News from Reuters

CA-BUSINESS Summary

06/10/08

Regulators scramble to shore up banking system

BEIJING (Reuters) - Three more European governments offered blanket bank deposit guarantees before shell-shocked markets open on Monday, as regulators from Washington to Seoul scrambled to contain the deepest financial crisis in 80 years. For its part, the U.S. Federal Reserve is pushing Citigroup Inc and rival Wells Fargo & Co to compromise over their competing bids for hobbled U.S. bank Wachovia Corp that could result in them carving up its assets.

Fed moves to broker deal for Wachovia: sources

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is brokering discussions between Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc over which of the banks will buy Wachovia Corp's assets, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The Fed is pushing the two banks to compromise by potentially carving up Wachovia between them, the Wall Street Journal reported. Wachovia, the sixth-largest U.S. bank, has been hobbled by the credit crisis but has an attractive branch network.

Oil falls over 3 percent to $91, crisis may dampen demand

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled more than 3 percent amid a commodities-wide rout on Monday, falling for a fourth day as traders feared efforts to contain a growing credit crisis would fail to stave off a sharper decline in oil demand. After Friday's passage of a landmark U.S. $700 billion bailout bill seemed to quell, for now, weeks of U.S.-centered turmoil, the focus shifted to Europe where officials scrambled at the weekend to save three banks and offered different ways to soothe the frayed nerves of investors and savers.

Eli Lilly set to buy ImClone for $6.1 billion: sources

BOSTON (Reuters) - ImClone Systems Inc has agreed to be acquired by Eli Lilly and Co for about $6.1 billion after rebuffing a sweetened takeover offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb , sources familiar with the situation said on Monday. The agreement, which values ImClone at $70 per share, has been approved by the boards of both ImClone and Eli Lilly, sources said. ImClone shares closed on Friday at $64.96.

BNP clinches Fortis' Belgian bank arm

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - BNP Paribas took control of the Belgian and Luxembourg businesses of troubled financial group Fortis on Sunday in a complex rescue that will make Belgium the French bank's biggest shareholder. The deal was the most spectacular cross-border rescue since the U.S.-born credit crisis swept into Europe last month, upending banks and rattling savers' confidence.

UBS chairman to earn less than $8.8 million: report

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS AG's chairman, Peter Kurer, will earn less than 10 million Swiss francs ($8.83 million) this year, he told Swiss newspaper Sonntag on Sunday. That would compare to a reported salary of 26 million francs for Kurer's predecessor, Marcel Ospel, who announced his departure this year as UBS's subprime-related asset writedowns built.

Money market squeeze eases but fears persist

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A squeeze on dollar funding has eased in Asia after massive cash injections by central banks, but reluctance to lend to South Korean banks underscored jitters about the global economic outlook despite the U.S. Congress having approved a $700 billion rescue plan. The Bank of Japan said on Monday it offered to lend 1 trillion yen against pooled collateral in an auction to inject liquidity into the market.

Junior mining sector to be trimmed, analysts say

TORONTO (Reuters) - The number of publicly-traded junior mining companies should fall as tight credit conditions and plunging commodity prices force explorers to either find deep-pocketed partners or disappear, a Canadian mining conference was told on Saturday. Speaking at the Toronto Resource Investment Conference, equity analyst and "Bottom Fish Report" publisher John Kaiser said smaller mining players with proven resources or production have the best chance to survive the recent shift in market conditions.

Ain't nowhere to hide, baby

TORONTO (Reuters) - "Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide," Martha and the Vandellas sang in their 1965 Motown megahit. It's a tune that Bay Street investors can probably relate to, faced with a market that seems to be sliding across the board. Almost everyone in global equity markets has felt the pain, led by a teetering financial sector and cooling commodities. But even the so-called defensive issues are nowhere to hide these days.

Vietnam casino developer eyes $1 bln HK IPO: paper

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Canadian firm developing an ocean-front casino complex in Vietnam hopes to raise $1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO in the next two years, a local newspaper reported, despite signs of weakening Asian gambling revenue. Asian Coast Development and investor Harbinger Capital began work on their $4.2 billion Ho Tram Strip project in May, hoping to open in two years and target mainly Chinese gamblers.

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