Keywords:

“It will surprise people when America gets its mojo back”
Jamie Dimon, CEO J.P. Morgan, on his belief that the US will not suffer a double dip recession.

The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

New UK bank taxes may force Barclays, HSBC and RBS to pay double on their global balance sheets and on those in countries such as France, Germany and the US.
 
The US FDIC closed seven more banks, bringing the year’s total failures to 139 (with total assets of $91b), nearly matching the 140 closures ($170b) of 2009.

South Africa’s Standard Bank will shed around 2,100 jobs reduce costs in preparation for its refocus on Russia, Argentina and Nigeria.

The US subsidiary of Bahrain's Awal Bank, owned by Saudi Arabia’s troubled Saad Group, has filed for bankruptcy.

Singapore Exchange is in merger talks for a $5.9b takeover of the Australian Securities Exchange.

Korea Exchange Bank Richard Wacker Chairman resigned even as ANZ completes due diligence on the lender, signalling a deal is imminent.

The People’s Bank of China launched the nation’s sixth online interbank payment system for cross-bank transfers, real-time enquiries and allows online merchants to provide multi-bank cards

HSBC Private Bank’s Asia head Monica Wong is retiring; her region will be split into two, North Asia and Southeast Asia, as the unit’s global head Chris Meares moves to Hong Kong from London.

Nepal Sri Lanka Merchant Banking and Finance and Nepal Bangladesh Bank finally merged, 4.5 years after the union was proposed, upon receipt of final government approvals.

Australian banks are expected to be reporting 70% profit increases in their annual results, which start to come out this week, although they will face challenges in 2011 as margins thin.