Daily Dispatches: Citic and Crédit Agricole set to tie the knot

A leading Chinese securities firm and a French bank with a brokerage in Hong Kong are teaming up to conduct an interesting experiment in the testing ground of China's capital markets. Crédit Agricole and China's Citic Securities have reached a preliminary deal to explore combining some of their equity businesses, according to people familiar with the situation. (Wall Street Journal)

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is pinning his hopes for an economic recovery on the developing markets where his company already has a firm foothold. (Straits Times)

Several large multinational companies based in Europe or North America are considering listing in Singapore after insurer Prudential of the UK, the city state's bourse said on Monday. (Financial Times)

The number of workers made redundant in Singapore fell to pre-recession quarterly levels while re-employment increased, a study by the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Manpower has revealed. Redundancies fell for the third successive quarter to 2,220 in the fourth quarter of 2009. (Asia One)

UBS has named veteran banker Geoff Davis as one of its first vice chairmen in Australia, as the investment bank looks to build ties to the domestic corporate advisory market. (The Australian)