Dollar Is `Vulnerable' to a Decline in Investment Flows to U.S., BIS Says

(Bloomberg) -- The dollar is ``vulnerable'' to a
drop in the investment inflows that the U.S. relies on to fund
its trade and current-account deficits, according the Bank for
International Settlements.

The currency has been supported by purchases of Treasuries
by foreign investors attracted to U.S. yields and central banks
that buy dollars to curb appreciation in their exchange rates.
Such investors now own a record 80 percent of Treasuries due in
three to 10 years, according to research from HSBC Holdings Plc.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

Russia to Help Balkans Become New Energy Hub, Putin Tells Energy Summit

(Bloomberg) -- Russia will take an increasingly
central role in turning southeast Europe into a new energy hub,
President Vladimir Putin said.

Russian companies are ready to increase supplies of energy
to the region and invest in new power plants, Putin said,
speaking at a Balkans energy summit in Zagreb, Croatia, today.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

China says regrets new IMF currency guidelines

(Reuters) - China's representative to the International Monetary Fund "regrets" changes to the fund's currency surveillance guidelines that were adopted this month despite objections from Beijing and other members, according to an interview published on Sunday.

"Such an important revision should be adopted with the maximum consensus. But since this revision was adopted without addressing the concerns of some developing countries, China had to withhold its support," Ge Huayong, Chinese representative to the IMF executive board, said in an interview published on the central bank's Web site (www.pbc.goc.cn).


Read more at Reuters Africa

Pound Posts Biggest Weekly Gain Since January on Outlook for Higher Rates

(Bloomberg) -- The pound posted its biggest weekly
advance versus the dollar since January on speculation the Bank
of England will raise rates next month, boosting the appeal of
sterling-denominated assets.

Nationwide Building Society will probably say next week U.K.
house prices continued to grow at the quickest pace this year in
June, according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The
pound climbed this week after the minutes of the Bank of
England's last policy meeting showed Governor Mervyn King and
three other committee members backed higher borrowing costs. King
is scheduled to address lawmakers on June 28.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

Turkey's Garanti Bank starts talks in Ukraine

(Reuters) - Garanti, Turkey's third biggest listed bank by market
capitalisation, had said before it was looking to grow in the
region and in April said its board had authorised head office to
assess opportunities for regional expansion.




Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

G8 should forgive Lesotho's debt - c.bank gov

(Reuters) - The Group of Eight powerful nations should forgive Lesotho's debt as the impoverished African country suffers severe food shortages, the country's central bank governor said on Friday.

Lesotho, a country encircled by South Africa, is one of the world's poorest countries and has high HIV/AIDS rates with nearly one in three adults believed to carry the virus.


Read more at Reuters Africa

US concedes dismissal only remedy in KPMG tax case

(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors conceded that dismissing charges against former KPMG partners involved in an alleged illegal tax-shelter scheme was the only way to address violations of their constitutional rights, according to a court filing on Saturday.

But prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan also said in the filing dated Friday that dismissal of the charges against at least four former partners of the accounting firm and two other defendants would not be appropriate, and that they did not agree with an earlier ruling in the case.


Read more at Reuters Africa