Credit crisis diary: Satyam's man was universally feted

The fallout from the Satyam scandal continues. Red faces at ABN Amro, who tipped the company's shares just hours before the Indian IT company's chairman and founder fessed up to false accounting. And Ernst & Young must be a tad embarrassed too, having dubbed B Ramalinga Raju its Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007. The beancounters described him as a "world-renowned visionary, global business leader and thinker".

HBOS and the 'Sunday Sport'

More bad news for the prudent and conservative folk of Scotland. Do they know that their favourite bank, Halifax Bank of Scotland – soon to be acquired, outrageously by Lloyds TSB – is the largest investor in Sport Media Group, the struggling publisher of the Daily and Sunday Sport? HBOS's 16 per cent stake is almost twice as large as anyone else's – that should have many north of the border choking over their porridge.

A moniker thatreally doesn't fit

From the sublime to the ridiculous. While Bernard Madoff has the perfect name, given his alleged misdemeanours, the absolute opposite is true of the new acting head of the US Congressional Budget Office. He's the man who was charged yesterday with announcing that the US is heading for a record budget deficit, as the American recession worsens. Step forward Robert Sunshine.

But tell us what you really think

It seems fair to say that analysts at Evolution Securities were not impressed by the reports that Royal Bank of Scotland is trying to improve its capital position by selling its holding in Bank of China. "This is the equivalent of someone with a huge mortgage and negative equity trying to solve the problem by selling their iPod," was Evolution's verdict.

Help for the hedgies, but at a price

With bankruptcies expected across the hedge fund industry, how reassuring for those poor hedgies that their brethren intend to look out for them. The latest phenomenon in the sector is the "litigation fund", to which several hedge funds can contribute. As a bankrupt hedge fund is not allowed to spend money on frivolous pursuits such as chasing up lenders or advisers for money, these funds are dedicated to helping the poor things to undertake expensive court cases. Naturally, in the best of hedge fund traditions, those that "altruistically" contribute to such funds expect a share of any compensation earned.