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LONDON (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) has laid off about 150 people in corporate finance since January in addition to the less than 300 worldwide cuts made earlier in global markets, a source close to the bank said on Friday.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

The corporate finance unit let go of 70 people in late January and roughly 80 within the past few weeks, the source said.

The latest cuts have affected mainly junior employees, such as analysts and associates, from the unit which includes advisory, commercial real estate, asset finance and leasing, debt finance and equity capital markets businesses.

A spokesman for the German bank said on Jan. 16 it would cut up to 300 jobs worldwide in investment banking, or 2 percent of its workforce in that business.

Investment banking at Deutsche consists of global markets and global banking divisions, where corporate finance is part of the latter.

Financial companies have slashed between 60,000 and 70,000 jobs in the United States and Britain since the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis hit in August and dealt a blow to deal-making.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has shed up to 200 jobs this week in parts of its debt and investment banking units worst hit by the slowdown in financial markets, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

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Board of Finance Chairman Ernesto Nepomuceno said that his panel will probably have to “strike a balance” between conflicting proposals on how much the proposed budget should increase as it tries to get a spending package approved at referendum this spring while the national economy continues to decline. Read more

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The U.S. dollar has been struggling against the yen as risk appetite has fallen following a slide in US stocks, prompted by weak earnings at the world’s biggest industrial conglomerate General Electric Co. Read more

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Lombard Finance has been placed in receivership owing its 4400 investors $127 million, after the firm’s trustee rejected directors’ proposals to implement a moratorium.

Perpetual Trust chief executive Louise Edwards, in calling in receivers last night, said “no compelling reason” existed for the proposed moratorium.

“The interests of investors will be better served by appointing receivers to independently address the issues the company has.”

John Waller and John Fisk, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, have been named receivers.

Lombard Finance, part of the listed Lombard Group, is the 17th finance firm to get into trouble in less than two years. The money hit by finance company problems is now over $2 billion.

The receivership also applies to other subsidiaries, Lombard Asset Finance, Lombard Property Holdings and Lombard Asset Finance No 2 Lombard Group itself is unaffected.

Edwards said all payments of interest and principal to Lombard Finance debenture holders had been suspended with repayment to be announced.

By DAVID HARGREAVES - The Press

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Forex reserves rose USD 2,724 million to touch USD 311,885 million as on Apr. 11, 2008, mainly due to the increase in foreign currency and assets collections, on a weekly basis.

As per the weekly statistical supplement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Apr. 11, 2008, foreign currency and assets moved up USD 2,247 million to USD 301,394 million.

During the same period, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced by USD 3 million to USD 434 million. While, gold reserves increased by USD 481 million to USD 10,039 million.

Foreign currency assets expressed in USD include the effect of appreciation or depreciation on non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling and Yen) held in reserves.

By IRIS

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BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China should adopt a stable foreign exchange rate policy to avert the possible economic fall-out of continued yuan appreciation, policy advisers said on Thursday, as the currency broke through the 7 mark against the U.S. dollar. Read more

FRANKFURT, April 10 (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday that the recent volatility on foreign exchange markets was excessive and was to be deplored.

“I deplore the excessive volatility of exchange rates. I was concerned by the recent excessive moves,” Trichet told a press conference held after the ECB held its key interest rate at 4.0 percent.

Trichet had been asked to comment on the euro-sterling exchange rate after the pound reached a record low against the common currency on Wednesday. But he widened his answer to include the euro’s recent appreciation against the dollar.

“I have observed with great, great attention and interest what has been said by the U.S. authorities including the highest authority which is the President of the United States,” Trichet said.

The United States government has regularly stated that it is in favour of a strong dollar.

“On the UK, I would say it is clear that excessive volatility is certainly not welcome for any of us and I guess that it is not welcome for the United Kingdom,” he added.

The Bank of England cut its key interest rate by a quarter point to 5.0 percent earlier on Thursday. (Writing by Gerrard Raven +44 20 7542 4868, editing by David Stamp)

REUTERS

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - The euro again targeted record highs against the dollar on Monday after higher-than-forecast euro-zone price data reinforced expectations that the inflation-focused European Central Bank will not start cutting rates soon. Read more

A $1.2 million tourism campaign will highlight the biggest events in Sydney’s calendar in a bid to attract more visitors to the city, the NSW government says.

State Tourism Minister Brown officially launched the campaign - dubbed Sydney, Designed to Inspire - at a breakfast at the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday. Read more

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (Bernama) — The ringgit ended at a new 10-year high against the US dollar today following the surprise move by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to tighten its foreign exchange policy to contain inflation, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the ringgit traded firmer against the U.S. dollar at 3.1500/1530 compared with 3.1750/1785 at yesterday’s close.

The ringgit recorded its last 10-year high against the greenback on March 13 when it hit 3.1560.

“The market moved fast today, forcing the ringgit to another new record. This trend is likely to be sustained for quite some time,” the dealer said.

He attributed the ringgit’s appreciation to the strengthening of the Singapore dollar.

Singapore today moved to re-centre its foreign exchange policy band at the current firm level of its dollar nominal effective exchange rate.

The move is expected to be beneficial for Singapore’s economy as a strong currency will help cushion its economy from rising global commodity prices, dealers said. Singapore which has limited natural resources is highly dependent on imports.

The ringgit today declined against the Singapore dollar to 2.3194/3237 from 2.3007/3040 at yesterday’s closing and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.1328/1361 from 3.1044/1067.

Compared with the euro, the ringgit was also weaker at 4.9987/9041 from 4.9965/9014 yesterday but it strengthened against the pound sterling to 6.2294/2363 from 6.2597/2649.

– BERNAMA