING Belgium and its Record Groep arm hope
Portfolio trades now account for two in five trades initiated by major Us institutional investors, according to a new study of a hundred large American investors, conducted in the early part of this year by Greenwich Associates. "It's becoming a
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has announced a relaxation of exchange control regulations. Thai life insurance companies, government pension and social security funds, mutual funds, provident funds and "specialised financial institutions" will now be free to invest overseas in certain
FirstGroup, a large UK bus and railway company, is setting up a single defined benefit pension scheme for employees. The new career average final salary scheme will have an initial active membership of 12,000 and a fund size of over