Credit Suisse appoints Neil Harvey as Head of Asia Pacific and Head of Emerging Markets globally for Asset Management

Hong Kong / New York, January 19, 2010 - Credit Suisse announced today the appointment of Neil Harvey as Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific and Head of Emerging Markets globally for Asset Management, effective February 1, 2010. He will be based in Hong Kong and will report to Robert Shafir, CEO Asset Management and Kai Nargolwala, CEO Asia Pacific. Mr Shafir said: “Developing the Asia Pacific region and building out our global emerging markets’ offerings and clients is core to Asset Management’s growth strategy across our division and businesses.”


Mr Harvey has been involved in investment banking and asset management for over 24 years and has significant knowledge and understanding of the emerging markets. He returns to Credit Suisse from Renaissance Group, where he most recently served as their Deputy CEO and Chairman International. Prior to joining Renaissance in 2006, Neil was a founding partner of Bennelong Asset Management, a multi-strategy hedge fund focused on the Asia Pacific region.

His ten-year career at Credit Suisse spanned many roles and regions in the Investment Bank with his last role as head of the Investment Banking division and Client coverage, based in Hong Kong. During his tenure with the Bank, he also held various senior positions, including Global Head of Emerging Markets Fixed Income Distribution and ran businesses in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Latin America. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 1993, Mr Harvey was at Macquarie Bank in Australia.

Mr Nargolwala added: “Given Neil’s extensive knowledge of Credit Suisse, combined with his asset management and emerging markets’ expertise operating skills and strong track record, we are confident he will play an important role in the growth of our Asset Management and Emerging Markets platforms in the region and across the Bank.”

Salman Shoaib, who has led the Asia Pacific asset management business in the last 18 months, will become Credit Suisse Head of Corporate Development for Asia Pacific, responsible for coordinating long term cross-divisional strategic development and Key Account Management planning for the Bank in Asia Pacific. In this role, he will be based in Singapore, reporting to Mr Nargolwala and Nick Adamus, Head of One Bank Collaboration and Head of Corporate Development in Zurich. In addition, Mr Shoaib will assume the role of Branch Manager for Credit Suisse AG Singapore Branch and Senior Corporate Officer for Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited, subject to regulatory approval, reporting to Mr Nargolwala.

Montana's Strong Reserves And Low Debt Burden Support Its 'AA' GO Debt Rating, S&P Report Says

Montana's 'AA' general obligation (GO) debt rating reflects our opinion of the state's strong economic growth and financial performance in fiscals 2004-2007, historical willingness to respond to weakened revenues with expenditure cuts and new revenue-generating measures, and continued very low debt burden, according to a report published today by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.


"In our opinion, despite currently softer revenue performance and projections of lower reserve levels, the state is likely to maintain good reserve levels given its history of budgetary conservatism and willingness to make necessary expenditure reductions," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Paul Dyson. "In addition, the state's economy has been spared the brunt of the national economic downturn, and sources indicate the state will be one of the first in the U.S. to return to peak employment."

Montana's general fund revenues increased by nearly 10% annually to $1.95 billion in 2008 from $1.13 billion in 2002, then declined 11% to an estimated $1.74 billion in 2009. The state recorded five consecutive general fund surpluses totaling $521 million during fiscals 2003-2007. The fiscal 2008 unreserved fund balance fell to $433 million, or 23% of expenditures, and according to state officials is estimated at $383 million, or 22% of expenditures, for fiscal 2009. In perspective, the 2009 biennium budget had a projected ending available fund balance of $125 million, and more current state estimates pegged it at $180 million. However, the state's fund balance performance comfortably exceeded both, totaling $383 million, due to strong revenue growth and successful reversions of appropriations of more than $90 million.

Montana's unemployment rate has consistently been less volatile than and below that of the U.S. and was 6.4% as of October 2009 -- the fourth lowest among the 50 states. Seasonally adjusted payroll employment has lost only 9,600 jobs since December 2007, which makes the state the seventh best for payroll job growth since the recession began. Moreover, according to IHS Global Insight, Montana will return to peak employment during 2010-2011, one of only a few states to rebound that quickly. The state actually added 6,500 jobs in July and August 2009, and year-over-year job losses of just 0.7% put the state fourth lowest in the nation.

Montana is the fourth-largest state in area in the U.S. and has a population of 979,480 as of 2009, up 8% since 2000. Montana's economy is dominated by tourism, agriculture, and mining; lumber and recreation are the major sources of income in the western part of the state, and agriculture in the east. Montana's GO debt totals a very low $183 million, or a very low $187 per capita and 0.6% of personal income.

The report is available to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal subscribers at www.globalcreditportal.com and RatingsDirect subscribers at www.ratingsdirect.com. If you are not a RatingsDirect subscriber, you may purchase a copy of the report by calling (1) 212-438-7280 or sending an e-mail to research_request@standardandpoors.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.

Barclays Capital lists iPath Exchange Traded Note on SGX, first-ever ETN in Asia outside Japan

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, and Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) today announced the listing of the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total ReturnSM Exchange-Traded Note (ETN) on the SGX. The iPath Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total ReturnSM ETN is the first-ever ETN listed in Asia outside Japan and provides both institutional and retail investors with exposure to a broad range of commodities during the Asian time zone.


iPath ETNs were first launched by Barclays Capital in the US in 2006 and are designed to provide investors with convenient access to the returns of market benchmark indices, less investor fees. The iPath ETNs are senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt securities linked to the performance of an underlying index.

"We are very excited to bring the iPath ETN platform to investors in Asia. iPath ETNs have been tremendously successful in the US attracting over US$5 billion in market capitalisation with over US$80 billion in volume traded since inception," said Philippe El-Asmar, Head of Investor Solutions at Barclays Capital. "iPath ETNs provide investors with simple, transparent, cost efficient instruments that provide access to difficult-to-reach markets with the ease of trading through an exchange," he added.

Ms Janice Kan, Senior Vice President & Head of Product Development at SGX said, "We are pleased to be the first listing venue for Barclays Capital's iPath ETN platform in Asia. The launch of this new product class broadens our suite of investment offerings and will provide investors with cost-efficient access to the commodities asset class, and eventually, a range of other asset classes. This underpins our efforts in developing SGX as the one-stop investment gateway in Asia."

Peter Hu, Barclays Capital's Head of Investor Solutions in Non Japan Asia said, "We are delighted to be able to provide investors with a new way to invest across different asset classes during Asian trading hours. The iPath Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total ReturnSM ETN we are launching today enables investors to gain exposure to a broad range of underlying commodities with ease via a single, liquid and transparent instrument. We see self-directed investors becoming an increasingly important client segment in Asia and we plan to cater for their varied investment needs by launching many more iPath ETNs in the future."

Accumetrics Closes 2009 with Positive Outlook

New distribution agreements, favorable clinical data, and significant capital financing position the company for continued growth in 2010 Accumetrics, Inc., developer and marketer of the VerifyNow(R) System, the first rapid and easy-to-use diagnostic system for measuring an individual's response to multiple antiplatelet agents, announced that 2009 included a doubling in the number of international and U.S. distribution agreements, as well as positive medical community support, and significant capital financing

that will take the company into 2011.

In 2009, the company continued its commitment to creating a powerful, worldwide distribution network aimed at gaining adoption of its products at end-user levels. Spanning Europe, Latin America and Asia, Accumetrics currently has partnerships with 20 leading international distributors who provide the company with local representation in over 30 countries. Latest additions to the international distribution network include Keller Medical in Germany, ZAO "Schag" in Russia and VSA Alta Complejidad S.A. in Argentina. Accumetrics continued to strengthen its U.S. presence by partnering with 10 cardiovascular specialty distributors to enhance support to the company's growing base of clinicians in the domestic hospital market. Accumetrics has

also partnered with National Distribution & Contracting, Inc. (NDC), the largest organization of independent medical supply distributors in North America, to expand its distribution network in the physician office lab
marketplace.

Increasing evidence of the clinical value of platelet reactivity testing was demonstrated in several presentations of new clinical studies including the POPular study, presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in November, and a meta-analysis presented at a symposium during the 2009 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT ) Conference. These data also build upon the anticipation of the results of the GRAVITAS trial, which has now completed 80% enrollment.

"2009 has proven to be an outstanding year of growth for Accumetrics," said Timothy I. Still, CEO and President of Accumetrics. "We look at 2010 as a breakthrough year for the company, and are pleased to be in a position to capitalize on the growing clinical acceptance of platelet reactivity testing."

Accumetrics concluded 2009 with $17.1 million in new capital financing, which will fully support the company into 2011. Proceeds will fund a number of key 2010 milestones including expanded claims for existing products, new product development and continued expansion of commercialization efforts. About Accumetrics (www.accumetrics.com)

Accumetrics is committed to advancing medical understanding of platelet function and enhancing quality of care for patients receiving antiplatelet therapies by providing industry-leading and widely accessible diagnostic tests for rapid platelet function assessment.

Accumetrics' VerifyNow System is the first rapid and easy to use platform for measuring an individual's response to multiple antiplatelet agents. Addressing every major antiplatelet drug, including FDA-cleared products for aspirin, P2Y12 inhibitors (e.g. prasugrel (Effient(TM)) and clopidogrel (Plavix(R))), and the GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors (e.g. ReoPro(R) and Integrilin(R)), the VerifyNow System provides a valuable tool to help
physicians make more informed treatment decisions.

The Accumetrics logo and VerifyNow are registered trademarks of Accumetrics, Inc. ReoPro is a registered trademark of Centocor, Inc. Integrilin is a registered trademark of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Plavix is a registered trademark of sanofi-aventis. Effient is a trademark of Eli Lilly and Company.

Thai bourse lists TLOGIS property fund on December 16

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) will list and trade TPARK Logistics Property Fund in the Property Fund Sector, Property & Construction Group on December 16, using “TLOGIS,” as its trading symbol, revealed SET Chief Market Officer, Issuer & Listing, Vichate Tantiwanich.


TLOGIS is a closed-end fund with an unspecified project life. TLOGIS is THB1,533 million (approx. USD46.21 million) in fund size, consisting of 153.30 million investment units with a par value of THB10.00 per unit. TLOGIS plans to use the funds raised to investment in land, warehouses and cold storage for two projects of Ticon Logistics Park Co., Ltd., which are Ticon Logistics Park in Bangna, Bangkok and Ticon Logistics Park in Wang Noi, Ayudhya.

TLOGIS’s rental space is located near Bangkok’s Suvarnbhumi Airport, and is in an excellent distribution center to serve the North, Central, and Northeast regions. In addition, TLOGIS shall have income guarantee after common area service for seven years and a month.

TLOGIS offered its investment units to the general public at THB10.00 per unit during November 18-25. BBL Asset Management Co., Ltd. was the fund manager. TLOGIS’s dividend payment policy is to pay no less than two times a year, and not less than 90% of net profits, excluding unrealized profit from immovable property.

TLOGIS’ major unitholders are Ticon Industrial Connection PCL, which holds 30.66 million units; the Social Security Office, holding 20 million units, Muang Thai Life Assurance Company Limited, with 10 million units, or 20%, 13.05% and 6.52% , respectively, of issued units.

First automated processing service available for UK funds

Euroclear UK & Ireland and EMXCo are eradicating the time-consuming, inefficient and unnecessarily expensive process of settling UK fund transactions. According to the HM Treasury, the UK funds industry could save GBP 70- 290 million per year by embracing processing automation in place of paper-based fund unit settlement. This potential saving is now a reality. Together, EMXCo and Euroclear have launched a fully electronic and integrated order routing and settlement solution for UK fund transactions - a first for UK fund investors. Clients can expect substantial savings on their current operational processing costs by moving from manual to automated order routing and settlement. A typical distributor settling around 10,000 transactions a month may today expect to pay up to GBP 50,000 per month for administering these settlements and subsequent reconciliations. Under the new automated service, the same distributor doing the same levels of business can expect a monthly bill for all balance reconciliation, transaction management and communication charges of less than GBP 8,000. Clients processing lower volumes of transactions can also expect to make significant savings.


In expectation of deriving meaningful benefits from the new EMX/Euroclear UK & Ireland service, firms such as Brewin Dolphin, Cardale, Charles Stanley, Direct Sharedeal and Rathbones have already signed up during the course of 2009.

Yannic Weber, Chief Executive Officer of EMXCo and Euroclear UK & Ireland, said: "Having worked closely with the 26 members of the UK Fund Liaison Group, representing all segments of the fund industry, we are confident that the end-to-end fund-processing service we are providing fully meets market requirements. What is more, we are live now. And firms active in UK funds are already testing our new processing arrangements. We are eager to share with them the advantages of substantial operational cost savings and protection from counterparty and settlement risks, in accordance with the IMA recommendations for greater use of electronic funds processing."

Peter Fleming, Head of UK Investment Administration at Skandia said: "This fully automated processing solution is great news for the industry and Skandia supports it. EMXCo and Euroclear UK and Ireland are in an ideal position to offer this service which we expect will remove operational risk and improve efficiency."
In addition to cost savings, the new service delivers other important benefits:

Decreased settlement risk and fewer errors in processing and transaction reporting, as manual intervention is eliminated.

Up-to-date fund balances based on processed transactions at Euroclear UK & Ireland which are reconciled with the fund register on a daily basis, in full compliance with FSA rules.
Settlement within four business days, as compared with up to ten days today.

Electronic exchange of key transaction information among all relevant fund market participants, including fund managers, promoters, distributors, third party administrators.

Back-office efficiency gains by settling UK fund transactions with a proven provider of primary and secondary trade services, where market participants already settle their UK equity and bond transactions.

Use of highly resilient infrastructure, with strong user/owner governance and a solid track record of operational stability.

The rationale for Euroclear acquiring EMXCo in 2007 is embodied in this joint initiative. Together, the two organisations are delivering end-to-end, straight-through processing of UK fund transactions, from order routing through to cash and unit settlement, and safekeeping. Initially, funds domiciled in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man are eligible for this service. The coverage of funds is intended to be expanded in the future.

A retail client places an order with its IFA to subscribe to or redeem units in a UK fund.

The IFA routes the order to the EMX Message System via a platform or distributor.

EMXCo routes the order to the fund manager (product provider). The manager confirms the order by sending an electronic contract note to the broker (via EMX).

The settlement instruction can then be sent to Euroclear UK & Ireland, either bilaterally or via the direct input option through the EMX Message System.

Euroclear UK & Ireland processes the instruction (both the cash and unit aspects) and electronically confirms the details of the transaction with the fund manager and its TPA.

Confirmed receipt of the settlement instruction is sent from the fund manager to Euroclear UK & Ireland, which debits and credits the broker’s account, and reports the settled transaction to the IFA, who informs the retail client.

POPULAR LONG-TERM CORPORATE BONDS ARE LICENSED TO SELL

       One result of the past year's financial turmoil has been much greater corporate bond issuance in Thailand.
       Circumstances have been favourable. Banks are more risk averse due to the economic slowdown and have not been actively extending loans. Meanwhile, lower yields and reasonable credit spreads mean that rates are appealing for borrowers. At the same time, very low bank interest rates make bond yields attractive to savers.
       Already this year, corporations have sold more than Bt250 billion in longer-term bonds, not including short-term commercial paper, for an increase of 120 per cent from the same period last year.
       The two main distribution methods for bonds are selling directly to retail investors, or selling to institutional investors such as mutual funds or insurance companies, which in turn distribute them to the general public.
       The current craze for corporate bonds is to sell directly to retail investors.
       On the surface, this appears to be more efficient. However, direct retail sales have major limitations with two key concerns - credit risk and liquidity risk.
       Years ago, retail sales of bonds started out with issuance by the government, or by the very best corporate names. However, it has since evolved into virtually any company selling bonds to the general public, significantly raising the potential credit risk.
       This has several implications:
       Retail bond investors usually have exposure to only a few names and underestimate downside risks, while lack of diversification raises the possible loss should any transaction go bad.
       Retail investors often do not have the resources to monitor and analyse changes in corporate credit risk on an ongoing basis.
       Retail investors may not be knowledgeable enough to demand appropriate pricing to match the risk involved.
       The other key concern is that retail-oriented bond issues usually lack liquidity in the secondary market. Even if savers plan to buy and hold bonds until maturity, unforeseen circumstances could make them change their minds.
       If sales are possible at all, bid-offer spreads are likely to be very large to the small investor. In case of a forced sale, there could also be mark-to-market losses that are difficult for retail investors to hedge, unlike institutional investors that may be implementing yield curve strategies.
       For all these reasons, institutional investors theoretically have many advantages over individuals in buying and managing bonds.
       At the moment, local financial institutions still have room for development. Bond mutual funds tend to be focused on short-term money market debt, rather than on longer-term corporate bonds. There is a lack of activity in the secondary market, while hedging is still not widely used.
       Over time, however, the market should continue to develop. Greater issuance will lend depth to the market. Institutional investors will gain in scale and sophistication. And hedging tools such as interest rate futures and repurchase agreements will become available, or more widely used.
       In the medium term, this would be healthy for the local financial system, and would be better for consumers as well.