| Top Scoops
Much to the chagrin of the Bush administration, Bolivian president Evo Morales has been going to great lengths to separate his country from its economic dependence on the United States. His efforts to strengthen the Andean Community of Nations and the recent signing of a "People's Trade Treaty" with Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba indicate the desire of Bolivia's Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party government to stand up to Washington by strengthening working economic and political alliances outside of direct U.S. influence. .
UBS edgy over subprime impact on wealth management
UBS will do all it can to contain writedowns on subprime-related exposures because it fears any more big charges could strain capital ratios and harm a hugely successful wealth management business, said analysts. The Swiss bank last week tried to squash speculation it was preparing writedowns of the order of $US8 ($NZ10.69) billion in the fourth quarter, but some investors believe there is more pain to come, though it is likely to be spread over several quarters. The share price of UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, has been reeling since it reported a third-quarter loss at the end of last month – its first in five years – and took a 4.4 billion Swiss franc ($NZ5.26) billion) charge on writedowns. UBS shares were trading at 51.45 Swiss francs on Monday afternoon (Tues morning NZT), down from 61.35 francs on October 30, the day before it announced its third-quarter results.
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-13 06:12 GMT: Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten's long-term IDR affirmed at 'AAA' - Fitch
BANGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Fitch Ratings affirmed Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten's (BNG) long-term issuer default rating 'AAA', short-term IDR 'F1+' and individual 'A', saying these reflect the low risk nature of the bank's activities, its excellent asset quality and strong capital position. They also take into account the relationship BNG has with the Dutch public sector, both in its ownership and in its role as banker to local authorities, the ratings agency said. Besides, credit risk in the bank's loan portfolio is extremely low because most exposures are either granted to, or guaranteed by, local or central government entities, Fitch said. The outlook for the long-term IDR is stable. Fitch also affirmed BNG's support '1' and support rating floor 'AA'. TFN.newsdesk@thomson.com faj/man COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007.
The SNP and the mystery of the vanishing bobbies
THE Scottish Government suffered a major and embarrassing setback yesterday when Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, admitted his long-awaited plan to put an additional 1,000 police on Scotland's streets might not deliver a single extra officer. The SNP came to power in May promising to create 1,000 "new" police officers. .
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