Caterpillar sells $1.3bn bonds

Caterpillar sells $1.3bn bonds

By Nicole Bullock in New York

Published: September 24 2008 02:47 | Last updated: September 24 2008 02:47

The financial arm of Caterpillar on Tuesday raised $1.3bn in the first large corporate bond sale since the credit markets froze last week.

Corporate financing was expected to pick up in September, but new issuance vanished as liquidity dried up with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the near-collapse of insurer AIG and concern about the future of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

The sale is a step toward reopening the market, but Caterpillar had to offer high yields to raise funding. While capital may be available again, it is expensive, even for healthy companies.

“It says that companies with reasonably successful businesses can still access capital at a price,” said Jason Brady, a portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management.

The deal, which was oversubscribed, was purchased mostly by US investors. Caterpillar is well known in the debt markets and considered to be a safe, steady company which, along with high yields, contributed to the demand.

“I would be surprised if we didn’t see a number of issuers following,” said a person familiar with the transaction. “A lot of people were nervous about being first.”

Caterpillar sold $750m of five-year notes with a risk premium, or spread to comparable Treasury bonds, of 320 basis points and $550m of 10-year debt at 325bps over Treasuries. That translates to yields of more than 6 and 7 per cent, respectively.

Just last month, the company, which makes construction and mining equipment, paid just 175bps over Treasuries to raise $300m of five year notes.

At $1.3bn, the bond sale is Caterpillar’s largest ever, according to Dealogic. Barclays Capital, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch were lead underwriters on the deal.

Liquidity began to dry up in the corporate bond market this summer as banks, nursing huge credit-related losses, pulled back on holding inventories of bonds.

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European banking on borrowed time

By Daniel Gros and Stefano Micossi

Published: September 23 2008 19:49 | Last updated: September 23 2008 19:49

The US financial system is being nationalised. The piecemeal approach followed so far had clearly not been working. Hence the US political system is working overtime to reach a bipartisan agreement on a systemic solution. The centrepiece is already known: the US government is going to buy $700bn (€480bn, £380bn) of the so-called “toxic” assets. More measures are certain to follow as the banks will require recapitalisation to the extent that they make losses. As a result, the US government will soon own a large share of the US banking system. If the details are generous enough, this should be sufficient finally to restore orderly market conditions. Can Europe be far behind?

The synchronised movements in global markets over the last few weeks have shown that contagion works on the way down and on the way up.

But the case of AIG, the US insurer, also shows the importance of another, hidden, link across financial markets, namely massive evasion of regulatory requirements. AIG’s last annual report reveals that it had written coverage for more than $300bn of credit insurance for European banks. The comment by AIG itself on these positions was that they were “for the purpose of providing them with regulatory capital relief rather than risk mitigation in exchange for a minimum guaranteed fee”. Thus, a formal default by AIG would have exposed European banks to large increases in regulatory capital requirements, with possibly devastating effects on their ratings and market confidence. Thus, the US Treasury has saved, inter alia, the European banking system.

The extent of regulatory arbitrage can also be seen in the very large gap between overall leverage ratios and the official regulatory ratios. The dozen largest European banks have now, on average, an overall leverage ratio (shareholders’ equity to total assets) of 35, which has actually increased so far this year, compared with less than 20 for the largest US banks. But at the same time most large European banks also report regulatory leverage ratios of close to 10. This is partly due to the fact that the massive in-house investment banking operations of European banks are subject only to limited regulatory capital requirements. Another part of the explanation must be regulatory arbitrage, for example, through the credit insurance offered by AIG.

Europe’s banks will benefit greatly from the effective nationalisation of the US financial system now being planned, because the larger ones, which all have significant US operations will also benefit from the $700bn bail-out fund. But it remains unclear how many of these assets they still hold in their balance sheets and how volatile their liability base will prove if confidence does not return quickly.

The crucial problem on this side of the Atlantic is that the largest European banks have become not only too big to fail, but also too big to be saved. For example, the total liabilities of Deutsche Bank (leverage ratio over 50!) amount to about €2,000bn (more than Fannie Mae) or more than 80 per cent of the gross domestic product of Germany. This is simply too much for the Bundesbank or even the German state, given that the German budget is bound by the rules of the European Union’s stability pact and the German government cannot order (unlike the US Treasury) its central bank to issue more currency. Similarly, the total liabilities of Barclays of around £1,300bn (leverage ratio 60!) are roughly equivalent to the GDP of the UK. Fortis bank has a leverage ratio of “only” 33, but its liabilities are three times the GDP of its home country of Belgium.

With banks that have outgrown their home turf, national treasuries and regulators in Europe are living on borrowed time: they cannot simply develop “road maps” (the only result of various Ecofin discussions of regulatory reform by finance ministers), but must contemplate a worst-case scenario.

Given that solutions for the largest institutions can no longer be found at the national level it is apparent that the European Central Bank will need to be put in charge as it is the only institution that can issue unlimited amounts of a global reserve currency. The authorities in the UK and Switzerland – which cannot rely on the ECB – can only pray that no accident happens to the giants they have in their own garden.

Daniel Gross is director of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. Stefano Micossi is director of Assonime, a business association and think-tank in Rome

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Turmoil leaves Kuwait a $270m Citi loss

By Andrew England in Abu Dhabi and Roula Khalaf in London

Published: September 24 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 24 2008 03:00

Facing domestic pressure over its stakes in troubled US banks, Kuwait's $200bn sovereign wealth fund yesterday took the unusual step of acknowledging losses in Citigroup, one of its most high profile investments.

Bader al-Saad, managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority, told al-Arabiya television that the fund had lost $270m in Citi but had made no losses on its investment in Merrill Lynch, which has been bought by Bank of America.

In January, KIA invested $5bn in the two US banks.

Mr Saad said the global turmoil was creating investment opportunities abroad - including in the US, Europe and Asia - but said the fund was not in the business of bailing out ailing banks.

Gulf funds were seen as rushing to the aid of distressed US financials this year but recently there have been questions about their losses and calls in some quarters for sovereign entities to invest domestically. Last week, the KIA began investing in the Kuwaiti stock market to support that exchange, which, like other Gulf markets, has plummeted in recent weeks.

Unlike other Gulf states, Kuwait - a US ally - has an active media and parliament renowned for grilling government officials.

"There is concern in the market about how sovereign wealth funds may have suffered, there are also questions from parliament about their losses [the statement] is a way of advising the people . . . and . . .a political message," said a Kuwait-based analyst. "What they were trying to say is our investment strategy is not politically motivated."

Although other Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds have no parliament to account to, their early foray into ailing US financials last year and early this year has put them on the defensive.

Some Gulf bankers say it is likely that more capital will stay in the region as governments and private investors look to invest in emerging markets closer to home, such as Algeria and Libya. "The global crisis reinforced perceptions that it's better to keep your money at home," says one Dubai-based banker.

Bankers say that some US investment banks seeking funds in the Gulf recently were rebuffed, amid growing unease about the fate of Wall Street.

This is not to say sovereign entities will stop looking at western markets - although they are keen not to be seen to be taking advantage of the west's -problems.

Mubadala, one of the Abu Dhabi government's main investment arms, yesterday said it had bought a 50 per cent stake in Kor Hotel Groups, a Los Angeles-based company.

"I think sovereign wealth funds with lots of liquidity and lots of cash and the consequential backing of a cash-rich government are going to remain active," said Philipp Lotter, an analyst at Moody's.

"Certainly you are not going to see Mubadala or any other sovereign entity go out and make a bid for a strategic asset just because they happen to be cheap.

"They are conscious of the political sensitivities [in the west] . . . But that notwithstanding these entities remain very liquid, highly government supported and will identify investment opportunities as they arise."

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EDF acquires British Energy

EDF will take the lead role in development of nuclear power in Britain with the £12.4bn agreed takeover of British Energy, the nuclear generator. EDF has also signed an MoU for Centrica, owner of British Gas, to take a 25% stake in British Energy, although that deal is not likely to be signed for several months. The takeover of British Energy, to be launched on Wednesday in Paris, is EDF’s biggest international expansion and will give it almost all the UK’s nuclear power stations and control over key sites for building more, putting it in pole position for the planned revival of the UK’s nuclear industry. However, the French group has also agreed to sell some of British Energy’s land in Essex, and possibly in Kent or Lancashire, for other companies such as Eon and RWE of Germany to use for building reactors. EDF won over British Energy’s board by raising its bid from the offer that was rejected by top institutional shareholders end-July. The new offer is 774p per share in cash, 9p higher than in July.

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Buffett to take $5bn stake in Goldman

Goldman Sachs is to raise $7.5bn from Warren Buffett and other investors as it begins its transition from Wall Street broker to Federal Reserve-regulated bank holding company. Goldman said late Tuesday that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had reached an agreement to buy $5bn of preferred stock in a private placement and to receive warrants enabling it to purchase another $5bn of common stock. Goldman also said it planned to sell $2.5bn in common stock through a public offer. The deal appears to mark a strategy shift for Buffett, 78, who has avoided investing in Wall Street firms since helping to rescue Salomon Brothers nearly 20 years ago. Under the agreement, the preferred stock will pay Berkshire a dividend of 10%. Although Goldman can buy it back at any time, it would have to pay Berkshire a 10% premium to do so. The warrants have a strike price of $115, well below Goldman’s Tuesday closing price of $125.05. Reuters meanwhile reports that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s third-largest bank, on Wednesday denied a report by Kyodo news agency that it plans to invest several hundred billion yen in Goldman. In a separate report, the FT examines Buffett’s dealings with Wall Street, as does the WSJ.

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The Short View: Shorting ban

By John Authers, Investment Editor

Published: September 23 2008 19:13 | Last updated: September 23 2008 19:13

The market is suffering from buyers’ remorse over the ban on short selling. Last week, many blamed short sellers (who borrow a stock and sell it, to profit from a subsequent fall in price) for the fall in financials.

Word of the ban helped turn sentiment. But a reassessment is under way of whether the short sellers really deserved all the blame, and whether the ban should be sustained.

The case against the shorts rests on two key items of circumstantial evidence. First, the end of the “uptick rule”, which only allowed short selling at points when a share price had just ticked up, came on July 6 last year, just as the S&P 500 peaked.

Last Thursday, it was down 26 per cent since then. Bloomberg data shows that the total proportion of shares on the New York Stock Exchange sold short rose from 3.4 to 4.86 per cent in that time.

Second, turns in the S&P 500 financials, the centre of concern, coincide exactly with bans on shorts. From May 2 until news of a ban on shorting on July 15, the S&P fell 40.2 per cent. It then rose by more than a third. Once that ban was lifted on August 12, it sold off by 23.7 per cent. After news of last week’s ban, it bounced by 34.5 per cent.

So the circumstantial evidence is strong that traders believe short bans matter. But Monday saw renewed sell-offs of financials in New York. London followed suit on Tuesday. This was unaided by shorts.

Then there are worries. Short selling is a way to hedge against a fall in the market – a conservative strategy. Many investors have suddenly been deprived of a way to hedge. There are “synthetic” ways to achieve the same result, notably using options. But do they have the capacity to deal with the likely influx of funds as investors look for new ways to achieve the old result?

Shorts were only a part of the problem last week. The ban on them creates new problems.

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The Short View: Doubts over Paulson plan

By John Authers, Investment Editor

Published: September 22 2008 22:02 | Last updated: September 22 2008 22:02

By the close on Monday, US stocks had sold back down to their levels of last Thursday, erasing most of their gains since news leaked that Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, was floating a plan to bail out the "toxic" securities held by US financial services companies.

This was more than cancelling out one day's worth of gains in the stock market. Traders' fears have moved emphatically from the 1930s back to the 1970s.

Pre-Paulson plan, the fear was of multiple banking collapses. This is what happened in the wake of the 1929 Great Crash. That fear has abated.

But attention has now turned to the cost of the Paulson plan. It entails a big increase in the US government deficit. The extra borrowing could crowd out the private sector. Or the US could raise taxes and cut spending - a combination that will depress economic activity.

Printing money plus depressed economic activity sounds like stagflation, as suffered in the 1970s. And so, sure enough, on Monday there was a record oil rise.

Last Tuesday, benchmark oil futures traded at $90.51. At one point on Monday, they hit $130, a swing of 44 per cent. For context, in the five days after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, oil gained only 40 per cent.

Monday's move had nothing to do with supply and demand in the oil market, much to do with a squeeze of short positions ahead of futures contracts expiring, and a lot to do with Paulson. Fearing inflation's corrosive effect on financial assets, traders bid up all real assets, including silver and gold.

We have been here before. Until July, markets were betting on the "stagflation trade" by buying oil and selling short financials. But that was based on easy monetary policy, or cheaper money from the Federal Reserve. Fed Funds futures barely moved on Monday.

This time, the market is banking on cheap money from the Treasury, not the Fed.

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Iran shipping line shrugs off sanctions threat

By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran

Published: September 23 2008 11:36 | Last updated: September 23 2008 11:36

Iran’s largest shipping company is confident it can protect its business from the impact of US sanctions imposed earlier this month, its managing director says.

The US slapped sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and 18 affiliates earlier this month for allegedly providing logistical support for Iran’s weapons and nuclear programmes and falsifying documents.

The sanctions ban US citizens from carrying out any transactions with the company and freeze any assets under US jurisdiction.

The company has dismissed the US allegations as “baseless” and the sanctions as irrelevant given that Iran has had no shipping in US waters or assets in the US for three decades.

Mohammad-Hossein Daajmar, director of IRISL, did not rule out some increased costs as a result of the US sanctions but doubted the company would face any any decrease in the volume of transactions.

Over 60 per cent of the company’s shipping transactions were with Asian countries, particularly China, he said, adding that he expected his company’s share of inter-Asian trade to increase.

Mr Daajmar said his company would be “flexible” and try different alternatives to avoid the impact of sanctions. “Sanctions can be initially costly because of the need to set up mechanisms [to get around them] but these structures quickly turn into norms and business goes back to normal,” Mr Daajmar told the FT. “It is a struggle but we are ready to fight and get around sanctions through appropriate measures.”

One such measure was to change from US dollars - currently the main currency his company deals with - into other currencies. “Another solution could be more cooperation with foreign shipping companies,” he said.

IRISL also was named in the third round of UN sanctions imposed in March, which stipulated that cargo to and from Iran could be inspected to prevent the transport of “prohibited goods” for Iran’s nuclear and weapons programmes.

Mr Daajmar said his company’s ships had been stopped in international ports for inspection about 10 times since then but insisted that no illegal cargo had been found and that the seized cargos were eventually released.

The IRISL, which claims to be the biggest shipping company in the Middle East, with a fleet of 143 ships, carries about a third of Iran’s imports and exports, which exceeded $70bn last year.

The remainder of Iran’s cargo is carried by companies like the international business conglomerate Moller-Maersk, the French container line CMA CGM, and the Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s second largest container carrier.

IRISL is listed on Iran’s bourse, 20 per cent of which is directly owned by the government, while 51 per cent is held by two big retirement funds and the rest by small shareholders. Earnings of $2bn in net profit last year have made the company one of the top performers on Iran’s bourse in recent months.

However, following the US sanctions move, many shareholders lined up to sell shares and the company closed down its index. The official explanation was that the company wanted to reassess next year’s profits in the light of a higher-than-expected rise in the value of its shares. However, traders at the bourse suspected the company feared a collapse in its share price.

Mr Daajmar said the sanctions would not have a significant impact on shares and that any psychological impact would be offset by the high profitability of the company. Ali Rahmani, the managing director of the bourse, also doubted sanctions would have “any significant impact on the company or the bourse”.

The company re-opened its index on Sunday and its shares fell about 15 per cent compared to their value the day before sanctions were imposed. IRISL’s shares continued to fall on Tuesday by over 2 per cent.

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De Beers’ old mines polish Petra’s sparkle

By William MacNamara

Published: September 23 2008 22:48 | Last updated: September 23 2008 22:48

Independent diamond mining, until recently a contradiction in terms in a market mainly controlled by De Beers, expanded its niche yesterday as Petra Diamonds swung to profitability and projected exponential production growth.

South Africa-based Petra finished a transformative year in which it bought two old diamond mines from De Beers that the larger company considered at the end of their useful life spans.

A first full year of production at another former De Beers asset – the Koffiefontein mine in South Africa – drove pre-tax profits of $9.3m (£5m) in the year to June 30, compared with a loss of $22.3m the prior year. Revenue more than quadrupled from $17m to $77m.

The company has expanded by applying to diamond mining a model seen across metals mining in the high price environment: the re-opening or expansion of late-life mines. In a different era this might be considered uneconomical but in gold and nickel as much as diamonds, rising imbalances between supply and demand make old mines attractive.

“There is an opportunity here for Petra to be part of a new breed of mid-tier diamond miners,” said Chris Rollison, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. “De Beers is winding down in terms of market influence, having effectively lost its monopoly position in the past 10 years, and there are many areas of its South African operations that can be spun out to smaller companies,” he added.

DiamondsHaving bought the Cullinan and Kimberley underground mines during the fiscal year and the Williamson mine this month – all of them one-time De Beers assets that yielded some of the world’s most valuable gemstones – Petra is now sitting on a diamond resource base of 256m carats worth an estimated $27bn.

With the acquired mines coming on stream the company expects this year to push diamond production beyond the 1m carat mark, compared with 200,000 carats last year. In comparison, De Beers produced 51m carats in 2007.

“This is still a market very much dominated by De Beers and [Russian diamond miner] Alrosa,” said Johan Dieppenaar, chief executive.

“But it is a good time for newer players like us: the majors cannot meet all of the rising demand for diamonds, and as they satisfy fewer of their sightholders, these people come to us for rough diamonds.”

A nascent middle tier of diamond producers might include Petra, Gem Diamonds, and Canadian miner Harry Winston, said Mr Rollison at BMO. Petra shares firmed ¼p to 99¾p.

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Eclipse lands Russian jet deal

By Kevin Done in London

Published: September 23 2008 20:00 | Last updated: September 23 2008 20:00

Eclipse Aviation, the troubled US maker of four-seat very light private jets, said it had reached an agreement to begin assembly of the aircraft in Russia from 2010.

The group said the supervisory board of the Russian state bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), chaired by the Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, had approved construction of a plant in Ulyanovsk to assemble the Eclipse 500.

Eclipse said on Tuesday that VEB had announced it expected to finance the $205m project in full. VEB and the Ulyanovsk regional administration would be among the shareholders, and the plant was planned to have a capacity to produce 800 jets a year.

Eclipse said it had confirmed that the export of jet components to Russia complied with US and Canadian export regulations.

Production at the group’s US plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, would continue after the start of the Russian facility.

By mid-September this year, just over 150 jets had been delivered, fewer than planned.

Eclipse has been dogged by production and technology problems since it finally began deliveries at the end of 2006, and the aircraft certification has been under review by a US congressional committee.

The group was forced to cut its employee numbers by 38 per cent last month with the loss of 650 jobs, leaving a workforce of 1,100. It said the cutback was aimed at achieving “financial stability as soon as possible”.

Eclipse’s development generated enormous publicity for the launch of very light jets, which some analysts believe will transform the bottom end of the business aviation market.

The new ranges of VLJs, which started coming on to the market in the past two years, are being used to create new business models for so-called air taxi operators, but the sector was hit last weekend by the demise of DayJet in the US, previously the biggest customer of Eclipse.

DayJet, the world’s first operator of a “per-seat, on-demand” private jet service, said it had ceased operations until further notice and had cut most of its jobs after failing to secure critical refinancing. It had taken delivery of 28 Eclipse jets.

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Citigroup, Barclays Propose Debt Plan to Argentina (Update4)

By Drew Benson and Lester Pimentel
Enlarge Image/Details

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG proposed a debt-restructuring plan to Argentina that may help the country raise cash as declining commodity exports curb tax revenue, a government official said.

The proposal aims to get bondholders who refused to participate in Argentina's 2005 debt renegotiation to swap their defaulted securities and to put up fresh cash to buy new debt, said the official, who asked not to be identified because he isn't authorized to speak for the administration.

``It's indicative that they are feeling a little less secure about their financing,'' said Edwin Gutierrez, who manages about $5.5 billion of emerging-market debt, including defaulted Argentine bonds, for Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in London. He declined to say whether he'd participate in a restructuring.

Argentina's defaulted bonds gained on speculation the government will make an offer to creditors soon. Defaulted dollar bonds climbed more than 1 cent on the dollar to about 29 cents after rising 1.5 cents yesterday, according to Exotix Ltd., a London-based brokerage that specializes in distressed securities. Creditors holding about a quarter of the $95 billion in defaulted debt rejected Argentina's 30 cents-on-the-dollar offer in 2005.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said in New York yesterday she's considering a restructuring proposal, a reversal after she and her predecessor, her husband Nestor Kirchner, said for years they wouldn't negotiate with the holdouts who rejected the initial offer.

There's ``a bit more pragmatism coming to the fore with team Kirchner,'' Gutierrez said.

`Good Faith' Negotiations

The three banks that made the restructuring proposal have told the government that at least half of the defaulted bondholders would take part in such a proposal, the official said. Today's market price on the debt of 28.75 cents reflects investors' estimates on how much the government will offer, said Jonathan Binder, who manages more than $2 billion of emerging- market assets at INTL Consilium LLC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Elliott Associates LP, a New York-based hedge fund, said in a statement today that ``no proposal will succeed'' unless Argentina ``makes a realistic offer based on its ability to pay, rather than what it feels like paying.'' Elliott said it's a ``major Argentine creditor.''

``If the Kirchner administration is truly serious about rejoining the world and regaining access to the international capital markets, the government must negotiate with creditors in good faith, rather than dictate terms, as they did in the 2005 exchange,'' Elliott said in the statement.

Record Default

The 30-cent payout in 2005 was the harshest restructuring by any country since World War II. Argentina carried out the biggest sovereign default ever in 2001 after three years of economic contraction.

Lawsuits from the bond holdouts have blocked Argentina from issuing debt abroad, putting a strain on the country's finances at a time when a slowdown in growth threatens to curb tax revenue. The government would use cash raised from the restructuring to help meet its 2009 financing needs, the official said.

The push for an accord with holdouts comes after Fernandez announced on Sept. 2 that the government would repay $6.7 billion owed to the Paris Club group of creditors. Fernandez said she'd use central bank reserves, which totaled $47 billion as of Sept. 19, to pay the debt, which has also been in default since 2001.

``Argentina is close to reaching a definitive normalization with the world,'' Fernandez, 55, said during a speech yesterday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Slowing Growth

Commodities, which account for more than half of the South American country's exports, have sunk 20 percent from a record high on July 2 amid concern a global financial crisis will slow growth, according to the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Commodity Index.

Argentine growth will slow to 6 percent this year and 3.3 percent in 2009 after averaging 8.8 percent over the past five years, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of eight economists.

``I doubt in this market environment that Argentina would offer a deal that most investors would consider attractive,'' said Binder. He said he participated in the 2005 restructuring and holds no Argentine defaulted debt now. ``I've never known the Argentines to be generous.''

Peter Truell, a spokesman with Barclays, Ted Meyer, a spokesman with Deutsche Bank, and Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman with Citigroup, declined to comment. All three are based in New York.

Congressional Approval

Argentina's peso was little changed today, at 3.0989 per dollar, after surging 0.5 percent yesterday following Fernandez's speech in New York.

The cost of protecting bonds issued by Argentina rose today for the first time since Sept. 17. The country's five-year credit default swaps climbed 17 basis points, or 0.17 percentage point, to 8.97 percentage points, according to Bloomberg data. That means it costs $897,000 to protect $10 million of Argentine debt from default.

Credit-default swaps, contracts conceived to protect bondholders against default, pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.

A new offer to restructure the defaulted debt would have to be approved by Congress. Kirchner signed a law blocking the government from making a second offer to creditors during restructuring negotiations in 2005. He told creditors that January to ``enter now or it will be your problem.''

Binder at INTL Consilium said that many bond holdouts may balk at having to put up fresh money in a new offering.

``You would be lending more money to Argentina,'' Binder said. ``I'm not sure why in a market environment where there is no liquidity you would do something like that. It would seem unlikely.''

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Gazprom, Yamal-Nenets Area sign cooperation agreement for 2009

23.09.2008, 23.57

MOSCOW, September 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area have signed a cooperation agreement for 2009, Gazprom’s press service said on Tuesday.

The document envisages development of the gas-supply network in the autonomous area, as well as cooperation in the capital construction, transport, tax and social policies, the press service said.

The document, which was signed in development of the general agreement between Gazprom and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, envisions enhancement of cooperation, including use of modern renewable energy resources, promotion of distributed generation resources and environmentally friendly technologies at gas supply facilities and broader use of natural gas as an engine fuel, the press service said.

The sides also agreed that in 2009 Gazprom will continue construction of gas pipeline branches to the city of Salekhard, the town of Labytnangi and the settlement of Kharp in the format of a state investment project and start to implement a project “Gas pipeline to Urengoi,” the press service said.

The sides plan to continue interaction within a program aimed at the comprehensive development of Yamal’s deposits and neighbouring offshore zones.

In 2009, the sides will continue to transfer housing funds, public utilities and socio-cultural entities of Gazprom subsidiaries to the Yamal-Nenets municipalities, the press service said.

Gazprom promised to hire local workers, including representatives of indigenous people, for servicing the above-mentioned sites, the press service said.

The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area is the main gas producing region of Gazprom.

The company produces over 90 percent of its gas, which is about 83 percent of the country’s gas production, the press service said.

In 2007, Gazprom supplied about 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas, while this year’s deliveries are planned at more than 1.7 billion cubic metres, the press service said.

As for diesel fuel, gasoline and liquefied natural gas, Gazprom supplied 40,600 tonnes in 2007 and plans to deliver 60,000 in 2008, the press service said.

In 2007, Gazprom’s investments in the development of the gas supply network in the autonomous area amounted to 100 million roubles (USD 1 = RUB 25.01) and were used for the design and the initial stage of construction of the gas pipeline branches with a total length of 43 kilometres, the press service said.

This year, 140 million roubles will be disbursed for the further construction works.

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N Korea-Russia railway reconstruction to be started Oct 3-official

23.09.2008, 15.46

VLADIVOSTOK, September 23 (Itar-Tass) - Reconstruction of the railway section between North Korea’s port Rajin and Russia’s station Khasan in the Primorye territory will be launched on October 3, press secretary of the Vladivostok branch of the Far Eastern Railway Alexander Artamonov told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The Russian and North Korean leadership in 2001 signed the Moscow declaration reflecting the sides’ agreement to create a railway transport corridor linking the North and South of the Korean Peninsula with Russia and Europe. In April 2008, President of OAO RZD (Russian Railways) company Vladimir Yakunin and North Korean Railways Minister Kim Yong-sam signed in Moscow a cooperation agreement. The sides agreed to jointly implement the Khasan-Rajin pilot project that includes reconstruction of the railway section Khasan (Tumangang)-Rajin, construction of a container terminal at Rajin port, as well as the following exploitation of this infrastructure. With this end in view the sides agreed to set up a joint venture.

The Company’s property was formed by transferring to the charter capital of Russian Railways the balance sheet assets of 987 state-owned organisations from federal rail transport.

The Charter capital is 1,535.7 billion roubles consisting of 1,535,700,000 ordinary bearer shares with a nominal value of 1,000 roubles each. The Russian Federation is the sole shareholder of Russian Railways.

A delegation of Russian Railways visited Pyongyang on March 11-15, 2008, during which the two sides discussed the technical issues related to the establishment of the joint venture and agreed to implement the projects as soon as possible.

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Russian, Venezuelan oil, gas companies may create consortium - Sechin

22.09.2008, 15.06

MOSCOW, September 22 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian and Venezuelan oil and gas companies may create a consortium to produce hydrocarbons in Latin America, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said on Monday, as he briefed the Cabinet’s presidium on the results of his last week’s working trip, which took him to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

“With the participation of oil companies a consortium may be created for operations in Venezuela and other countries of that region,” he said.

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Group of underage Russian skinheads sentenced for building 'new paradise'
23.09.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/history/106430-skinheads-0

The Moscow City Court brought down a sentence on the controversial case filed against a group of teenagers. The teenagers were arrested in the course of the investigation of the murder of a well-known chess player from the Republic of Yakutia, Sergei Nikolayev. The chess player was brutally murdered a year ago. Thirteen young men found themselves in the dock, nearly all of them underage individuals.

It turned out during the investigation that the members of the group were involved in another crime, as well as more than a dozen of other attacks committed against the people of non-Russian appearance.

All the accused were found guilty on all counts and were sentenced to different terms in prison from three to ten years. The only young man aged 18 at the moment of the crime was considered to be the leader of the nationalist group and was thus sentenced to the longest prison term.

The youngest members of the group of skinheads apologized to their victims. Many others did not even speak about remorse and were rather impudent in their behavior at court. When the judge read out the sentence (ten years of colony) to the group leader, Ivan Kolinichenko, his associates openly congratulated him. When they were convoyed out of the court room, some of them yelled: “We will build the new paradise, Sieg Heil!”

The investigation of the controversial case began on October 20, 2007 , when chess player Sergei Nikolayev, a native of Yakutia, was beaten to death. The Moscow police originally believed that the chess player had fallen a victim of an incidental street fight. It became known later that the man was killed by nationalists, who had been rampaging that night attacking people of non-Russian looks on their way.

According to investigators, the young men agreed to meet and conduct an action that day after a game of football. When they saw Sergei Nikolayev passing them by, they began to bully him. The man did not pay attention to them and continued walking, but the youngsters assaulted them and stabbed him several times.

Afterwards, the young men proceeded along the street and came across a janitor, a native of Uzbekistan , Galib Kabilov. He was also brutally beaten and stabbed. Several other people of non-Russian appearance were hospitalized in Moscow with various injuries that night too.

The teens were filming all of their deeds on their cell phone cameras to post and share them online.

Thirteen people – nearly all of them college students aged between 14-17 years – were detained. Most of them came from well-to-do families.

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日銀、ドル供給　初の入札

　日銀は24日午前10時40分から短期金融市場で初のドル資金供給オペの入札を実施した。同時に、即日で1兆5000億円の資金を供給する公開市場操作（オペ）を実施した。日銀が即日で資金供給するのは米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズが経営破綻してから6営業日連続で、総額は14兆円に達した。円・ドル双方で潤沢に資金を供給することで金融不安の広がりを防ぐ狙いがある。

　ドル資金供給オペはリーマン破綻後の日米欧の中央銀行の協調に基づく。返済期間は1カ月で金額は300億ドル。金融機関が応札できる最低利回り水準は海外のドル短期金融市場の実勢である1.940％。入札結果は25日朝に公表する。

　24日の短期金融市場では外国銀行が無担保コール翌日物取引が0.55―0.60％と、日銀の政策目標（0.5％）を上回る水準で取引が成立している。米国で政府による市場の安定化策や大手金融機関の増資などが相次いで明らかになっているが、国内では金融不安を背景に一部の外国銀行などが資金を調達しにくい状況が続いている。(14:02)

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大企業景況感、低迷続く　７―９月法人調査　マイナス10.2に

　内閣府と財務省が24日発表した7―9月期の法人企業景気予測調査によると、大企業全産業の景況判断指数はマイナス10.2と3・四半期連続でマイナスとなった。過去最悪だった前期（マイナス15.2）からは改善したものの、2期続けて2ケタのマイナス。原材料高や消費の停滞で景況感は悪い。10―12 月期以降の予測もマイナス見通しで、企業の景況感は低迷が長引きそうだ。

　景況判断指数は前期と比べた景況が「上昇」と答えた企業の割合から「下降」の割合を引いて算出する。今回の調査は8月25日時点。米証券リーマン・ブラザーズの経営破綻など金融市場の混乱は反映していない。(11:09)

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法人実効税率、日本が７年連続最高　ＯＥＣＤの30カ国中

　日本の法人税の実効税率が経済協力開発機構（ＯＥＣＤ）加盟の30カ国中、7年連続で最も高いことが民間の調査でわかった。日本の国と地方を合わせた実効税率は40.7％。経済産業省や日本経団連などは引き下げを求めており、こうした声が一層強くなりそうだ。

　調査は大手会計事務所のＫＰＭＧインターナショナル（スイス）が今年4月時点で実施した。日本に次いで高いのは米国で40.0％。最も低いのはアイルランドで12.5％となっている。(08:02)

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野村、リーマンの欧州・中東の投資銀部門も買収

　野村ホールディングスは23日、破綻した米大手証券リーマン・ブラザーズの欧州と中東地域の主要事業を買収することでリーマンと基本合意に達したと発表した。前日にはアジア・太平洋事業の買収を決定。北米を除くリーマンの主な事業基盤を引き継ぎ、高度なノウハウや多様な顧客層を手中に収める。

　買収する対象は英国、ドイツ、ロシア、アラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ）、クウェートなど10カ国で展開するリーマンの欧州・中東事業のうち株式売買、Ｍ＆Ａ（合併・買収）助言を担う投資銀行業務などの主要な事業部門。約2500人の従業員も引き継ぐ。買収を巡っては英銀大手のバークレイズなどと競っていたが、野村が同日までに競り勝ち、買収を決めた。買収価格は非公表としているが、数百億円規模とみられる。

　野村はリーマンの事業基盤を引き継ぎ、欧州・中東市場での存在感を高める。特に中東産油国や欧州の大手機関投資家などの顧客網を生かし、世界各地の株式売買の取り次ぎや大型のＭ＆Ａの実現につなげる。(23日 23:09)

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野村、欧州勢を追撃　リーマン部門買収で営業網一気に拡大

　野村ホールディングスが海外事業の中核と位置付ける欧州でリーマン・ブラザーズの主要部門を買収する。手にするのはこれまで野村の手に届かなかった欧州全域のネットワーク。北米を除くリーマンの投資銀行業務を一気に獲得することで世界での存在感を高めることになるが、高度なノウハウを持つリーマンの人材を引き留められるかどうかが課題となる。

　野村はロンドンを中心にした欧州金融市場で日系の金融機関としては圧倒的な存在感を示すが、欧米勢に比べると規模で見劣りしていた。主力の株式の取次業務でも野村の軸足は日本株。リーマンの株式部門の買収によって欧州株の営業力を拡大する。(07:13)

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京セラ、結婚指輪の新ブランド　プラチナ風素材を開発

　京セラは、婚約・結婚指輪の新ブランド「Ｆｉｒｓｔ　Ｉｎｔｅｎｔｉｏｎ（ファーストインテンション）」の販売を10月3日に始める。同社が開発したプラチナ風素材などを使った結婚指輪など28種類を直営店の「クレサンベール」5店舗や宝飾品専門店で販売する。発売から1年間で2億円の売り上げを目指す。

　結婚指輪には、プラチナの含有量を50.5％に抑えながら質感や傷への強さをプラチナと同等に高めた新素材「ファーストプラチナ」を使用。4万6200―7万5600円程度と既存ブランドよりも買いやすい価格に設定した。

　婚約指輪はプラチナ製で、中心価格帯は25万―35万円程度。98面体にカットしたダイヤモンドなどを選べる。(10:06)

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富士通、欧州のコンピューター合弁を完全子会社に

　富士通と独シーメンスは欧州でのコンピューター合弁会社を富士通の完全子会社にする方向で調整に入った。富士通はシーメンスが保有する50％の株式すべてを買い取る方針を伝えており、年内の合意を目指す。海外部門の収益力強化が急務の富士通は経営権を完全に握り事業の再構築を加速。採算が悪化している個人向けパソコンから撤退し高収益の企業向けに特化するなど、欧州事業の見直しを進める。

　両社は1999年10月、オランダに「富士通シーメンスコンピューターズ」を設立、欧州でのパソコンとサーバー事業を統合した。約1万人の社員を抱え、 2008年3月期の売上高は66億ユーロ（約1兆200億円）、税引き前利益は1億ユーロ。富士通の07年のパソコン販売台数は約890万台で世界6位。このうち富士通シーメンスが約600万台を占める。(10:06)

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伊藤忠、ブラジルでバイオ燃料を合弁生産　米穀物メジャーと

　伊藤忠商事はブラジルでガソリン代替燃料となるバイオエタノール事業に参入する。米国の穀物メジャー、ブンゲと合弁会社を2社設立し、生産体制を整える。合弁2社の新規投資額は計8億ドル（約850億円）に達する見通し。温暖化ガスの排出削減につながるバイオエタノールの需要は世界的に拡大。伊藤忠は高い生産ノウハウを持つ穀物メジャーと組むことで早期に安定調達体制を確保、将来は日本や欧米向けにも輸出する。

　伊藤忠はまず、ブンゲが保有するブラジルのバイオエタノール生産会社、アグロインダストリアル・サンタ・ジュリアナＳ．Ａ（ミナス・ジェライス州）に20％出資することで合意した。(07:00)

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住友電工、アルミ使いワイヤハーネスを４割軽く

　住友電気工業はアルミニウムを使ったワイヤハーネス（組み電線）を開発した。電線の芯を従来の銅から、比重が銅の3分の1のアルミに変更。車1台当たりのワイヤハーネスの重量は40％軽くなり、燃費性能の大幅な向上が見込めるという。第1弾として2011年にトヨタ自動車に納入する。

　導電性能を高めるためアルミ製ワイヤハーネスの外径は銅製に比べ20―25％太くなるが、アルミは素材自体の比重が軽いため全体の軽量化を実現した。独自技術を生かし、自動車向けにサビ対策など耐腐食性も向上させた。(07:00)

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東急セキュリティ、高齢者生活支援サービスを提供

　警備サービスの東急セキュリティ（東京・渋谷）は安否確認や防犯相談など高齢者の生活を支援するサービス「シニアセキュリティ」を10月15日に始める。渋谷区など東急沿線地区が対象で、従来の警備サービスを契約しなくても利用できる。寝室やトイレなどに緊急ボタンと赤外線センサーを取り付け、利用者が緊急ボタンを押したり、センサーが20時間以上利用者の動きを感知しなかったりした場合に警備員が駆けつける。

　サービスの利用には4万2000円の工事費のほか、月額4515円の料金がかかる。まず3年間で1000件の契約を目指す。(07:00)

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三浦元社長の上訴棄却…身柄移送「いつでも可能」

　１９８１年の米ロサンゼルス銃撃事件で、米自治領サイパンで拘置中の元会社社長、三浦元社長（６１）＝日本では無罪確定＝側による人身保護請求の上訴審が２３日、サイパンの最高裁で開かれ、最高裁は元社長の上訴を棄却、１５日に出したロスへの身柄移送停止の決定を取り消した。最高裁は「現時点で移送はいつでも可能」としている。

　弁護側は２４日午前、再び最高裁に移送を停止するよう申し立て、それが退けられた場合でも連邦裁判所への上訴などを行う方針。このため、直ちに移送手続きが始まるかどうかは不明だ。（共同）

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農地漂流：ダミー法人、宅地用に買い集め　行政チェック、形骸化
　◇計画頓挫、土地は荒れ

　千葉県酒々井町で東京の不動産会社が農業生産法人を作り、宅地造成用に農地を買い集めていたことが分かった。農地は農地法で農家と農業生産法人しか所有できないため、法人をダミーとして利用した形。造成計画の頓挫で、買い集められた農地の多くは耕作放棄地となった。同町農業委員会は法人の設立や農地購入を許可しており、農業委のチェックが形骸（けいがい）化している実態も浮かんだ。【井上英介、奥山智己】

　不動産会社「昭苑都市開発」（東京都港区、９７年経営破綻（はたん））が７７年に設立した農業生産法人「昭苑ファーム」。登記簿によると、ファームは清算中だが、今も水田１・３ヘクタールと畑０・２ヘクタールを所有している。

　昭苑都市開発は、ＪＲ成田線酒々井駅そばの上郷地区で６３ヘクタールの宅地造成を計画した。８０年代から計９ヘクタールの農地を買収、農業の担い手以外は農地を所有できないため、所有権移転の仮登記をつけた。

　ファームも並行して買収を進め、町農業委の許可を得て所有権を登記。しかし、開発計画は造成前に頓挫した。

　ファームの運営を担った昭苑都市開発の元社員によると、当初は観葉植物などを栽培する目的で設立された。しかし「途中で内実を失い、やがて土地集めの道具となった」。別の元社員は「仮登記では相続による地権者の分散など不都合が生じる。農業生産法人なら所有権を登記できるので有利だった」とメリットを説明する。

　ファームの農地購入を許可したことについて、同町農業委は「農地法に基づく許可申請を受け、書類などに不備がなかった」と説明。内実を失っていたことについては「日常的なチェックは農地パトロールなどで行うが、この件での具体的な記録は残っていない」としている。

　昭苑都市開発の破綻後、買収した農地計１０・５ヘクタールは新潟中央銀行系列の不動産企業に転売された。しかし、同行と関連企業も９９年破綻。千葉県柏市の不動産会社に転売され、仮登記がついているが、開発の予定はない。

　上郷地区では良質のコシヒカリが取れ、ブランド化を目指す動きがあった。地区の水田２５ヘクタールのうち仮登記分が３割を占め、その多くが荒れている。

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カーボンナノホーン：がんの光線力学療法に応用、腫瘍消滅

　毛髪の太さの１万分の１という極小の炭素集合体「カーボンナノホーン」にがんの光線力学療法の治療薬を詰め、患部に注射して治療を施すことでマウスの腫瘍（しゅよう）をほぼ消滅させることに、産業技術総合研究所と藤田保健衛生大などが成功した。「容器」のナノホーン自体がレーザーを吸収して高温になり、がん細胞を殺し光線力学療法との相乗効果を高めたという。新薬として開発を目指す。米科学アカデミー紀要電子版で２３日発表した。

　光線力学療法は、光を受けると活性酸素を出す物質を患部に集め、レーザー光を照射し活性酸素でがん細胞を死滅させる治療。研究チームは、太さ２～５ナノメートル（ナノは１０億分の１）、長さ４０～５０ナノメートルの角笛形をしたナノホーンの中に光感受性物質「亜鉛フタロシアニン」を入れた。マウスの腫瘍に注射し、毎日１５分間ずつレーザー光を照射したところ、１０日後に腫瘍が消えたという。

　黒色のナノホーンは、光を吸収しやすいため周囲の温度が約４０度に高まり、がん細胞を死滅させる「温熱療法」の効果を発揮する。それぞれ単独で注射した場合は、消滅には至らなかった。

　産総研の湯田坂（ゆださか）雅子・研究チーム長（物理化学）は「ナノホーンは体内に長くとどまる性質があるため、長期毒性の有無を調べたり、治療後に体外へ排出する工夫が今後の課題だ」と話している。【山田大輔】

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Hong Kong Bank Mobbed By Savers
SkyNews
By Sky News SkyNews - 12 minutes ago

Thousands of savers mobbed branches of Hong Kong's third largest bank amid panic that exposure to fallen giants Lehman Brothers and AIG might bring the business down.
(Advertisement)

The Bank of East Asia, which has branches in London and Birmingham, looked in danger of becoming the latest casualty of the global financial crisis as crowds scrambled to withdraw their cash.

The drama came just days after the company revised its earnings downwards by almost 12% after it found that one of its workers had buried losses from an unauthorised trade.

Police were called in to control the crowds after text messages flashed across the city warning the bank was unstable as it held a large number of assets linked to the failed Wall Street bank and the troubled insurance firm.

But BEA and the city's financial authorities moved quickly to rebuff the accusations, insisting the bank was in a solid financial position.

"It has come to the notice of The Bank of East Asia (BEA)...that malicious rumours have been circulated questioning the stability of the bank," the bank said in a statement.

"The management of BEA hereby states in the strongest possible terms that such rumours have no basis in fact. The management further confirms that the bank's financial position is sound and stable."

Branches across the city were beset by throngs of customers.

Up to 400 savers, many of them elderly, had to be held back as they battled to get inside one branch of BEA in the south of Hong Kong island before it closed.

Bank deputy chief executive Joseph Pang said there had been more withdrawals than usual but the situation was "manageable".

The bank's statement said BEA's outstanding exposure was £29m to Lehman and £3.5m dollars to AIG.

It also put BEA's total consolidated assets at £27.5bn as of June 30.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the city's de facto central bank, insisted the banking system was "safe and sound".

The bank's chairman, tycoon David Li, is a member of one of Hong Kong's most powerful families.

His grandfather founded the Bank of East Asia in 1918 and it is now one of the most prominent Hong Kong lenders on mainland China.

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タクシン元首相、サッカークラブ売却　資産没収に危機感

2008年9月24日20時12分

　【バンコク＝柴田直治】タイのタクシン元首相が２３日、イングランド・プレミアリーグのマンチェスター・シティーを、アラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ）の投資家グループに売却した。買収から１年余りで２００億円以上の利ざやを得たが、母国では資産没収の瀬戸際で「経済的苦境」を売却理由にあげた。元首相の資金繰りはタイの政局にも大きな影を落としている。

　元首相は昨年６月に同クラブを買収。英紙は「８千万ポンド（１５６億円）で買収し、２億ポンド（３９０億円）で売った」と伝えた。クラブのホームページで元首相は「この間に私の財政状況は変わってしまった」と告白。８月、汚職防止法違反罪などの裁判に出廷せず英国に亡命申請した元首相は、約７００億バーツ（２２００億円）の資産がタイ国内で凍結中。その資産が没収される可能性が高くなったことを指すとみられる。

　元首相は与党・国民の力党（ＰＰＰ）の事実上のオーナーで、膨大な私財を投じてきた。サマック前首相が憲法裁判所から失職を言い渡された後、元首相はロンドンから党内各派閥の長に電話してサマック氏再指名を指示したとされるが、造反者が続出。次に推したソムチャイ首相にも異論が出た。「元首相から十分な資金が期待出来ないとの観測が広がった結果だろう」（外交筋）。

　ＰＰＰ党員の一部は２１日、新党「プアタイ」を設立。東北部の議員らの派閥は別の党の設立を検討中と伝えられている。金の切れ目が縁の切れ目で、次期総選挙で「タクシン王国」の分裂は避けられないとの見方が強まっている。

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台湾の李登輝元総統、尖閣諸島は「日本のもの」と明言

　沖縄を訪問している台湾の李登輝元総統は24日、仲井真弘多・沖縄県知事らとの昼食会で、馬英九現総統が主権を主張している尖閣諸島を「日本のものだ」と明言した。馬総統が主権問題を巡って悪化した日台関係の修復に動いているさなかだけに、李氏の発言が台湾で波紋を広げれば事態が複雑化する可能性もある。

　尖閣を巡っては6月に台湾遊漁船の沈没事件が発生。台湾の巡視船が日本の領海内に侵入する事態に発展し、日台関係の悪化につながった。

　馬氏は事件後、日本重視の姿勢を強調しており、19日の日本メディアとの記者会見では主権問題の棚上げと尖閣諸島近海の共同開発を日本政府に呼びかけたばかり。27日には側近の馮寄台氏が台北駐日経済文化代表処代表（大使）に着任する予定で、日台関係修復の動きを加速することを狙っていた。