| Korea Life rises after $1.6bn share sale Rise of country's second-largest insurer on its debut bodes well for other large initial public offerings planned by rivals such as Samsung Life  BoJ boosts bank loan programme The Bank of Japan has moved to head off government and market pressure to do more about deflation by doubling the amount available to banks through a loan scheme BoJ easing spurs pan-regional gains Asian markets enjoyed a strong session yesterday after the Bank of Japan eased monetary policy and the Federal Reserve left rates near zero Greenhill to buy Australia's Caliburn US investment bank founded by veteran dealmaker Robert Greenhill is to buy Australian rival for up to $182m in shares to help extend its footprint in the Pacific Rim Nomura picks first foreigner for its board Nomura is to re-organise its non-retail operations and hand leadership of the global unit to a former top Lehman Brothers banker who had planned to leave the Japanese bank this month ITG launches Asian dark pool service The US technology group has introduced a trading platform that aims to link together Asia's 'dark pools', the opaque trading networks that compete with traditional stock exchanges Thai baht storms to 21-month high Confidence grows that political turmoil is unlikely to degenerate into violence or bleed into the broader economy Chinese stocks edge back towards 3,000 level Mixed session for Asia as traders await news from the Bank of Japan and Fed Investors shun Europe as sovereign risk weighs Survey shows attention shifting to the US and Japan as country risk continues to constrain optimism about recovery Nikkei falls as investors remain cautious The Tokyo exchange drops 0.3%, with investors reluctant to take positions aggressively ahead of monetary policy decisions by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan Nomura to lose European chief The head of the Japanese bank's operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa is set to become the highest-profile departure since the takeover of Lehman's European and Asian business Bank of China gears up for $7bn HK offer The bank is closing in on a $7bn share offering in Hong Kong, in the latest move by mainland lenders to bolster balance sheets strained by loan growth South Korea appoints central bank chief Kim Choong-soo is expected to maintain a dovish stance on monetary policy in line with the government of Lee Myung-bak China fears weigh on Asian stocks Asian markets lost ground yesterday as concern grew that Chinese authorities could step in to cool economic growth News Wizard |