The Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) released a 49% drop in net earnings in the first half of 2014, as it came in to just PHP3.2bn, almost half of its net earnings in the same period last year. In the April to June period alone, net income fell 36% from PHP2.18bn in the second quarter of 2013 to PHP1.6bn in the second quarter of 2014. However, it is important to note that net interest income grew by 29% year-on-year, as it came in at PHP5.2bn in the half of 2014 – Rangold chief executive Mark Bristow will present the firm’s Q2 results at noon on Thursday this week at The Forum, London Stock Exchange Around 10.00 am today some traders on Moscow Exchange’s Derivatives Market reportedly experienced difficulties entering orders via the FIX protocol, with some valid messages rejected with an error code. The FIX protocol has been functioning as usual since 11:37 am says the exchange. Moreover, the exchange stresses other protocols to access the Derivatives Market’s trading system have been functioning as usual - Société Générale Securities Services in Luxembourg has been mandated by wealth manager Bedrock, with $6bn in assets under management, to provide custody, fund administration and registrar services for its range of UCITS funds - Moody's Investors Service has assigned a first-time provisional (P)B3 corporate family rating (CFR) to Empik Media & Fashion SA Group. At the same time, Moody's has assigned a provisional (P)B2 rating to the firm’s proposed senior secured notes due 2019 to be issued at EM&F Financing AB, a wholly owned and guaranteed subsidiary of EMF, reflecting its overall ranking within the debt capital structure. The outlook on the ratings is stable. This is the first time Moody's has assigned ratings to EMF - Lithuania will adopt the euro on January 1st next year. Lithuania will become the 19th member state to adopt the euro. "Lithuania's consistent efforts have paid off: today the eurozone has opened the door for us," said Algirdas Butkevičius, prime minister of Lithuania, on the announcement. The entry of Lithuania into the euro family is of great importance for the whole euro area. "It's a demonstration of the continuing attractiveness of the single currency project and its relevance for the future of our community," added Sandro Gozi, State Secretary for European Affairs of Italy and President of the Council of the EU. The conversion rate has been set at 3.45280 Lithuanian litas to the euro – Global macro hedge fund manager Atreaus Capital is now live with SunGard’s Hedge360 Risk Reporting Service. Delivered as a managed service, the Hedge360 Risk Reporting Service provides highly customized daily risk reports, offering transparency to investors and integrated internal risk management to hedge funds. Trading a broad range of products with an emphasis on FX and commodities, in the form of both OTC derivatives and futures - AnaCap Financial Partners LLP, the specialist European financial services private equity firm, together with HIG and Deutsche Bank, have completed the acquisition of a €495m portfolio of non-performing and sub-performing loans from Volksbank Romania. Under terms of the agreement, funds advised by AnaCap will jointly acquire the entire portfolio with HIG and Deutsche Bank. The portfolio of 3,566 loans in total is backed by a mix of primarily residential, commercial real estate and development land. APS Romania will be appointed as Master Servicer. The transaction is the largest of its kind in Romania to date, and came about as a result of the ongoing pressure on financial institutions across Europe to restructure and divest assets in order to clean up balance sheets and comply with new capital requirements. After a prolonged correction following the financial crisis, the property market in Romania is now showing strong signs of improvement. GDP and unemployment have recovered on the back of labour market reforms in 2011 and an IMF financing package. House prices, which declined 38% since their peak in mid-2008, are now on the rise, with the areas surrounding central Bucharest and other main cities increasing 4% for 2013.