US Dollars Bows To Israeli Shekel

Trading in foreign currency began this morning with the market awaiting the interest rate decision by Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer today at 18:30. The shekel strengthened against the dollar and euro amid expectations that Fischer will announce an interest rate hikes this evening.

A further vote of confidence in the shekel by global markets can be found in the news that the shekel will become a convertible currency on capital and money markets worldwide, following Israel's official admission to the international currency clearing system operated by CLS Bank International.

Another factor that will have an equal effect on local foreign currency trading, is the surprising figures on economic growth in the first quarter, published yesterday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. GDP grew by an annualized 5.4 percent, far higher than the Bank of Israel's 3.2 percent forecast for 2008 as a whole. Fischer is widely expected, regardless of yesterday's figures on economic growth, to raise the interest rate by 25 or 50 basis points. The interest rate is currently 3.25 percent, the lowest it has ever been in the country's history, following two 50 basis point cuts, and then a decision to leave the rate unchanged.

The shekel-dollar rate is currently down 0.93 percent at NIS 3.302/$, and the shekel-euro rate is currently up 0.16 percent at NIS 5.2493/â?¬. The shekel-dollar representative rate was set 0.15 percent lower on Friday at NIS 3.333/$, and the shekel-euro representative rate was set 0.365 percent lower at NIS 5.2408/â?¬.

Online foreign currency broker Easy Forex says the higher-than expected GDP growth figures will give the shekel a tail wind and strengthen it against the leading currencies. The local economy has provided some impressive macroeconomic data, in contrast to earlier forecasts. These data have made the chances of an interest rate increasingly likely, although some banks, including Merrill Lynch, still believe the interest rate will remain unchanged and could be cut by a further 50-basis points by the end of 2008.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria Issues New Global Depository Receipts' Guidelines

Moses Obajemu

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new guidelines to regulate the issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) by banks selling their shares to international investors.

The new regulatory framework mandates banks selling GDRs to furnish the apex bank with the details of the beneficial investors on a copy of the Certificate of Capital Importation issued in favour of such banks. This is contained in a December 3, 2007 CBN circular sent to banks entitled: "Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) and Certificate of Capital Importation (CCI) Issuance", signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange, Mrs Omolara Akanji.

A Global Depository Receipt is typically a dollar-denominated instrument issued in international financial markets through a registered depository bank. They are negotiable bank certificates, issued by the depository bank which represent ownership of certain equity securities (the underlying shares) that are issued and tradeable in the local market. The GDRs are exchanged with the underlying shares at a pre-determined ratio (for example, 50 shares to 1 GDR), and are mostly used for capital raising by companies from emerging markets to access investors in international markets.

The banking watchdog explained that the release of the guidelines became necessary in view of the resort of banks to GDRs with the principal aim of raising capital and selling shares, and the need to align the new development with the requirements of CCI issuance to foreign investors as well as build their confidence in the GDRs. "Certificate of capital importation shall continue to be issued in respect of foreign exchange inflow for loans, investment purposes and or capital, subject to existing guidelines as specified in the Foreign Exchange Manual.

"Where the foreign exchange inflow is in respect of GDR, a master CCI should be issued in favour of the Depository Bank (DB) to the tune of the foreign exchange inflow," the CBN directed. Upon issuance of the master CCI, the CBN said the receiving bank/Authorised Dealer should furnish it with a copy with the details of the beneficial investors to the GDR endorsed at the back of the master CCI. The apex bank directed that where any portion of the GDR is cancelled offshore by the investor, the depository bank shall inform the custodian/sub-custodian of the cancellation and provide the latter with the necessary documentary evidence of same.

"The depository's nominee custodian shall have valid CCI covering the number of shares withdrawn from the GDR and also effect a "markdown" of the CCI from the master CCI. "With the valid CCI covering the number of shares withdrawn from the GDR, the direct non-resident equity investor can trade with the underlying shares in the local market. The investor shall also be entitled to repatriate funds outside Nigeria," the circular said.

The CBN directed all authorised dealers to ensure compliance with the provisions of the circular, while those with subsisting approvals should also be guided accordingly. On the repatriation of funds outside Nigeria by the foreign investors, the circular on the guidelines on utilisation of CCI in the Forex Manual and/or relevant circulars on same shall apply. In addition, a duly completed form A, letter or evidence of conversion from GDRs to shares and confirmed by the depository and the nominee custodian; documentary evidence of cancellation of the GDR from the depository; letter from the direct non-resident equity investor, stating relevant details to the Authorised Dealer via his broker, requesting for repatriation of sales proceeds, shall also apply.

The CBN also directed that photocopy of the original CCI, and sale contract note or evidence of sale of shares from a Nigerian broker, be included for repatriation of funds processing.

Among Nigerian banks that have successfully raised dollar denominated capital via GDR issue ate Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, and FCMB Plc. Those currently exploring the method include Fidelity Bank Plc, and Afribank Plc.

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Gaitame.Com Co Opts For Imperva's SecureSphere® Web Application Firewall

Imperva, the leader in application data security and compliance, today announced that Gaitame.Com Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese online foreign exchange (FX) trading company has deployed the SecureSphere® Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect its web-based service delivery platform from application attacks including cross-site scripting and SQL injection. Gaitame.Com selected SecureSphere over competing products based on its 10X performance advantage, ability to be deployed with zero network changes, and Dynamic Profiling which automates policy management and enforcement.

Gaitame.Com specializes in on-line services for individual investors. Its online trading platform deals with twelve currency pairs and provides users with real-time information on the world's exchange markets as well as transaction services. Most web services offered at Gaitame.Com require data input by users and communicate directly with databases, which make them a potential target for cross-site scripting and SQL injection attacks.

Although Gaitame.Com regularly conducts third-party vulnerability assessments of its web applications, correcting problems is a time consuming process that requires code-level rewrites. SecureSphere provides continuous protection and maintains business continuity for Gaitame.Com applications, until any discovered vulnerabilities can be eliminated.

“In Foreign Exchange transactions, slow application response times translate into financial losses for users. As a result, performance was a key selection criteria for choosing a Web Application Firewall,” said Kazuyoshi Hirose, IT infrastructure manager for Gaitame.Com Co., Ltd. “SecureSphere met our performance requirements, was easy to deploy, and did not impose any changes to our existing network configuration. We are very impressed with its Dynamic Profiling capability, which operates without human intervention and eliminates management and maintenance burdens associated with competing products we evaluated.”

“Foreign Exchange trading is one of the most demanding application environments for any technology, and especially for an in-line attack protection device like a Web Application Firewall,” said Michael Lyu, vice president of Asia Pacific sales for Imperva. “Gaitame.Com’s selection of Imperva reinforces what over 350 leading global organizations have found – that SecureSphere delivers unmatched scalability, performance and ease of use required to support the most demanding business applications on the Internet.”

About SecureSphere

The award-winning Imperva SecureSphere® products deliver practical solutions to protect sensitive data in the databases, Web applications, and Web services that support business critical systems. SecureSphere assesses, monitors, and audits all access to an organization’s databases, and tracks and controls user activity through Web applications and Web services. With SecureSphere, organizations have an automated, proven means to achieve and document regulatory compliance. SecureSphere uniquely saves time and IT resources by operating transparently with no changes to existing infrastructure and dynamically, requiring no manual tuning.

About Gaitame.Com

Established in 2002, Gaitame.Com Co. LTD is the leading retail online foreign exchange marginal trading company in Japan. The Company specializes in on-line services for individual investors. Gaitame.Com deals with twelve currency pairs and provides users with real-time information on the world's exchange markets as well as transaction services. For more information, visit: http://www.gaitame.com/

About Imperva

Imperva is the leader in application data security and compliance. Leading enterprise and government organizations worldwide rely on Imperva to prevent data theft and abuse, and ensure data integrity. The company’s SecureSphere products provide data governance and protection solutions that monitor, audit and secure business applications and databases. For more information, visit www.imperva.com.

Imperva and SecureSphere are trademarks of Imperva, Inc. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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