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Bank of Japan chief apologizes for scandal

Tokyo, June 20: Japan's central bank chief apologized Tuesday for an investment scandal that has set off calls for his resignation, and said the bank has set up a committee to review rules for its officials' assets.

Gov. Toshihiko Fukui also said he would not step down and wanted to complete his job. His term runs through March 2008.

"I am very, very sorry. I deeply apologize to the people," Fukui said at a news conference. "The Bank of Japan's compliance rules have been widely criticized. This must be taken seriously."

Fukui has come under fire since stating last week that he had invested 10 million yen, or about $86,000, seven years ago in a fund managed by Yoshiaki Murakami, who was arrested June 5 on suspicion of insider trading.

The incident has raised questions about the ethic standards for Japan's financial officials and comes at delicate time when the central bank is about to start raising interest rates amid signs of a long-awaited economic recovery here.

Top 1 Jumped Up Posts in the last 24 hours

Aventurine, the Greek software company that absorbed the original developer Razorwax, has announced that their upcoming MMORPG, Darkfall, is now in preparation for beta testing.

Like other MMORPG's, Darkfall is set on a fantasy world (in this case, Agon), and features the usual cast of playable races - Humans, Dwarves, Elves and Orks. There are two additional races - one of werewolves called the Mahirim, and the other known as the Alfar - pale outcasts who reject all outsiders. Career paths include explorer, hunter, mercenary, ironsmith, magician and fishermen; there is also a "prestige" class system that include Paladin, Assassin, Gladiator and Enchanter.

What makes Darkfall different is its emphasis on PvP combat. According to Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras, old classics such as Ultima Online and Elder Scrolls were enjoyable, but restrictive in their use of classes and levels.

Gearing Up for the Buy Side's Global Trading Needs

Providers are beefing up their offerings to attract U.S.-based buy-side traders with a global appetite.
By Katherine Heires
Wall Street & Technology
June 16, 2006

As buy-side traders in the U.S. continue to set their sights on ever-more-complex global trading strategies, technology-driven firms that facilitate access to international markets have been keeping busy. Global market access providers such as Paris-based GL Trade and London-based Royalblue, for example, have been updating and refining their product offerings in the hopes of attracting new business from U.S.-based buy-side traders - in particular, those with an appetite for greater risk, new pools of liquidity and expanded trading opportunities in far-flung markets.

Other global access providers, such as Orc Software and New York-based Tradeware, that primarily provide their technology to sell-side firms also have been sprucing up their network offerings.

Peso up to highest level since May 18

The peso closed stronger Friday against the greenback, the highest since May 18 as the Asian currencies strengthen due to market anticipation on possible revaluation of Chinese yean and potential rate increase of Japan and European rates, traders said.

The traders also attributed the strengthening peso to the ebbing security concerns on North Korea missiles and weakening US dollar, the latter due to market expectations that foreign investors will return to the regions assets.

The peso closed P52.35 Friday, the highest since May 17, 2006, from the previous day's trading of P52.73. The currency opened at P52.63 and traded to a low of P52.34 and a high of P52.63.

The total volume turnover reached $589.200 million.

Marcelo Ayes, Equitable-PCI Bank trader, said the peso's strength mirrors the other Asian currencies due to expected rates increase of the central banks of Japan and Europe, which would narrow the differential against US dollar.

Further Dollar Weakness Still in Question after Mixed NFP

US Dollar - The much awaited non-farm payrolls report for the month of June was a big disappointment and did little to clear the air on whether the Federal Reserve could potentially raise interest rates again in August. Even though the headline non-farm payrolls number came in significantly below expectations, the details of the number and the household survey was not nearly as dollar bearish. We have already seen the US dollar recuperate a good portion of its losses against the Euro as the up tick in average hourly earnings, rebound in manufacturing payrolls and strong job growth as measured by the household survey create a more mixed report. The market was really banking on the NFP number to sway the dollar in one direction, however the ambiguous number only prolongs the uncertainty by making next month's non-farm payrolls report even more important.

(AFX UK Focus) 2006-07-03 06:39 GMT: China forex regulator to allow onshore yuan/sterling trading from Aug 1

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's foreign exchange regulator is to allow trading in the yuan against sterling in the onshore interbank market from Aug 1, the market's administrator said, marking another step in the government's push to reform foreign exchange policy.

The Shanghai-based China Foreign Exchange Trading System, which manages the onshore market on behalf of the People's Bank of China, said in a statement posted on its website that trading will be allowed in spot, forward and swaps from the launch date.

Sterling will be allowed to move against the yuan by three pct daily either side of the central parity, matching the trading ranges currently allowed for the euro, yen and Hong Kong dollar.

The US dollar is allowed to move only 0.3 pct either side of the central parity against the yuan.