Pre-migration untagged articles

Commerzbank announced a smaller than expected loss for the fourth quarter of 2008 and a small net profit for the whole year, but market participants will have to wait until Dresdner Bank releases its results to get an accurate picture of the bank’s situation.

Fears in the Pfandbrief market that the SoFFin guarantee scheme would be extended from three to five years now appear certain to be realised, after the German cabinet’s approval of the amendment to the Financial Market Stabilisation Act on Tuesday.

Floating rate notes made a comeback in Swiss francs this week. But while short dated high quality paper was the order of the day, that did not stop domestic Swiss buyers from sniffing around for the right corporate paper.

Hong Kong dollars remained the investor preference this week as nervous buyers sought to diversify their currency risk.

BNP Paribas yesterday confirmed that it had made a net loss of Eu1.37bn in the fourth quarter of 2008. This was in line with the bank’s forecast of an anticipated loss of Eu1.4bn.

Enquiry for structured notes from Asia lurked in the background this week although few trades were executed, said dealers.

Some investors were a bit bewildered early last week after receiving a bid list for a three-name, $3.5 million bids wanted in competition, and from multiple dealers.

--John Page, an analyst at Moody's Investors Service, on Idearc and R.H. Donnelley heading toward a default or debt restructuring.