Bank of America Merrill Lynch Announces Enhancements to Wholesale Banknotes Business

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Investment in Global Banknotes Highlights Commitment to Corporate Banking and
Treasury Services Worldwide
CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(Business Wire)–
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill) today announced enhancements to its
wholesale banknotes platform that will provide clients with greater
customization and improved functionality, demonstrating the bank`s strong
commitment to Global Banknote Services.

BofA Merrill`s Global Banknote Services business facilitates the import and
export of U.S. dollars and other foreign currencies for financial institutions
and corporates. It also supports such industries as hospitality, cruise lines,
gaming and theme parks. Building on its leading position in the industry, BofA
Merrill has developed several enhancements that will provide more efficiency,
security and flexibility for clients.

The new version of the Cruise Line Global Foreign Currency (GFC) Offline
Application allows more efficient management of foreign currency on cruise
ships, while “Live Rates” capabilities within the GFC system will enable clients
to retrieve currency rates in real time during currency transactions. Other
enhancements this year will add currency images online and improve the bank`s
internal efficiencies.

“As one of the world`s leading providers of global banknote services to
financial institutions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is dedicated to giving our
clients the highest level of service,” said Kathleen Gowin, Global Wholesale
Banknotes executive and head of Americas Financial Institutions Treasury Sales
at BofA Merrill. “These enhancements show our commitment to banknote services,
and our global footprint allows us to provide clients with all tradable
currencies.”

BofA Merrill provides banknote services in more than 75 countries, with an
inventory of 120 currencies and several strategically located foreign currency
vaults, which are electronically connected to expedite access worldwide. The
bank also has extensive relationships with several central banks and other large
foreign financial institutions, which leverage BofA Merrill`s global
infrastructure to reduce their own commitments of capital and human resources.

“Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a leading global provider of treasury services
to financial institutions, corporates and governments,” said Paul Donofrio, head
of Global Corporate Banking at BofA Merrill. “The enhancements to our banknotes
business will help drive growth in key markets and enable us to provide full
service, state-of-the-art integrated capabilities across paper and electronic
products to our clients around the world.”

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving
individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations
with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial
and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched
convenience in the United States, serving approximately 57 million consumer and
small business relationships with 5,900 retail banking offices, more than 18,000
ATMs and award-winning online banking with 29 million active users. Bank of
America is among the world’s leading wealth management companies and is a global
leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of
asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals
around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to
approximately 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative,
easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through
operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE:
BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the marketing name for the global banking and
global markets businesses of Bank of America Corporation. Lending, derivatives,
and other commercial banking activities are performed globally by banking
affiliates of Bank of America Corporation, including Bank of America, N.A.,
member FDIC. Securities, strategic advisory, and other investment banking
activities are performed globally by investment banking affiliates of Bank of
America Corporation (“Investment Banking Affiliates”), including, in the United
States, Banc of America Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
Incorporated, which are both registered broker-dealers and members of FINRA and
SIPC, and, in other jurisdictions, locally registered entities. Investment
products offered by Investment Banking Affiliates: Are Not FDIC Insured * May
Lose Value * Are Not Bank Guaranteed

www.bankofamerica.com

Reporters May Contact:
Jefferson George (North America and Europe), Bank of America, 1.980.683.4798
jefferson.george@bankofamerica.com
Prakash Muthukrishnan (Asia), Bank of America, +65 6331 3085
prakash.muthukrishnan@baml.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TEXT-Australia central bank July statement on rates

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 6 (Reuters) – Following is the text of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s statement on Tuesday after its monthly monetary policy meeting.

“At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.5 per cent.

“The global economy has continued to expand over recent months, consistent with a trend pace of growth. The expansion remains uneven, with the major advanced countries recording only modest growth overall, but growth in Asia and Latin America, to date, very strong. There are indications that growth in China is now starting to moderate to a more sustainable rate. In Europe, while output in some key countries has been improving recently, prospects for next year are more uncertain given the budgetary constraints governments face and the pressure on euro area banks. US growth has looked stronger in the first half of 2010 but the pace of labour market improvement is slow.

“Caution in financial markets has been evident in the past couple of months, driven principally by concerns about European sovereigns and banks but also by some uncertainty about the pace of future global growth. Financial prices have been more volatile and equity prices and government bond yields in major countries have declined. Some tightness in funding markets is evident, though not on the scale seen in late 2008. Commodity prices are off their peaks but those most important for Australia remain at very high levels, and the terms of trade are approaching their peak of two years ago.

“With the high level of the terms of trade expected to add to incomes and demand, output growth in Australia over the year ahead is likely to be about trend, even though the effects of earlier expansionary policy measures will be diminishing. Consumption spending is recording a modest increase at present, with households displaying a degree of caution, but most indicators suggest business investment will increase over the coming year. Business credit appears to have stabilised, though credit conditions for some sectors remain difficult. Credit outstanding for housing has continued to expand at a solid pace, but dwelling prices are rising more slowly than earlier in the year.

“The labour market has continued to firm gradually, and after the significant decline last year, growth in wages has picked up a little, as had been expected. Underlying inflation appears likely to be in the upper half of the target zone over the next year. The rate of CPI increase is likely to be a little above 3 per cent in the near term, due to the effects of increases in tobacco taxes announced earlier in the year and significant increases in prices for utilities.

“The current setting of monetary policy is resulting in interest rates to borrowers around their average levels of the past decade. Pending further information about international and local conditions for demand and prices, the Board views this setting of monetary policy as appropriate. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 1-Time to consider rate hikes nearing-Fed’s Lockhart

June 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is almost strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to begin thinking about raising interest rates, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said on Thursday.

While he noted unemployment would likely remain elevated for some time, Lockhart said the U.S. central bank should not wait too long before beginning to tighten the reins.

“The time is approaching when it will be appropriate to consider recalibrating interest rate policy. I do not believe that time has yet arrived,” Lockhart told .

“As the economy continues to improve and financial markets find firmer ground, extraordinarily low policy rates will not be needed to promote recovery and will become inconsistent with maintaining price stability.”

In response to the most severe financial crisis in generations, the Fed not only slashed interest rates effectively to zero but also undertook a host of emergency measures such as buying up Treasury and mortgage bonds.

Lockhart’s comments mark a significant change in tone for the regional Fed president, who has been among the most dovish on the central bank’s policy in recent months. They suggest firmer growth in the United States is catching the attention of Fed policymakers, despite the renewed risks to the outlook from the turmoil surrounding European debt markets.

“Consumer activity over the last few months has exceeded the expectations of analysts,” said Lockhart, who is not a voting member this year on the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee. “Business investment in equipment and software has been surprisingly strong.”

Indeed, U.S. gross domestic product has been rising since last summer, expanding 3.0 percent in the first quarter on an annualized basis.

Still, he warned the recovery would be uneven. In particular, weak employment growth would likely prevent rapid rises in incomes, restraining consumers’ ability to spend.

In this context, Lockhart said inflation was not a major concern, pointing to a recent slowdown in consumer prices and broad stability in inflation expectations.

He said turbulence in Europe added to uncertainty in financial markets, but did not appear very concerned about the possibility of a spillover into the United States.

Lockhart sees the unemployment rate, which currently is hovering just below 10 percent, receding only gradually. But that does not mean official borrowing costs can stay near zero indefinitely.

“I’m very concerned about unemployment, and certainly employment trends should be a critical consideration in setting policy,” he said. “But I accept that good policy, even in circumstances of unacceptable levels of unemployment, may incorporate higher interest rates.”

This view moves him closer to Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, who has been saying for months that the Fed’s vow to keep interest rates low for an “extended period” might be counterproductive.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Strategic dialogue: Pak looking to take maximum advantage of their moment in the sun

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar.24 (ANI): The United States and Pakistan have had a history of “trust deficit”. However, in the recent past things have improved considerably with President Obama offering huge monetary and military assistance to Islamabad. It is this change that Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his team of officials would like to exploit during the strategic talks.

US officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said that while the Pakistani leadership has responded to America’s overtures by taking on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda with full force in ungoverned tribal regions, it is also well aware of the fact that the partnership is prone to suspicion and things can change with the US pulling out of the region.

“The Pakistanis are not stupid. They know this is not China or Taiwan or India, where we have a long-run business investment driving the partnership. We have a war and we need them. They are suspicious that we”re going to leave. But they also want to take maximum advantage of their moment in the sun,” The Washington Post quoted a US official, as saying.

Analysts also believe that Pakistan’s approach during the first ministerial-level strategic talks with the US would that of to protect its own interest, as there is a feeling among both the Pakistani political and military leadership that the US may vacate the region leaving Islamabad in the lurch.

“There is a sort of panic in Pakistan that the endgame may be earlier than Pakistan had thought, and that Pakistan isn”t positioned well at all to protect its own interests,” said Tanvir Ahmad Khan, Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

Khan, who had also served as Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, also underlined that if Pakistani officials fail to get their demands fulfilled during the strategic dialogue and come back with little to show, their strategy to hype about what the White House owes to Islamabad would backfire resulting in massive public dissent.

“The outcome cannot possibly conform to what the Pakistanis have been led to think,” Khan said. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SA Labor costs promises at $1.2b over 4 years

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Labor has revealed its election spending promises in South Australia will cost $1.2 billion over four years.

It says increased GST revenue will help pay for the spending and leave the SA budget with a bigger surplus next financial year.

Labor will borrow about $400 million.

The total impact of Labor’s election spending beyond the forward estimates is $2.1 billion.

SA Treasurer Kevin Foley says the budget remains robust.

He says GST revenues are starting to return to the levels of before the global financial crisis.

Mr Foley says Labor’s election pledges, including duplicating the Southern Expressway in Adelaide and providing 100,000 training places, are affordable.

“These are figures that are based on accurate costings that we have available to us prior to going into caretaker that any government would have,” he said.

“These are costings that are very rigorous and stand the test of time as they have done previously. These are costings that, unlike the Liberal Party, are very transparent.

“Can I say that they are affordable, they can be delivered and they maintain a healthy budget surplus which will maintain our AAA credit rating.”

Mr Foley says the state’s finances are in good shape.

“The lowest unemployment in the state’s history, the highest number of people employed, strong business investment, a very strong future and Labor wants to maintain that momentum,” he said.

“We think today again we’ve demonstrated that we are a far better financial manager than my opponents, the Liberal Party.”

The Liberals have also detailed their election costings, saying the total cost of their campaign pledges is $2.8 billion, compared with Labor’s $2.2 billion.

The Liberals say they intend to find $1.5 billion in savings, which will be raised from initiatives such as land sales.

But the Opposition has not funded the duplication of the Expressway in its forward estimates, unlike Labor.

Shadow treasurer Steven Griffiths said he was under the impression the project had already been taken into account.

“The Southern Expressway, when it was announced by the Labor Party three weeks ago, they talked about that being in the unallocated capital,” he said.

“Therefore that’s in forward estimates of the budget that was in the mid-year budget review, so we’ve taken that as meaning that yes, the funding is already in place to fund that.”

Hung parliament prospect

SA goes to the polls this Saturday, the same day that Tasmanians vote, and both states are facing the likelihoods of hung parliaments.

Labor won the previous SA election by a landslide and had been coasting in the polls as the Opposition Liberals repeatedly changed leaders.

All that started to change when the divided Liberal ranks chose Isobel Redmond as leader last year, then Labor Premier Mike Rann’s personal life became news when he was assaulted at a public function.

He denies he had an affair with the woman whose estranged husband hit him.

Recent opinion polls have put the ALP in danger of losing a five-seat buffer which would force it to court independents to govern for a third term.

The Liberals need to pick up 10 seats to govern in their own right, which political commentators regard as unlikely.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TATA-owned Land Rover offered 27 million pounds to produce ‘Green Car’

March 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar.12 (ANI): The British Government has offered a grant of up to 27 million pounds to TATA-owned Jaguar Land Rover for the production of a new ‘green’ car.

According to a Sky News report, the company will make a decision later this year on whether to go ahead with the 400 million pound project at its factory at Halewood on Merseyside.

The car will be based on Land Rover’s LRX Concept vehicle.

Shown at the Detroit Show last year, the car would be the smallest, lightest and most efficient the company has ever produced.

Phil Popham, managing director of Land Rover, said: “We welcome the Government’s support for this project, which would form a key part of our future product plans and which we very much want to put into production.”

Around 2,000 workers are employed at Halewood.

The plant produces the Land Rover Freelander 2 and Jaguar X-Type.

The Government said the aid would be taken from the Grant for Business Investment scheme, which is separate from the 2.3 billion pound Automotive Assistance Programme being discussed at a Government seminar for manufacturers and supply chain companies.

Business secretary Peter Mandelson said: “The Government is fully committed to supporting the UK automotive industry as it moves to a lower carbon future. This project aims to design and build a greener car in the UK, safeguarding vital skills and technologies.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,