JPMorgan Sells Debt: Credit Markets - Bloomberg.com

Lengthen those liabilities.

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San Francisco

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Financial company bonds are beating industrial debt by the most this year after lagging behind in February, encouraging investors to snap up new issues from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group AG.

Debt sold by banks, insurers and brokers returned 0.81 percent this month through yesterday, compared with 0.4 percent for the rest of the market, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. The cost to borrow for banks is the lowest since February 2008, with yields falling to within 1.93 percentage points of Treasuries on March 18.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abb54OIrjRFc&pos=6

Bank Regulators Issue Guidelines on Liquidity Risk (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

Our analysts are studying these reports and will have a comprehensive analysis for clients in a week or so.

There is nothing in either of these reports to immediately concern decision makers.

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San Francisco

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and four other bank supervisory agencies released guidelines for liquidity risk management to deter the funding practices that contributed to the financial crisis.

"Given the recent market turmoil, the agencies are reiterating the importance of effective liquidity risk management for the safety and soundness of financial institutions," the agencies said today in a release. The guidelines emphasize the need for diversified funding sources, stress testing and a contingency funding plan, they said.

The Fed and other banking supervisors are reasserting their existing authority without waiting for Congress to complete an overhaul of financial regulation. The agencies are raising standards for capital, liquidity and risk management, and increasing their control over compensation policies. In January, regulators issued guidance on managing interest rate risk.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arGN45fk0JMQ&pos=4