Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, Japan's second largest non life insurer, has acquired a 24.9 percent stake in Ayudhya Insurance of Thailand for Baht 1.68 billion ($43.1 million). Japanese insurers are stepping up investments in Asian countries such as Thailand and China,
The US derivatives industry came to terms with its first foreign interloper yesterday when the first trade on Eurex US was executed successfully at 7.00 p.m. CST, as the Asian markets opened. "The start of trading on Eurex US went
Italian bank Unicredito Italiano is expected to finalise the purchase of Swiss private bank Banca del Gottardo from Swiss Life by the middle of this month. The price is expected to be CHF1.5 billion ($1.2 billion). Unicredito plans to build
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) has responded to the assault on the US market by rivals Eurex by unveiling plans to offer German government bond futures. CBOT has also announced cuts in trading fees. The announcements coincide with the
Gartmore, the 50.3 billion ($90.1 billion) UK fund manager owned by Nationwide Mutual Insurance of the US, says its five year old hedge fund division is now managing assets worth more than $4 billion. This follows the launch of its
Liberata, a UK based provider of outsourcing services to the pension fund industry, announced the appointment of Sir Andrew Foster, who retired as Chief Executive of the Audit Commission in August 2003, as Non Executive Director to its board. This
Staff at Clearstream Bank in London were surprised to learn last week that Maxim Worcester, formerly the head of communications at Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt, was returning to Germany to manage the Berlin office of the political and security risks
China's Big Four State owned banks Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of Communications (BoCOM), China Construction Bank (CCB) and Bank of China (BoC) are likely to issue Rmb 300 billion of subordinated debt to boost their capital
Deutsche Bank may have been snubbed by Citigroup the buyer favoured by no less a matchmaker than the famed serial monogamist Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, according to press reports but the bank is still in the market for either a UK
ABN Amro CEO Rijkman Groenink has admitted that the Dutch bank is too small to initiate a major acquisition of its own, and therefore "think of other forms of co operation, such as mergers." The bank recently scrapped its soundest