BISCOM News

Check your wallet.What do you find (clean answers on a postcode, please.) Some dollars of various sorts, pounds, euros, maybe even a yen or yuan or two? Bet you've not got any WoCUs.

Australia's CashConverters has grown into a global brand by making pawnshops look like real shops instead of dumping grounds for unwanted stuff. EZCorp is one of the USA's largest pawnbroking operations. Together they will have more than 1000 outlets.

Wikileaks.com is back in the news: this time an application for a gagging order was made by Kaupthing bank after the website published documents showing the bank's loan book. But the bank has withdrawn its application after the story ran around the world in hours, and both public and politicians demanded more not less information.

A South Korean News Agency says that it has a source in the US Treasury who is warning of possible actions against bank accounts in Malaysia.

Yesterday, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib announced de-restrictions in 27 service business areas - and foreshadowed changes in the financial sector.

Allen Stanford is adamant there are no losses and that anyone who has asked for their money back has had it - except where regulators have prevented that happening. And he says he will punch anyone who repeats the allegations that his bank has laundered money for drug cartels.

The UK Treasury had to do something special to rescue the Dunfirmline Building Society. Scotland's biggest building society was collapsing as a result of alleged bad management by the Society's former management. But there were political problems.

Banking Group ANZ says it will apply to open a full service bank in China, a big step up from the two branches it presently has.

The latest US rescue package will rely on private equity to buy up "toxic assets." But on any analysis, that's exactly how we got into this mess.

If those who think they will get to keep taxpayers' money as a reward for driving the US financial sector into the ground were rejoicing on Monday, by yesterday they were trying to spit the champagne back into the bottle as the House or Representatives passed a law applying a tax rate of 90% to bonuses paid to those in companies receiving assistance under TARP or TALF.