MORNING NEWS BRIEFS

Asian markets fall in wake of Wall Street's losses
Markets in the Asian-Pacific region fell Friday after a poor performance on Wall Street on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 2.5%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index decreased 2.8%. Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.8%, New Zealand's NZX 50 shed 1.1% and Singapore's Straits Times Index went down 1.9%. Markets in South Korea and China were closed. The Wall Street Journal (02 Oct.)

*sound familiar?
Police raid KPMG, PwC offices regarding failure of Icelandic banks
Icelandic offices of accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers were raided by police during an investigation into the failure of Iceland's three biggest banks. Police seized documents and computer data related to banks Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki. Officials are looking into allegations that accounting and reporting requirements were violated at those banks, the failure of which drove the country into a financial crisis. Telegraph (London) (10/1)

*Helicopter Ben may have alot to answer for, but he doesn't have to say a word, the statute gives him complete immunity. So ggod luck finding out the truth here.
Questions arise about Lehman's payment to Fed before collapse
An examiner is looking into how the Federal Reserve was promptly repaid billions of dollars in cash and securities it lent to Lehman Brothers before the bank filed for bankruptcy, while other creditors are still owed money. The court appointed Anton Valukas, chairman of Jenner & Block and a former U.S. attorney, to explore whether the Fed received improper preferential treatment. The Wall Street Journal (02 Oct.)

*ya think?
U.S. rebound could fade after stimulus, economists say
The U.S. economic recovery is driven mostly by the government's stimulus, putting continued growth in doubt, economists said. Weekly unemployment claims topped expectations, manufacturing is slowing down, consumer-loan delinquencies are at a historic high and car sales fell off after "Cash for Clunkers" ended. "It is a warning not to take the near-term strength of the economic recovery for granted," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics. The Washington Post (02 Oct.)