Friday Papers: Geoghegan set to quit HSBC by year-end - other news

Financial Times

* Michael Geoghegan is to step down as chief executive of HSBC at the end of the year, sources said.

* Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, has warned of risks to the economy if banks compete in a “race to the top” to exceed new global capital standards.

* The continuing decrease in volume reported by the US’s largest electronic trading groups has triggered a fear among analysts that the fall in market activity might be more than a seasonal phenomenon.

* Deals and capital raisings in China’s booming financial services sector have outpaced those in the US for the first time since records began in 1995.

* Dubai plans to tap the international capital markets as early as next week with its $1 billion bond issue.

* Mubadala Development Company, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment vehicles, suffered a loss of Dh4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) in the first half of the year.

* Greece is trying to secure more than $7 billion of investment from the Gulf state of Qatar in real estate, energy and tourism.

* Ireland reported on Thursday that gross domestic product fell 1.2% in the three months to the end of June, after a 2.2% rise in the first quarter.

* The composite eurozone purchasing managers’ index, covering manufacturing and service sectors, fell from 56.2 in August to 53.8 in September – the lowest since February.

* Malicious computer worm launched at industrial targets.

* Barack Obama, US president, has pressed Beijing to do more on currency policy, protect intellectual property rights and guarantee “fair treatment” for American companies, at a meeting with Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister.