LONDON (Reuters) - Gibraltar will scrap a key curb on its funds industry as the minnow British territory tries to take on Ireland, Luxembourg and rivals further afield to become an international financial services hub.

(Reuters) - From classic to Chinese or even Texan, hedge funds are deploying a variety of trading strategies this year to make the most of sizeable deals, including Glencore and Roche, after a freeze in deal-making dented their returns during the second half of 2011.

LONDON (Reuters) - MainFirst Asset Management has upped its cyclical exposure and turned "neutral" from "underweight" on financials, as economic indicators recover and earnings per share revisions improve, its managing director said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal judge dismissed racketeering claims against UniCredit and its Bank Austria unit, dealing the Italian bank another victory and the trustee representing victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme a major setback in his quest for compensation for the victims.

LONDON (Reuters) - Lansdowne Partners, one of Europe's biggest hedge fund firms, is to rename its flagship $7.5 billion UK Equity fund, reflecting its overseas investments and allowing it to invest in emerging markets, a source close to the firm told Reuters.

LONDON (Reuters) - Ebullio Capital Management said it has launched a second commodities fund, seeking to capitalise on short-term momentum plays in round-the-clock trading, including during volatile Asian hours.

LONDON (Reuters) - Investor demands to pull out of hedge funds rose from an all-time low last month but remain at a historically subdued level, data from hedge fund services firm GlobeOp shows, in a sign investors are not deserting the sector despite last year's mediocre returns.

LONDON (Reuters) - Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers said there are signs of improvement in developed economies after it revealed a 20 percent increase in underlying profit having steered through months of volatile markets and regulatory uncertainty.

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone debt crisis has created opportunities on both the long and short side among retail stocks and southern European-based companies, says Vis Nayar, a fund manager at HSBC.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A rough year for Asian hedge funds in 2011 exposed the long-only bias of many managers' portfolios, leaving the industry fighting a tough battle to retain clients as assets shrink and fund closures accelerate.

LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds are cranking up their bets in equities and credit in 2012's buoyant markets in the belief that the euro zone, U.S. and Chinese economies will fare better than many were fearing last year.

LONDON (Reuters) - A failure to get to grips with staff pay and the cost of reshaping businesses added to grim trading activity and dragged Europe's top investment banks to a collective 1.6 billion euro loss last quarter.

LONDON (Reuters) - Used to criticism for caring only about short-term profit, hedge funds are now being faulted for a failure to think short-term enough after losing out badly in last year's volatile markets.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority has fined a former Merrill Lynch managing director 350,000 pounds for market abuse, after the broker told hedge fund boss David Einhorn about an upcoming share sale by UK pubs company Punch Taverns .

(Reuters) - Moody's warned on Thursday it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions in another sign the impact of the euro zone government debt crisis is spreading throughout the global financial system.

LONDON (Reuters) - Event-driven hedge fund Tyrus Capital has made a strong start to 2012, one of several managers to benefit from this year's revival in European corporate deal making.

(Reuters) - Exchange-traded fund companies often tout their transparency. But retail investors in even the simplest of ETFs may not be getting a clear picture of what they own, how much they are paying for it, or what kind of risks they are taking.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager and long-time gold bull John Paulson cut his gold ETF bullion holdings by about $600 million (382 million pounds) in the fourth quarter, a second straight reduction that was likely driven by client redemption needs as he remained upbeat on the metal.

(Reuters) - The world's first yuan-denominated gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) made a weak debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday, but analysts said demand would likely pick up as investors became more familiar with the product.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China Investment Corp (CIC) remains wary about investing in European government bonds despite a plea from Germany's chancellor, but will look for opportunities in infrastructure and real industrial projects, the head of the country's $410 billion (260 billion pounds) sovereign wealth fund said on Monday.