Foreign Currency Deposit

An employee steps out of a branch of HSBC in Shanghai, east China, April 2, 2007. Four foreign-funded banks, HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of East Asia officially launched business in Shanghai on Monday as the first batch of locally incorporated overseas financial companies approved by China's banking regulator. (Xinhua Photo)

However, they still have to wait before offering local currency deposit and loan services to individual Chinese customers as the check-up of their outlets by the regulators, China Banking Regulatory Commission, has not finished yet, reports said.

Dollars Piling Up in Russian

Foreign currency deposits in the Russian banking system were up for the second month in a row, according to Central Bank statistics released Friday. Currency deposits increased by 122 million rubles in February of this year as compared to December of last year. Over the same time, the money mass, calculated by monetary survey, grew only insignificantly, from 10.1 billion rubles to 10.2 billion rubles, in that time. There is now 1.3 billion rubles' worth of foreign currency in Russian banks. This may be the beginning of the slowdown of dedollarization analysts have been expecting.
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ICSA India calls for EGM to approve issue of securities

1. To issue, offer and allot on behalf of the Company, in one or more lots (including with provision for reservation on firms and / or competitive basis) of public or private offerings in domestic and / or international markets, through prospectus and / or offer letter or other permissible / requisite offer document, Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), and /or American Depository Receipts (ADRs) / Global Depository receipts (GDRs) / other Depository receipts and / or Equity Shares/ Preference Shares / Fully Convertible Debentures / Partially Convertible / Non-Convertible Debentures / Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures / Bonds, or any other instruments (including shares without voting rights attached to them or global depository receipts), with or without detachable warrants, whether secured by way of creating charge on the assets of the company or unsecured, as may be decided by the Board of Directors, either in Rupees or in any such appropriate foreign currency as may be permitted by law for an aggregate value as may be decided by the Board of Directors of the Company with or without attachable or detachable warrants, securities in registered or bearer forms, to the Promoters / Directors, their Friends and Relatives and Associates / Group Companies, Members, Employees under Stock option Scheme and / or otherwise, Non-Resident Indians, Indian Public, Overseas Corporate Bodies, International Institutions, Foreign Institutional Investors / Foreign Companies, whether incorporated or not, Companies, Mutual Funds, Financial Institutions or other entities as may be allowed under applicable rules and regulations and to such persons (whether shareholders of the Company or not) by public issue, rights issue / private placements, preferential issues, bought out deals, reservations, firm commitments, employees stock option scheme or by any one or more of the above methods or by any other terms and conditions including the face value, premium amount, premium on conversion or at discount, provided that amount on conversion of convertible debentures shall be as per applicable SEBl guidelines which will be duly certified by the Auditors of the Company, number of conversions, number of tranches, exchange price for warrants / options, rate of interest, redemption period, manner of redemption, amount of premium on redemption / conversion, nature of security, manner of calls and other connected matters with authority to retain such over-subscription of the amount as may be permitted by law for an aggregate amount not exceeding USD 24.00 Million (with permissible green shoe option) or equivalent in Indian and or in any other currency(ies) (inclusive of such premium, as may be fixed on such equity shares) or upon such limit as may be permitted by the Ministry of Finance or Reserve Bank of India or such other Authorities which ever is higher, directly to Indian or Foreign investors whether institutions, incorporated bodies, mutual funds and or individuals or otherwise and whether or not such investors are members, promoters, directors or their associates of the company through public issues, rights issues, private placements, preferential allotment for cash or stock swap or acquisition of business / companies or a combination thereof at such time or times and in such tranches at such price or prices, at discount or premium to market price or prices in such manner and on such terms and conditions including security, rate of interest etc as may be decided and deemed appropriate by the board at the time of such issue or allotment considering the prevailing market conditions and other relevant factors wherever necessary in consultations with the lead managers and underwriters or through the subsidiaries so as to also enable the company to get listed at the Indian Stock Exchanges and Overseas Stock Exchanges / or such as Singapore, Luxemburg, London, Nasdaq and or New York Stock Exchange and or any other overseas stock exchange, subject to necessary provisions and approvals.

Euro hits 2-year high versus $

NEW YORK: The euro reached a two-year high against the dollar and approached a record versus the yen as signs of faster growth in Europe raised speculation the European Central Bank will increase interest rates. Gains in the euro accelerated after it rose above $1.34, triggering orders to buy back the currency, traders said. ECB officials said this week that higher borrowing costs are needed to contain inflation as reports showed strength in manufacturing. The Bank of England kept rates unchanged on Thursday. "The euro is aggressively bought," said Tim O'Sullivan, chief foreign exchange trader at Forex.com, a unit of online currency trading company Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey, which has about $250 million funds under management. "The ECB has more room to go to hike rates." The euro advanced 0.47% to $1.3431 in morning trade in New York, the highest since March 2005.