Tuesday Papers: Beijing's renminbi move sets positive tone - other news

Financial Times

* Following China’s decision to allow the renminbi to appreciate the FTSE All World equity index is up 0.6 per cent; the S&P 500 on Wall Street closed down 0.4 per cent, after an early rise of 1.2 per cent; the FTSE Asia-Pacific index climbed 2.6 per cent while the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 per cent.

* The US Securities & Exchange Commission on Monday accused a boutique investment bank, ICP Asset Management, of defrauding investors in collateralised debt obligations.

* Prudential’s meeting with Fidelity, a leading investor, was “cordial”, with no direct demand for any resignations, the company said.

* Leading UK construction groups are turning to banks to ease supply chain pressure.

* People’s Bank of China on Monday said it would allow non-financial companies such as Alibaba, China's leading e-commerce company, to offer online payment services.

* The Financial Services Authority fined a small interdealer broker, Vantage Capital Markets, £700,000 for allowing a so-called consultant to perform an important role without its approval.

* The Association of Corporate Treasurers has rebuffed proposals by a group of leading European institutional investors to standardise covenants used in bond issues as “extreme”.

* Bob Diamond, president of Barclays, testified on Monday that the UK bank was not guaranteed huge gains in its acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ US brokerage.

* Germany has warned that a failure to reduce public debts could trigger another worldwide economic crisis.

* EU edges towards tougher economic rules; more rigourous surveillance of national budgets, closer attention to debt levels and the development of a scoreboard to monitor trends in competitiveness were all agreed last week at a short summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.

* Trichet has put himself on a collision course with the US by arguing strongly that tighter fiscal policies are the best way to foster growth in industrialised economies.