Scandinavia’sbiggest bankshave failed to curb funding risks linked to financial innovation and will probably only avoid downgrades if national regulators force through stricter measures, according toStandard & Poor’s.

Steps taken to date by lenders includingDenmark’sDanske Bank A/S (DANSKE)and Nykredit A/S, as well asNordea Bank AB (NDA)andSvenska Handelsbanken AB (SHBA)in Sweden, aren’t enough, said Per Tornqvist, a Stockholm-based analyst at S&P. As competitive pressure “forces banks to maintain short-term funding,” regulators need to step in and help banks extend their funding maturities, he said.

AAA-rated Scandinavia’s biggest banks are more vulnerable to funding shocks than their peers in the U.S., France and Italy, according to a July analysis by S&P, which measured liquidity risks five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. paralyzed the global financial system. The rating company criticized Nordic lenders’ practice of using funds as short as one year to finance loans as long as 30 years, as well as a reliance on short-term offshore borrowing.

Swedish banks are more dependent on market funding than banks in most other countries, according to the Financial Supervisory Authority inStockholm.

In Denmark, home to the world’s largest mortgage bond market per capita, banks refinance as much as $228 billion annually, spread over quarterly auctions. About 50 percent of Danish borrowers refinance their mortgages annually, according to the FSA in Copenhagen.

Efforts to sidestep funding mismatches by inventing new securities will do little to persuade S&P the lenders are really addressing liquidity risks, Tornqvist said.

Banks are responding to the latest regulator demands that they protect themselves against funding misalignments by inventing new securities.

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Special Section: G-20 Meeting

Merkel Says G-20 Agrees on Regulation Plan for Shadow Banks

Group of 20 summit leaders in St. Petersburg Sept. 6 agreed on a road map for regulating shadow banks throughout the G-20, German chancellorAngela Merkeltold reporters after the meeting.

Leaders from outside Europe “recognize that the euro areas crisis isn’t over yet but that confidence is returning, and when structural reforms continue and if we keep to our commitments and show we’re reliable -- that then we can overcome this crisis step by step,” Merkel said.

Merkel also said the G-20 leaders agreed to extend a commitment to refrain from new protectionist measures for another two years.

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For an engineering design firm to make a mark online, it’s first and foremost tool to use to reach the millions out there who have not heard of it is through an attractive and interesting website. Not to mention a completely appealing and engaging one.

The way it appears now, the website still needs a lot of work. As in A LOT! First of all, not a single photo is up to show in a split second what the text is talking about. Secondly, minimalism can be restful and pleasing; but in trying to gain readers to stay online, one must not only use photos, animation, color variety but even the counter-intuitive use of negative space. Too much white space with only a small splattering of black-and-white text can be deadening. It may bring out a certain effect; but not when the font is too small against the wilderness of snow.

Another point is that, engineers in general, are well-known as soft-spoken, tacit, uncluttered and even self-deprecating. Those who have been through years of engineering schooling rarely see flamboyance in appearance and character among the lot. Hence, the appearance of Cruse’s website plays tribute to this reputation among engineers. But there is nothing wrong with trying to be different from what you have portrayed yourself to be in life as well as in business.

Cyberspace networking dynamics, however, requires basic visibility standards which require the use of such things already mentioned here. One cannot be a singer without the essential desire to perform in front of people. So, for a company to stand at par with others, whether they are financial consultancy firms, online journalists or sellers of books or shoes, it must present itself beyond the formal black suit and uncolorful tie ensemble. Alright, those will do at times; but at least, use some gold cuff links, two-tone shoes, pastel-colored dress shirt and, perhaps, subtly dyed hair.

Ultimately, appearance counts a lot in Internet visibility. SEOs can do a lot to help a firm gain that in a matter of time. But the time could be greatly shortened through the use of certain website design features already mentioned, and many more out there. It reminds us of the traditional conflict between engineers and architects: the former being more concerned with strength and stability while the latter with aesthetics or appearances.

Being an engineering firm, Cruse may not have the obligation to appear like an architectural firm. But great strides can be gained if they could show that aside from inner integrity, it also has outer appeal and beauty.