MOVES-Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Capital Group, Coutts

Wed May 14, 2014 6:29am EDT

May 14 (Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Wednesday. To inform us of other job changes, email to moves@thomsonreuters.com.

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC

The bank's technology investment banker, Anthony Noto, who helped orchestrate Twitter Inc's successful IPO in November, is leaving and joining Coatue Management, according to a source familiar with the matter.

BARCLAYS PLC

The bank's top mergers and acquisitions banker for the Asia Pacific region, Jason Rynbeck, left the firm on May 8, according to a regulatory filing with Hong Kong's Securities & Futures Commission.

COUTTS

The wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group said it had named Shun-Tak Pang managing director and head of Hong Kong market with immediate effect. He was most recently head of private wealth management at JP Morgan Chase & Co .

CAPITAL GROUP

The investment management firm appointed Andrew Economos as senior vice president, strategic solutions. Economos joins from JP Morgan Asset Management where, for the past four years, he was managing director of asset management and head of sovereign & institutional strategy, Asia.

OLD MUTUAL PLC

The insurer said senior Nedbank executive Ingrid Johnson would become its new finance director, joining a small group of female FTSE 100 finance chiefs. Johnson is currently managing executive for retail and business banking at Nedbank , one of South Africa's top four banks that is 52 percent owned by Old Mutual. (Compiled by Neha Dimri in Bangalore)

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U.S. economic strength may not be clear for months-Lockhart

DUBAI Sun May 11, 2014 1:28am EDT

DUBAI May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy will probably start picking up in the second quarter towards around an annual rate of 3 percent, but it may not be clear for some time if it is on a sustained path, a top official at the Federal Reserve said on Sunday.

"It may not be clear for several months, or even quarters, whether the U.S. economy is undeniably on a stronger and sustained growth path around a run rate of 3 percent," Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, told a business gathering in Dubai in a prepared speech.

Lockhart, who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, does not have a vote this year on the Fed's policy-setting board but he participates in its discussions.

He is considered to be near the centre of the central bank's policy spectrum and his comments often reflect the views of the core decision-makers. (Reporting by Martin Dokoupil and David French; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Delek Drilling, Avner Oil raise $2 billion for Leviathan field

JERUSALEM Sun May 11, 2014 3:18am EDT

JERUSALEM May 11 (Reuters) - Israel's Delek Drilling and Avner Oil have raised $2 billion in an international bond offering to help fund the development of the huge Leviathan natural gas field off the coast of Israel.

An announcement by the firms said demand of $13.5 billion was the largest ever for an Israeli enterprise and it was over-subscribed by 650 percent.

"This shows unprecedented confidence by European, U.S. and Israeli financial markets in the vision of Delek Drilling, Avner and Delek Group," Avner Chairman Gideon Tadmor said.

"The development of the Leviathan reserve will allow the continuation of the Israeli natural gas revolution and regional and international export that will significantly strengthen Israel's geo-political standing," he added.

Avner and Delek Drilling are major shareholders in the group developing Leviathan, which holds an estimated 19 trillion cubic feet of gas and is expected to go online around 2017. Much of the reserves are earmarked for export.

Company executives held a road show to attract investors in the United States, Europe and Israel. Five series of bonds were issued, each with its own fixed interest rate, and with the longest maturing in 2025, the companies' statement said.

Texas-based Noble Energy is the field's operator with a 39.66 percent stake. Avner and Delek Drilling, subsidiaries of Delek Group, hold a combined 45.34 percent, and Ratio Oil has the remaining 15 percent.

The partners are due to receive another large sum from the sale of a 30 percent stake in the field to Australia's Woodside Petroleum. However the deal, worth up to $2.7 billion deal, has been held up over a tax disagreement between Woodside and Israel. [IDn:nL4N0MO52B]

The partners have signed a 20-year deal with a Palestinian power company to sell $1.2 billion worth of gas, and earlier this month put in a bid to sell gas through a pipeline to Cyprus. (Writing by Ori Lewis and Ari Rabinovitch)

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UPDATE 2-U.S. economic strength may not be clear for months-Fed's Lockhart

Sun May 11, 2014 5:35am EDT

* Atlanta Fed head sees Q2 GDP growth at or exceeding 3 pct

* Sees interest rates rising gradually from latter part of 2015

* Says reverse repos may have role in influencing short-term rates (Adds more comments, background)

By Martin Dokoupil and David French

DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy should accelerate in the second quarter to an annual growth rate of 3 percent or more, but it may not be clear for some time if the pick-up is sustainable, a Federal Reserve official said on Sunday.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart also said he expected the U.S. central bank to have run down its bond-buying programme by its October or December meeting and to start raising interest rates in the second half of next year.

The U.S. economy hardly grew in the first quarter but has gathered pace since. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said on Thursday he expected full-year growth of 3 percent.

Speaking to a business gathering in Dubai, Lockhart was more circumspect. "It may not be clear for several months, or even quarters, whether the U.S. economy is undeniably on a stronger and sustained growth path around a run rate of 3 percent," he said.

Lockhart, who said he was speaking in his personal capacity, does not have a vote this year on the Fed's policy-setting board, but he participates in its discussions and is considered to be near the centre of its policy spectrum.

Turning to external growth risks, Lockhart said tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine were of a concern as they have a potential to destabilise markets and economies.

"I think there is risk that heightened conflict could produce volatility in global financial and commodity markets that, if prolonged, could spill over to the U.S. and global economies," he said.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in her testimony to Congress earlier this week a slumping housing market and geopolitical tensions risked undermining the U.S. economy.

Lockhart said that, generally, he saw the housing market improving and contributing to the brighter economic picture.

Asked about his growth forecast for the second quarter, he told reporters: "It is little early to say based on data. But I am pretty confident it will be at or exceed 3 percent."

OPENING THE POLICY TOOLBAG

To help the U.S. economy recover from a deep recession, the Fed has kept overnight interest rates near zero since late 2008. But it has begun scaling back its bond-buying programme - aimed at pushing down borrowing costs - in recent months amid signs of an upturn in the jobs market.

The Fed is still buying $45 billion in bonds each month, which Lockhart said should reach zero by the central bank's October or December meeting.

With the economy having grown just 0.1 percent annually in the first quarter, in its April policy meeting the Fed stuck to its view that near-zero interest rates would be needed for a "considerable time" after asset purchases ended.

Lockhart said he expected interest rates to start to rise in the latter half of 2015, adding: "Once rates begin to rise, I expect the process to normalisation of interest rates to be gradual."

According to a March summary of expectations, Fed policymakers expect rates to rise in 2015.

Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher suggested this week that the central bank could replace its federal funds rate, a longstanding monetary policy primary tool, in the years ahead, adding other tools have been tested.

Asked about the success of reverse repos, Lockhart said: "It has been successful up to the point of a relatively small allotment. But overall I am confident that reverse repos will be among our toolbag.

"Therefore they may very well have a role in how we try to influence short-term interest rates."

Inflation has been running just above 1 percent in the world's biggest economy while unemployment, albeit falling, is still at 6.3 percent.

Lockhart said that he expected inflation to firm to a healthier rate over the medium term on a track to the Federal Open Market Committee's 2 percent target.

Despite the decline in the unemployment rate in April, the United States apparently added jobs but lost workers, he said.

"So I am hesitant to take on board this decline in the unemployment rate as indisputable evidence of progress toward full employment." (Editing by Nick Macfie, John Stonestreet)

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UPDATE 1-Pimco Total Return cuts mortgages securities to near 4-yr low

Fri May 9, 2014 6:51pm EDT

(Adds details on portfolio holdings and views from Gross's investment letter; byline)

By Jennifer Ablan

May 9 (Reuters) - The Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, cut its holdings of U.S. mortgage securities for a third straight month in April to its lowest level since July 2010 on continued bets that the Federal Reserve will conclude bond purchases this year, data from the firm's website showed on Friday.

The fund, which has $230 billion in assets and is managed by Pimco co-founder Bill Gross, cut its mortgage holdings to 19 percent last month from 23 percent in March. The fund kept its holdings of U.S. government-related securities unchanged in April at 41 percent, Pimco said on its website.

Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co said its holdings of U.S. government-related securities may include nominal and inflation-protected Treasuries, Treasury futures and options, and interest rate swaps.

On March 7, Gross tweeted that investors should, "Sell what the Fed has been buying because they won't be buying them when Taper ends in Oct." In his latest Investment Outlook report, Gross said investors should "look to different areas of risk taking if you need higher returns."

The Federal Reserve, which has been buying mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasuries in order to drive down long-term borrowing costs and spur economic growth, on April 30 voted to pare its monthly asset purchases to $45 billion, in its fourth straight $10 billion cut.

Pimco Total Return's asset allocation is important because Pimco manages $1.94 trillion and is one of the world's largest bond managers. Pimco is a unit of European financial services company Allianz SE.

Pimco increased its U.S. credit holdings to 12 percent in April from 10 percent the previous month and increased its emerging markets holdings to 7 percent last month from 6 percent in March.

The fund has increased its non-U.S. developed market holdings all year, with its stake at 11 percent in April. Pimco's "other" securities category -- which the firm said may include municipals, convertibles, preferreds, and Yankee bonds -- remained at 5 percent of the portfolio's allocation.

Perhaps the most dramatic change to the Pimco Total Return Fund last month was its reduction in its effective duration to 4.73 years in April from 4.97 years in March. Duration is a measure of a bond's price sensitivity to yield changes. Effective duration stood at 4.71 percent in February.

In his April letter to investors, Gross emphasized underweighting duration and maintained his position on favoring shorter-maturing debt. He said fixed-income securities maturing in five to 30 years are "at risk" given reduced bond buying from the Federal Reserve.

Gross said: "While PIMCO agrees with Janet Yellen that such normalization will be a long time coming (the 12th of Never?), probabilities suggest that as the Fed completes its Taper, the 5-30 year bonds that it has been buying will have to be sold at higher yields to entice the private sector back in."

Pimco Total Return showed 5 percent exposure to money market and net cash equivalents in April, unchanged from the previous month. It defines the class as liquid investment grade securities with duration of less than one year. (Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)

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Puerto Rico's April revenue comes in well below forecasts

Fri May 9, 2014 6:30pm EDT

May 9 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico on Friday said April revenue came in more than $440 million below target due to a huge shortfall in corporate tax collections, but revenue overall was still up 20 percent from a year ago.

Total revenue for April rose to $1.18 billion from $985 million a year earlier, the island's Treasury said. But corporate tax revenue came in at just $332.4 million, which was $380 million short of estimates as thousands of corporate taxpayers sought extensions to file.

"We are analyzing the thousands of applications for time extensions that were not accompanied by payments," Treasury Secretary Melba Acosta Febo said in a statement.

Corporate taxpayers that filed for time extensions without a payment or with an insufficient payment could be subject to a surcharge of up to 10 percent, plus interest at a 10 percent annual rate.

News of the shortfall comes a week after the heavily indebted U.S. territory's governor unveiled $1.4 billion in spending cuts in a bid to produce its first balanced budget in years.

Puerto Rico has more than $70 billion in debt and an economy that has been in recession for most of the last decade. In March, the island's economy contracted for a 16th straight month.

Earlier this year, all three major credit rating agencies cut Puerto Rico's credit rating to junk status. Nonetheless, a sale of $3.5 billion of bonds in March met with massive demand because of the high yields they offer. (Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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Merkel says Siemens-Alstom is above all corporate decision

STRALSUND, Germany Sat May 10, 2014 5:48am EDT

STRALSUND, Germany May 10 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that the German government would positively accompany a tie-up between Siemens and Alstom but said that any link would be first and foremost a corporate decision.

Speaking at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande in the Baltic town of Stralsund, Merkel said the German government, at least, does not want to intervene in the corporate decision-making. She said Siemens first has to come forth with an offer. Alstom is the target of a takeover bid from U.S. giant General Electric.

Hollande said that the French government is awaiting a detailed offer from Siemens for Alstom assets. "We are awaiting the detailed offer from Siemens before taking a position," he said. "We don't want to prejudge the choice."

The French government has signaled it would prefer a tie-up with German conglomerate Siemens. On Friday it said it wanted French state-controlled nuclear group Areva to take over Alstom's offshore wind turbine unit if GE's bid for Alstom succeeded. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Stralsund, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin and Leigh Thomas in Paris)

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MOVES- Marsh

Thu May 8, 2014 6:31am EDT

May 8 (Reuters) - The following financial services industry appointment was announced on Thursday. To inform us of other job changes, email to moves@thomsonreuters.com.

The insurance broker appointed Rawden Leigh vice president within the financial services division of its financial and professional (FINPRO) practice. Leigh joins from privately owned insurance broker Lockton, where he was lead client manager in the alternative asset team. (Compiled by Avik Das in Bangalore)

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Russia defence ministry says Ukraine assembles 15,000 troops on border -agency

MOSCOW Thu May 8, 2014 6:25am EDT

MOSCOW May 8 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Thursday Ukraine had assembled 15,000 troops on its border with Russia and asked the West to stop "cynically misinforming" the international community about events on the frontier between the two countries.

"A concentration of Ukrainian armed forces is continuing on the Russian-Ukrainian border. A 15,000-strong grouping of Ukrainian troops has been deployed along the border area," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying. (Writing by Thomas Grove, editing by Nigel Stephenson)

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GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro, sterling buoyant before central bank meetings

Thu May 8, 2014 6:37am EDT

* ECB and BoE in focus; euro and sterling near recent peaks

* Shares, bonds hold ground as Yellen bolsters supportive Fed view

* Putin urges separatists to postpone Ukraine secession vote

* China exports, imports beat forecast

By Marc Jones

LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Expectations the European Central Bank will keep its policy powder dry for another month kept the euro near a two-month high on Thursday, as soothing talk from the Federal Reserve and data from China lifted shares.

The ECB meets in Brussels later. Although euro zone inflation remains well below its comfort zone, signs the economy is picking up and still-falling government borrowing costs mean the bank is likely to hold off cutting interest rates again.

The euro climbed 0.25 percent to $1.3920 in early European trading, hovering near the two-month peak of $1.3952 it reached earlier in the week.

Traders said it could quickly fall back towards support just under $1.3800 in the event of any policy surprises, though any doubts the ECB was preparing for some form of easing in the coming months could send it upwards again.

"The market is not expecting any policy action today and our view is if there is going to be any policy easing it will be in June when they will have new economic forecasts," Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi foreign exchange strategist Lee Hardman said.

"If (ECB President) Mario Draghi doesn't escalate the concern over the strength of the euro at the press conference then the euro will rise, probably above $1.40."

Share and bond markets were also on the front foot, boosted by supportive comments from U.S. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen on Wednesday and signs that Russia is trying to head off a full-blown conflict in Ukraine.

Upbeat Chinese trade data overnight meanwhile provided some signs of stabilisation in the world's second-largest economy.

As midday approached, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,350.98 points, as the FTSE in London, the CAC 40 in Paris and Frankfurt's Dax gained 0.4-0.6 percent.

Russian stocks continued their recent rally, hitting a two-month high as the rouble took a breather having touched a 2-1/2 month high against the dollar.

FED QUARTET

The ECB's rate decision is due at 1145 GMT, with Mario Draghi's news conference at 1230 GMT.

Any lingering hopes of an easing move by the ECB may have been snuffed out by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said central banks needed now to pare back their money printing to avoid inflating fresh asset bubbles.

Wall Street futures pointed to a near flat start in New York later. Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei share average had ended up 0.9 percent, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5 percent to climb away from five-week low.

China's exports and imports returned to slight growth in April after a surprise fall last month, offering signs that Beijing's use of targeted policy measures to underpin growth may be starting to stabilise the economy.

Mainland Chinese shares rose 0.8 percent, also helped by bets on further stimulus measures after the central bank warned of a deepening economic slowdown.

Sentiment had already been buoyed after comments on the "considerable slack" in the U.S. labour market from Yellen had bolstered the view the Fed would continue to stay in supportive mode for plenty of time yet.

She, along with a quartet of fellow Fed policymakers, will speak later in the day in the United States.

Yellen's remarks also kept the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield near Monday's three-month low of 2.572 percent, though it had edged up slightly to 2.6287 percent by 1015 GMT, dragging German Bunds with them to 1.482 percent.

The pound held near a five-year high against the dollar on rising expectations the Bank of England, which was also meeting, will tighten policy before the Fed, probably early next year. It last stood at $1.6963 versus Tuesday's high of $1.6997.

The Australian dollar climbed 0.6 percent to $0.9382 after local data showed that employment had risen more than expected in April.

With risk sentiment improving slightly, the yen stepped back from a three-week high to 101.77 yen on the dollar while gold and oil sagged to $1,290.30 per ounce and $107.69 a barrel respectively. (Editing by Catherine Evans)

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