Nomura has no plans to renew controversial guaranteed bonuses for former Lehman Brothers staff who joined the Japanese bank last year, according to a senior executive. Minoru Shinohara, chief executive of Nomura’s non-Japanese Asian operations, also said the bank intended to expand significantly in China and India next year, in addition to stepping up its recruitment drive in the US. (Financial Times)

Hong Kong’s economy is expected to grow 5.5 per cent next year with an inflation rate of 3 per cent, according to DBS Bank senior economist Chris Leung Shiu-kay. Economists from Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong) also predicted moderate growth of 3.5 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. (The Standard)

The Central Bank of Bahrain and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have signed an agreement that provides a formal basis for supervisory cooperation and mutual support.
It paves the way for sharing of information between the two central banks to strengthen the supervision of cross-border operations of financial institutions under their regulation.
(938 Live)

Job vacancies at London’s financial-services companies increased 15 per cent in November as firms rehired bankers fired during the credit crisis. The number of new job vacancies rose to 4,347 from 3,780 in the year-earlier period, UK recruitment consultant Morgan McKinley said in a statement today. (Bloomberg)

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has chastised Westpac for sending an email to customers justifying its recent interest rate hike by comparing the bank to a business selling banana smoothies. In the email, the bank likens itself to businesses selling banana smoothies after storms decimated banana plantations and forced the price of the fruit to rise dramatically. (Independent Weekly)