The U.K.'s LocalGov.co.uk features "'Safe haven' fund plan to protect council cash", which says, "Hard up councils could be thrown a financial lifeline by the Local Government Association before next week's emergency Budget, with Smith Square poised to approve the establishment of a giant investment fund for public bodies. The new money market fund could become a safe haven for a large chunk of councils' estimated L30bn cash deposits, and may quell town hall fears over lingering investment risks -- such as poor treasury management advice -- since the Icelandic banking collapses of 2008. See also, "BP's short-term funding will be scarce," which says, "Oil company BP is now in danger of losing access to the commercial paper market, with one rating agency downgrading its short-term rating and another threatening to do so. Were a second major agency to follow Fitch's steep ratings cut of BP on Tuesday, the company's ability to fund itself through the commercial paper market would be curtailed because of ratings rules for U.S. money market funds investing in that debt." Finally, see BankRate.com's "CD or money market? Depends on rate direction".
