India's markets have long enjoyed a reputation for being well run. But after shares in Mumbai fell 10% in the first 57 seconds on Jan. 22 and regulators halted trading, investors started grousing that India's bourses still have a long way to go before they're on par with the world's leaders. "India has made major strides with market reform, but in finance...it's antediluvian," says Percy S. Mistry, chairman of London consultancy Oxford International Group.

The bond market—or lack thereof—is the core of the problem. Although India has long had the regulatory framework for companies to offer debt, the disclosure requirements are so stringent that few bother. Last year, Indian companies issued bonds equivalent to just 1% of the country's gross domestic product, compared with 112% of GDP in the U.S.

Commons clash over Scottish banknotes

The Liberal Democrats had appealed to the Scottish Secretary to change the law and reclassify Scottish notes, which are currently not officially legal tender anywhere in the United Kingdom. They are accepted generally as payment but do not have the legal backing that Bank of England ones enjoy.The term legal tender is only used in contract law and provides protection in limited cases where debtors have paid debts using "legal tender".In every other way, the legal tender of a banknote does not affect its use. But the Lib Dems say there have been instances when traders in England have refused Scottish notes, claiming they were not "legal tender" and this could not happen if the notes were given the same legal backing as Bank of England ones.Malcolm Bruce (Gordon) said at Commons question time: "It is high time that Scottish banknotes were legally acceptable throughout the UK."He told Mr Browne: "If dollars and euros are acceptable to traders, surely Scottish notes should be.

Photo by Brian Ray

New Zealand native Ed Mumm instructs one of his colleagues in the use of a Caterpillar excavator on land west of Steamboat Springs on Wednesday afternoon. Mumm' new busines, Dig This, which opens in November, will allow patrons to drive and operate large construction equipment for fun.

Royal Bank buys U.S. investor boutique

Ferris, Baker, Watts Inc. was ripe for the taking. It recently struggled through millions in subprime-related writedowns and a lengthy lawsuit involving the rogue trading of a former broker. RBC gains over 300 wealth-management professionals in the deal, the financial details of which were not disclosed

Gordon Brown's Black Wednesday

I thought at first that Mr Brown, with the help of the Bank of England, might defy the odds and pass the test this time. But yesterday's statement made clear that I was wrong. Like Major before him, Mr Brown is not being swept out of power by the tidal wave of events but by his own inability to take timely, sensible decisions in response to them.

There was, in principle, no great difficulty in resolving the Northern Rock crisis. Mr Brown could have offered a modest Treasury guarantee back in August to facilitate a takeover by Lloyds TSB. Or he could have told the Treasury to put Northern Rock into administration, buy all the assets and liabilities immediately for £1 from the receiver and then run the bank down in an orderly way. But Mr Brown was too slow and indecisive to take the first option and too timid to face the job losses and temporary opprobrium resulting from the second.