Regions

GLOBAL - David Spina, State Street's chairman and chief executive officer, is optimistic about the firm's prospects following the Boston-based firm's "excellent" 5% rise in first quarter revenues.

GLOBAL — Merrill Lynch's fund management division recorded "a significant improvement" in profitability during the first quarter of 2002, posting pre-tax earnings of $117m, said the firm.

GLOBAL - JP Morgan Chase has seen its first quarter operating earnings rise dramatically standing at $1.15bn, compared to the $356m registered in the last three months of 2001.

GLOBAL - Northern Trust Corporation has become the latest multinational to oust accountants Arthur Andersen as its auditors.

UK/EUROPE - BP has blamed its European pension funds and FRS17 for a fall in its global pension funding levels.

GLOBAL - Beleaguered auditing giant Andersen is to merge with Deloitte & Touche in the UK after talks about a global merger with KPMG collapsed.

GLOBAL - Emerging markets posted the top performance in the CSFB/Tremont hedge fund index during March.

UK - Nottinghamshire County Council has awarded Coller Capital and Pantheon Investments £7m apiece in private equity mandates.

EUROPE - Fortis Bank Information Banking and Strategic Asset Management Solutions Limited (SAMS) have set up a new joint venture covering Benelux institutional investors.

GLOBAL - Hedge funds, particularly fund of funds, are still very much in favour with investors, according to a new survey, with over 50% of investors looking to up their allocation over 2002.