If you tend to think the glass is half-empty, as the vast majority of investors I meet these days do, this past week provided a rich menu of economic data and events to feed a dour disposition. China’s GDP only grew 7.6% in the year to the second quarter; our Brazil economist Arthur Carvalho slashed

Defying admittedly low expectations, last week's EU summit delivered a number of welcome measures, addressing the three main pressure points in the EU periphery. Download this paper for the summit's implications for public and banking sectors, fiscal unsustainability and deposit leakage.

Deutsche Bank's monthly hedge funds summary assesses the latest market trends. This paper features sections on: European banking; risk assets; investor sentiment; global economic data; leverage; securities lending and regulation. Download this paper for in-depth analysis.

This report describes how investment banks and firms in the UK are managing bribery and corruption risk in their businesses and sets out the findings of a recent thematic review. The report also provides examples of good and poor practice regarding anti-bribery and corruption systems and controls.

The Independent Commission on Banking published its final recommendations on the reform of the UK banking system in September last year. Writing exclusively for Legal Week, Simmons' James Bresslaw outlines the UK Government's response to the ICB's recommendations for reform.

On Monday 19th December, the Government announced that it was accepting the main recommendations of the report of the Independent Commission on Banking. DLA Piper's Michael McKee outlines the main elements of the requirements and why the decision is a "significant setback for UK banks."

DLA Piper's banking and finance litigation update collates a variety of news sources on developments affecting domestic banking; domestic general; European banking; European general; international banking; international general; press releases; and recent case law.

At the recent Euro Summit, European leaders sketched out and agreed to a number of measures aimed at relieving the stress in Europe's financial system. This briefing summarises the Summit's agreement on bank capitalisation and term funding plans and offers a number of preliminary observations.

This briefing studies the Volcker Rule's effect of creating a ban on sponsoring or investing in certain funds on foreign banks and suggests how the Agencies could amend the proposed Rule to ameliorate these concerns while remaining true to the spirit and text of section 619.

Under UAE law, the commercial pledge is a possessory pledge; the possession of a pledged asset is transferred to a pledgee as security for the loan. This briefing explores the complex issues of ownership of the deposited funds and the acquisition by the pledgee of the funds in the event of default.