LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) – A restructuring of Greece’s
colossal debt is widely expected to trigger insurance payouts
and investment banks and hedge funds are working out who will
be the winners and losers.

If the restructuring goes ahead as planned under the terms
of Greece’s second international bailout, it could involve
Athens forcing some bondholders to accept a much lower value.

LONDON (Reuters) – When a bankrupt Mexico stopped repaying foreign loans in 1861 after three years of civil war, Great Britain, France and Spain responded by invading the Mexican harbor of Veracruz.

Britain and Spain pulled back almost immediately on promise of future payment. France invaded, installed an Austrian as emperor, and was not driven out for another six years.

LONDON (Reuters) – Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will defer any part of an employee’s bonus above 200,000 euros ($264,800) this year, a source close to the bank said, making it the latest industry player to limit pay in the face of fierce criticism of the industry.

Any staff with a bonus at or below the maximum would see half of it in cash, and half of it in equity shares that they can sell in August, the source said.

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Germany’s Deutsche Bank
will defer any part of an employee’s bonus above
200,000 euros ($264,800) this year, a source close to the bank
said, making it the latest industry player to limit pay in the
face of fierce criticism of the industry.

Any staff with a bonus at or below the maximum would see
half of it in cash, and half of it in equity shares that they
can sell in August, the source said.

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Beyond the reach of
regulators, and about half the size of the world’s banking
industry, a thriving breed of “shadow banks” is emerging that
could trigger the next chapter in the global financial crisis.

Spurred by this concern, the watchdogs are turning their
attention to the fringes of the global financial system, where
hedge funds and money market funds are filling the gaps left by
retreating banks.

LONDON (Reuters) – Market parties are jockeying ahead of a sale of the London Metal Exchange (LME), a deal that could radically alter the sway that banks and brokers hold over the world’s largest metals market.

One faction within the 130-year old exchange favors a sale to the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) (ICE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) from the United States, one of the parties to first express an interest in buying the LME last year.

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Market parties are
jockeying ahead of a sale of the London Metal Exchange (LME), a
deal that could radically alter the sway that banks and brokers
hold over the world’s largest metals market.

One faction within the 130-year old exchange favours a sale
to the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) from the United
States, one of the parties to first express an interest in
buying the LME last year.

LONDON (Reuters) – The euro zone is inching closer to breaking its long-held taboo against a Greek default, but can still escape financial market mayhem and a body blow to the euro.

It all comes down to whether the default is controlled or chaotic.

Officials have been talking to private bondholders for nearly seven months to get them to share the burden of a second international bailout of Greece with taxpayers, who have so far shouldered all the cost.

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Europe still has a chance
of safely shepherding Greece through an increasingly inevitable
default and could restore faith that investors can protect
themselves against governments not repaying debt.

Time is fast running out. Greece cannot pay a 14.5 billion
euro ($18.5 billion) bond falling due on March 20, and a deal
with bondholders needs to come well before that, because the
paperwork alone takes at least six weeks.

LONDON (Reuters) – Blue-chip names like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Peugeot are among firms bailing out Europe’s ailing banks in a reversal of the established roles of clients and lenders.

One source with knowledge of the so-called repo deals or short-term secured lending, said the two U.S. pharmaceutical groups and French carmaker were the latest to sign up for them.