Plan to establish Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor discussed www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On February 14, on the sidelines of his working visit to the Russian Federation, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ts.Munkh-Orgil met with Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia A.V.Gruzdev to discuss bilateral trade, economic, investment and financial ties as well as issues concerning regional and international cooperation.

Coking coal resumes sharp decline www.mining.com

After a pause last week (and even a small move higher) following 12 weeks of non-stop selling, the rout on coking coal markets resumed on Tuesday. The steelmaking raw material fell 4.7% to $154.80 on the day, the lowest since early September.

Oil firm mulls stake buy in Noble www.chinadaily.com.cn

Credit Suisse to cut up to 6,500 jobs after reporting $2.4 billion loss www.cnn.com

Credit Suisse said Tuesday that it plans to cut up to 6,500 jobs after suffering a loss of 2.4 billion Swiss francs ($2.4 billion) in 2016.
The Zurich-based lender said the bulk of the loss resulted from of a $2 billion provision it made for a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Justice Department announced in January that Credit Suisse would pay a total of $5.3 billion to settle claims that it packaged and sold toxic mortgages between 2005 and 2007.
Bank CEO Tidjane Thiam said Tuesday that reaching the settlement removed a "major source of uncertainty for our future."
But it also cemented a second consecutive year of losses for the new CEO. Credit Suisse (CSGKF) lost 2.9 billion Swiss francs ($2.9 billion) in 2015.
Thiam was hired in 2015 and announced a major overhaul and cost cutting program just a few months into his tenure. He wants the bank to focus on wealth management and emerging markets.
The bank will cut between 5,500 and 6,500 jobs over the coming year, CFO David Mathers said on a conference call with investors.
On Tuesday, Thiam said that 2016 -- the first full year of implementing the new strategy -- was "challenging and busy 12 months."
DoJ vs big banks: $60 billion in fines for toxic mortgages
The company said it achieved 1.9 billion Francs ($1.9 billion) in savings in 2016 -- more than 500 million Francs ($500 million) above its target.
It also shed more than 7,250 jobs over the course of last year.
While losses were greater than analysts had anticipated, the bank's stock climbed 3% following its earnings statement on Tuesday.

Greece plans to hire Rothschild as debt adviser www.rt.com

OPEC members comply with production cut www.nhk.or.jp

Stand-By Arrangement and Mongolia www.gogo.mn

Government of Mongolia is negotiating with International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Minister of Finance B.Choijilsuren paid visit to the United States last week to meet with IMF representatives. Minister of Finance stated that final decision and the amount of loan will be finalized this week. 
IMF have submitted 13 proposals on operation of Development Bank. In regards, amendments to draft law on Mongolian State Development Bank was approved by the Parliament session last week.
WHAT IS STAND-BY?
The IMF SBA is an economic program of the IMF involving financial aid to a member state in need of financial assistance, normally arising from a financial crisis. In return for aid, the economic program stipulates needed reforms in the recipient country aimed at bringing it back on a path of financial stability and economic sustainability. The SBA is a sub-set of IMF and World Bank programs aimed at Structural adjustment
IMF’s SBA was created in June 1952 to provide financing to countries requiring help with balance of payments problems. The SBA has often been used by member countries and is the dominant lending instrument of the IMF, especially for emerging market countries. After a significant pause in such aid, the financial crisis that erupted in 2008 resulted in a large number of countries requiring such financial assistance from the IMF. The financing terms are normally more advantageous than private markets offer. In 2009, the IMF upgraded the SBA "to be more flexible and responsive to members countries’ needs." At the same time, the borrowing limits were doubled and more funds were made available up front. Generally, the "conditions were streamlined and simplified.
HOW MANY TIMES MONGOLIA REQUESTED SBA? 
IMF provided SBA to Mongolia twice and granted total of US$ 195.7 million loan, of which US$ 136.6 million was granted as an ordinary loan without adjustment. 
Government of Mongolia received the first SBA in 1991, the early stages of transition to a market economy. The main goal of the IMF supported SBA was to support balance of payments, promote economic stability and reduce unemployment. The SBA was approved for an amount equivalent to SDR 13.75 million.

First Mongolian satellite to be sent to space in March www.gogo.mn

Within the framework of an international BIRDS project, three Mongolian students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology finalized “Mazaalai” the first Mongolian miniature sized satellite on January 1.
The Joint Global Multi-Nation BIRDS Satellite project - acronym as “BIRDS project” - is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project, composed of the deans of universities, researchers, professors and graduate and postgraduate students working at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) in Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan. The project is for non-space faring countries supported by Japan and is participated by countries such as Mongolia, Ghana, Nigeria and Bangladesh. 
Three Mongolian students pursuing a doctorate degree at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, D.Erdenebaatar, D.Amartuvshin and T.Turtogtokh are in the team to build the first Mongolian satellite. The roles of Mongolian engineers in the project are divided into designing and developing a camera subsystem for the BIRDS satellites, in Electrical Power System in Productive section and Interface management in non-productive section of Satellite Development as well as in On-board Computer (OBC) system to provide reliable and proper operation of the brain for the satellites. 
On February 8, a press conference was held to deliver the “Mazaalai” satellite to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. The satellite will soon be transferred to NASA to be sent into space along with the regular supplies of the International Space Station in SpaceX rocket. Although the exact date is still unknown due to weather and other factors, the flight is scheduled in March. 
The miniature satellite is capable of taking 100m resolution images in the altitude of around 400km, transmitting data through 437MHz frequency modulation, identifying satellite locations, determining air density in the altitute of 400km, detecting space radiation and using ground stations as an international network.

Erdenet Mining Corporation under examination www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME / The Ministry of Finance and the Government Agency For Policy Coordination on State Property are jointly conducting investigation on Erdenet Mining Corporation’s production, financial and economic activities by the end of 2016 in pursuance of orders issued by the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Economy and Justice.

Geeks venture into Goldman Sachs' world of big deals and egos www.reuters.com