Keywords:

"Risk will move from the regulated, more transparent banking sector to a less regulated, more opaque [shadow banking] sector."
Gary Cohn, President, Goldman Sachs, adding his voice to other bankers at Davos who wish to draw heat away from banks and onto hedge funds and dark pools of liquidity.

The following are notes from our Monday morning meeting.

S&P downgraded Japan's sovereign rating to AA-, the same as China's.

US tax authorities are reportedly investigating HSBC for selling "tax evasion services" to wealthy Indians through its private bank's NRI business for the past 10 years.

Tanzania's Bank M became the first bank to raise funds on the local bond market with a $2m issue for agricultural and transport lending.

The UAE central bank will require banks to book quarterly provisions from this year.

China Development Bank is bidding on banks again, this time for a large stake of undisclosed size in Germany's WestLB believed to be worth $13.6b.

Former State Bank of Vietnam governor Le Duc Thuy is under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from Securency, a banknote printing company.

Bank Negara Malaysia has appointed three new assistant governors, including Donald Joshua Jaganathan, who will supervise banks, financial conglomerates, and conventional and Islamic insurance.

India's central bank wants to allow foreign lenders to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in addition to operating branches of parent groups as they can now.

Australian homeowners are expected to default on over $1b in mortgages after floods destroyed 28,000 homes and 5,000 commercial sites.