Terica notes

By Philip O’Connor Sweden’s 3-2 victory over the Netherlands to qualify for Euro 2012 may have surprised many observers, but Swedish footballers have a long history of success against Dutch opposition. The home of “Total Football” has for many years been something of a finishing school for Swedish footballers, and five of the players in the victorious Sweden squad play their club football in the Netherlands. Many others have passed through Holland on their way to better things. “Holland is not unlike Sweden. When they get there, Swedish players are well-schooled and it’s a good country to go to, especially as a first stop (in their career),” Henrik Larsson told the Reuters Sports Blog the day after the Swedes handed the Dutch their only defeat of the qualifying campaign. “They play good football and most people there speak English, so you can make yourself understood much easier than in a league that has a more difficult language,” Larsson said. It’s an atmosphere that Swedes seem to thrive in. Larsson made a name for himself at Feyenoord in Rotterdam before going on to play for Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United, and his former international strike partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Ajax from Malmo FF before moving to Juventus in Serie A. Many of those who did the most damage to the Dutch in Stockholm play for clubs in Holland. Ola Toivonen, who scored the winning goal for Sweden, is at PSV Eindhoven together with goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, who did his best to keep them out at the other end. On the bench sat Emir Bajrami of Twente, and defenders Andreas Granqvist and Jonas Olsson have both played in Holland before moving to Italy and England respectively. But it was former Feyenoord and NAC Breda striker Johan Elmander that did the most damage. Now at Galatasaray in Turkey, Elmander tore the Dutch defence to shreds and despite not scoring himself, he was behind all three of Sweden’s goals. Despite being so familiar with their Dutch opponents, few expected the Swedes to beat a team that had previously hammered them 4-1 in the qualifiers, and coasted to nine victories in their first nine games of the campaign. “You would never have tipped 3-2, 1-0 to Sweden maybe. But Sweden did well, and it’s brilliant for Swedish football and the national team. I’m happy for the boys,” Larsson said. One of “the boys” intends to put the famed Dutch sense of tolerance to the test on his return. A euphoric Rasmus Elm told Reuters after the game that he would wear his Swedish shirt to AZ Alkmaar training on his return to the Netherlands later in the week. Asked if the reaction might not be entirely positive, Elm gazed into the distance, enjoying the moment of victory. “We’ll see. We’ll see,” he said, before heading to the team bus and the inevitable celebrations. PHOTO: Sweden’s Ola Toivonen (bottom) celebrates with teammate Sebastian Larsson after scoring during their Euro 2012 Group E qualifying soccer match against the Netherlands at Raasunda stadium in Stockholm October 11, 2011. /Scanpix

The ratings reflect Fitch’s view of an extremely high likelihood of support by the Federal Republic of Germany if needed. Given its ownership structure, Fitch believes HVB would, however, first look to its 100% owner, UniCredit S.p.A. (UC; ‘A’/Rating Watch Negative/’F1’) for support, if needed. HVB’s Long-term IDR could be downgraded if Fitch came to the conclusion that government support in Germany was being diluted through a combination of regulatory, legal and political changes.HVB’s Viability Rating reflects the bank’s standalone credit strength which benefits from its well entrenched regional banking franchise and strong capitalisation (Fitch core capital ratio at end-H111: 18.1%). While the loan/deposit ratio (end-H111: 174%) shows some reliance on wholesale funding, sources seem well diversified by type and geography. HVB manages its liquidity prudently and has substantial counterbalancing capacity, based on its pool of central bank eligible and unencumbered assets. In this context, Fitch considers HVB’s exposure to its parent UC has increased over time. Fitch recognises that HVB’s relative funding advantage compared to its parent is positive for UC’s overall funding profile. However, at the same time, being part of UC group might pose potential contagion risk for HVB’s funding franchise from further negative developments in the European sovereign crisis, which cannot be fully excluded.HVB’s credit profile is also characterised by income volatility due to the bank’s corporate and investment banking focus, and moderate levels of sustainable operating profitability. However, Fitch expects income volatility to reduce, as the bank increases its focus on customer-driven business and reduces riskier exposures such as private equity.HVB’s CIB business continues to drive financial performance, with profit contribution from retail and private banking remaining small. Through an initiative to enhance the focus on clients’ needs and organisational efficiency called One4C (One for Customers), Fitch expects some improvement in the profitability of weaker segments. Fitch acknowledges that retail banking operations provide HVB with access to more stable retail deposits. However, a commercial benefit cannot be easily quantified.Across categories, asset quality continued to stabilise or improve in H111. Fitch expects this general trend to continue in coming quarters, but given the fragile economic recovery this trend could reverse quickly. In this context, some risk pockets remain, including risks from high concentrations in the bank’s leveraged buyout exposure and project finance business. Non-strategic assets are being worked out and the bank continues to reduce its exposure to riskier asset classes.The Short-term rating of the Commercial Paper Programmes of UniCredit US Finance LLC, which is wholly owned by HVB, is equalised with HVB’s Short-term IDR and reflect the likelihood of systemic support.The ratings of HVB’s hybrid capital instruments reflect the financial standing of the UniCredit group. While Fitch acknowledges that the German regulator could demand a deferral of coupon payment on these profit-linked instruments in line with the terms and conditions of the instruments, the agency does not anticipate such intervention in light of the bank’s standalone financial profile.

Following are key dates in this battle for patents.Aug 17 - Wi-LAN makes unsolicited all-cash offer for Mosaid for about C$480 million.Aug 18 - Wi-LAN says a deal with Mosaid would make it easier to extract lucrative licensing deals from tech giants.Aug 25 - Mosaid says will finish review of Wi-LAN’s bid by Sept. 7, asks shareholders to take no action before then. Says preliminary review finds Wi-LAN’s offer opportunistic and undervalued.Sept 1 - Mosaid says to acquire about 2,000 Nokia and Microsoft wireless patents.Sept 7 - Mosaid asks shareholders to reject Wi-LAN bid.Sept 9 - Wi-LAN says Mosaid’s inclusion of penalty in case of an ownership change of patents it recently acquired was designed to thwart its bid.Sept 12 - Mosaid says talking to other potential suitors.Sept 14 - Mosaid says it sold some non-core patents for $11 million to an unnamed buyer.Sept 22 - Mosaid shareholders vote to retain a ‘poison pill’ defense.Sept 26 - Mosaid asks shareholders not to tender shares into Wi-LAN’s unsolicited offer.Sept 28 - Wi-LAN extends deadline for hostile bid to Oct. 14.Mosaid names Google as the buyer of 5 non-strategic patent families it sold 2 weeks ago.Oct 4 - Wi-LAN says its proposed Mosaid buy has U.S. and Canadian regulatory nods.Oct 12 - Mosaid says received a “meaningfully stronger” expression of interest from private equity.Oct 13 - Mosaid says regulator says it can extend its shareholder rights plan to Nov. 1. Wi-LAN says regulator grants ‘cease trade’ on Mosaid’s poison pill, effective Nov. 1.

A UBS spokesman said Fabre’s contract with the bank ended on Aug. 31. During his time with UBS, Fabre was a senior member of the healthcare coverage team reporting to the head of the business, Doug McCutcheon.In a 19-year career, Fabre has worked on mergers and acquisitions and capital raisings worth around $90 billion for clients including Sanofi Aventis , Smith & Nephew and Siemens , Blackstone said.