Barney Frank, chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said on Thursday international regulators agree they need to work together on tough new rules for global banks. Link

U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to impose new rules on bank size and risk dominated talk among bankers on the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as executives said big banks are essential and rules should be coordinated globally. Link

New guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission will prompt companies to reexamine how they explain the effects of climate change on their business in regulatory filings. The clarification from the regulator arrives just as companies with a calendar year-end are putting together their 10-Ks. Link

Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Corp. won dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for defrauding investors who bought about $100 billion of mortgage- backed securities. Link

The Obama administration is considering a proposal to create a retirement bond as part of a national direct-deposit retirement-savings program. Link

With a so-so U.S. economy expected in 2010, many companies are looking abroad for high-growth markets and low-cost outsourcing locations. China and India are still favorite destinations, but experts say interest in Brazil and Africa is growing. Link

Fresh from a trip Friday to northeastern Ohio, Obama will no doubt call on lawmakers to put aside partisan differences and work to approve health-care and jobs bills. Link

News of my death has been greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain is said to have told an audience in Europe in 1897 after reading a rather excitable newspaper report. In 2010, the hedge fund industry might be forgiven for saying the same thing. Link