Fitch Rates Salem Hospital's (Oregon) $184MM Bonds 'A+'; Outlook Stable.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY CLOSE-UP-21 September 2008-Fitch Rates Salem Hospital's (Oregon) $184MM Bonds 'A+'; Outlook Stable(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Fitch has assigned an 'A+' rating to the approximately $183.7 million of Hospital Facility Authority of the City of Salem, Oregon revenue bonds (Salem Hospital Project) Series 2008A-C....

In wake of tough new OFAC regulations, food exporters turn to letters of credit.
U.S. agribusiness interests and farm-state lawmakers have vowed to fight new White House attempts to curb trade with Cuba, but some American farmers are taking the new restrictions in stride, turning to letters of credit to complete their deals. On Feb. 22, the Treasury Department's Office of...

Banks will have to keep aside more capital for credit derivatives exposure.
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finally broken its silence on the huge derivatives books run by banks which resulted into corporate booking huge losses due to unexpected movements in the currency market. Even though the regulator made no reference to recent losses suffered by corporates and...

DA, NBI asked to probe onion importation.
Byline: MELODY M. AGUIBA The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) are being urged by onion farmers to review its "faulty" procedure on onion importation which has benefited big onion traders rather than vulnerable small farmers. The DA should prevent...

P/$ stands at P41.595/$ 1.
The peso exchange rate closed at P41.595 to the US dollar last Friday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., (PDEx). The weighted average rate stands at P41.637. Meralco urges conservation Giant utility firm Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has been urging conservation initiatives during the...

India's 2nd largest contributor to StanChart's global revenues.
MUMBAI: India has emerged as the second-largest contributor to Standard Chartered Bank's global revenues. Bank's Indian operations have posted a 71% growth in operating profits to $690 million in 2007 compared with $403 million in '06. India now ranks second only to Hong Kong, which reported an operating profit...

Stamp duty waiver likely to sweeten conversion to LLP.
Byline: Gireesh Chandra Prasad & G Ganapathy Subramaniam NEW DELHI: Partnership firms, private companies and unlisted public limited companies can look forward to convert themselves into the more flexible form of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) without paying stamp duty to state governments. The government intends...

James River Coal Company Receives Commitment to Refinance Senior Credit Facilities.
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- James River Coal Company , a producer of steam and industrial-grade coal, today announced that on January 30, 2007 it entered into a commitment letter with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. and GE Commercial Finance, providing for the commitment of debt financing in...

/FIRST AND FINAL ADD -- CLTH019 -- Huntington Bancshares Earnings/.
HUNTINGTON BANCSHARES INCORPORATED Quarterly Key Statistics (Unaudited) 2006 2005 (in thousands, except per share amounts) Fourth Third Fourth Net interest income $257,989 $255,313 $243,676 Provision for credit losses 15,744 14,162 30,831 Non-interest income (1) 140,606 97,910 147,322 Non-interest expense 267,790 242,430 230,355 Income before income taxes 115,061 96,631 129,812...

Pulses exports may touch 3.5 lakh tonnes.
Byline: K A BADARINATH NEW DELHI: There is an interesting twist to the unfolding pulses scam in which traders made a killing taking advantage of high prices in international markets. It now transpires that during April-January 2006-07 alone over 3.19 lakh tonnes pulses were exported...