| IMF Convenes First Annual Roundtable of Sovereign Asset and Reserve Managers
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) convened its first annual Roundtable of Sovereign Asset and Reserve Managers in Washington, D.C. on November 15-16, 2007. The Roundtable—which is designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences in asset and reserve management—was attended by high level delegates from central banks, ministries of finance and sovereign asset managers from 28 countries. The purpose of the inaugural Roundtable, which was organized by the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department in collaboration with other Fund departments, was to exchange ideas about how best to address the policy and operational issues faced by managers of growing reserves and sovereign assets. The discussions covered trends in reserve accumulation and their implications for central bank balance sheets.
Review of India-Canada Tax Treaty sought
Toronto, Nov 15 (PTI) The India-Canada Tax Treaty needs to be re-evaluated and modernised so as to boost trade and investment between the two countries, according to an eminent tax expert.
"There is an urgent need to reduce or eliminate withholding taxes on interest on debt; equal and fair treatment for foreign investors similar to domestic companies; and a mandatory binding arbitration provision which will apply in cases where the competent authorities have not resolved certain issues within an agreed period," Prof Vern Krishna, an eminent tax expert, has revealed in his book titled 'Canada India Tax Treaty.' When the treaty was negotiated several decades back, and even renegotiated in 1996, he said there was a minimum trade between the two countries, and India was a developing country.
Nigeria: Monetary Policy Management and Insincerity (5)
TheYar'Adua administration's disposition to fresh debt accumulation may have been loosely articulated in separate statements from some key members of the cast. The Honourable Minister for Finance recently returned from meetings with international experts and proclaimed government's enthusiasm for fresh foreign loans to finance some key infrastructural projects. Shortly after, Mr. President's Special Adviser on Communications, in a media brief (Punch 30/10/2007 - pg 10) confirmed that "... technically, we don't have the money to fund the power project. .
The black box explodes
Shortly past 8 a.m. on an already sweltering August Monday, a small team of financiers hurried down a flight of stairs in one of Montreal's most historic office buildings to watch a modern disaster unfold. The men, senior executives with National Bank Financial, were hurrying to a cavernous room on the main floor of the beaux-arts Sun Life building where more than 100 traders buy and sell billions of dollars of stocks, currencies and debt instruments every day. Leading the group was Ricardo Pascoe, a wiry, soft-spoken derivatives specialist who was named co-chief executive officer of National Bank of Canada's securities arm a year earlier. At his side was his top legal executive, Brian Davis. Mr. Pascoe whisked the group past long lines of noisy trading desks to a normally quiet corner where a half dozen men and women were feverishly working the phones.
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