The International Monetary Fund’s executive board ruled that a bond sold by Ukraine to Russia should be considered official sovereign debt, putting pressure on Ukrainian officials to start restructuring talks with their Russian counterparts.
The bond was acquired by and is held by Russia’s National Wealth Fund, an agency acting on behalf of the Russian government, according to a staff paper considered by the board. Russia bought a $3 billion bond from the government of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2013………………………………………..Full Article: Source

State-owned Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is to set up a private equity fund to help family businesses, but a family business expert questions to what degree it will achieve its aim of helping them go public.
CDP will act as an anchor investor and invite foreign investors and sovereign wealth funds to buy shares in the companies. Professor Alfredo De Massis, director of the Centre for Family Business at Lancaster University says the fund will help business go public, but some might be reluctant to initial public offerings (IPO) due to cultural bias………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek is willing to give Standard Chartered time to work on its turnaround before deciding on the fate of its underperforming $4 billion (3 billion pounds) stake in the UK bank as part of a portfolio reshuffle, people familiar with the matter said.
Pressured by weak returns from low interest rates and a commodities rout, the Singapore state investor is taking a hard look at its $190 billion portfolio and may exit unprofitable assets, these people told Reuters. This approach was evident last week when Temasek sold at below book value a controlling stake in shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) , its biggest disposal since 2009………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The final report of the Auditor-General on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) which is expected to be tabled to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) tomorrow has been postponed to include the latest updates.
“The final report was postponed as it has to be updated,” said PAC chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin when contacted by Bernama. He however did not mention any new dates for the tabling of the report. Earlier, Hasan was reported as saying the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB was expected to be tabled to PAC on December 17………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem and the state Barisan Nasional (BN) will reconsider their loyalty to Datuk Seri Najib Razak if the prime minister is found guilty of any offences related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“I might consider that. (But) until then, he is innocent and has done no wrong. “Our loyalty to him right now is because he is the prime minister of Malaysia and head of the BN,” he said in his winding-up speech at the state assembly in capital Kuching………………………………………..Full Article: Source