Lonza Group Ltd (SIX: LONN), one of the world’s leading suppliers to the life science industries, announced today that it has obtained antitrust clearance from the Autorité de la Concurrence in France for its tender offer, through its wholly owned subsidiary LG Acquisition Corp., for 100 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock of Arch Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:ARJ). Link: Click Here

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG) announced today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Accu-Chek Aviva Plus test system. The new maltose-independent test strip is designed to prevent the interference of maltose on blood sugar readings which can occur in rare cases when drugs containing or metabolizing to maltose are parenterally administered. Link: Click Here


 

Economy
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Does the Swiss National Bank need equity? The Swiss National Bank (SNB) had to report heavy losses for 2010 and the first half of 2011 due to the strength of the Swiss franc - or, more precisely, due to valuation changes on its foreign currency reserves. Consequently, it suffered a substantial reduction in its equity. Understandably in such a situation, concerns began to be voiced in public. Link: Click Here

UK Financial Policy Committee urges banks to protect lending while strengthening balance sheets. The Financial Policy Committee, the new Bank of England body charged with identifying and mitigating risks to the UK financial system as a whole, held its second meeting on 20 September and today issued a press release. The main development since the previous FPC meeting had been the rise in bank funding costs as investors had become more concerned about vulnerabilities in the European banking system in light of the euro area sovereign debt crisis. Link: Click Here

Bank of Spain monthly bulletin describes a sluggish economy; we believe GDP contraction might come as soon as Q3. The overall tone of the Bank of Spain's monthly bulletin for September is rather downbeat. Despite positive signs from the labour market, with employment increasing 0.4% q/q in Q2 (after three consecutive negative quarters) and an ongoing buoyant momentum in tourism, the outlook is rather dim. Link: Click Here

Credit Suisse’s Asset Management division today released a new white paper and brief video entitled, “Real Assets: Inflation Hedge Solutions Under a Modified Framework.” Authored by Yogi Thambiah and Nicolo’ Foscari from the Investment Strategies and Solutions (ISS) team, the paper tackles a key issue challenging institutional investors today: How to build an optimized real assets portfolio under a “new normal” environment of heightened volatility? Link: Click Here