U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Time to shift strategy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday the economy has regained enough strength to allow a shift in strategy from rescue to preparing for future growth.

“As we enter this new phase we must begin winding down some of the extraordinary support we put in place for the financial system,” he said in prepared remarks for delivery to the Congressional Oversight Panel for the bank bailout fund.

Geithner said banks that got capital injections in the form of taxpayer-provided funds have repaid more than $70 billion, reducing the government’s total investment to $180 billion. “We now estimate that banks will repay another $50 billion over the next 12 to 18 months,” he added.


Ex-banker found guilty

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Former Morgan Stanley (MS.N) managing director Du Jun was found guilty of insider trading by a Hong Kong court on Thursday, in the city’s highest-profile insider trading case.

Du was charged with acquiring shares worth HK$86 million in CITIC Resources (1205.HK) between February and April 2007 while he had material and price-sensitive information not known to the market. He was also charged with advising his wife to deal in CITIC Resources shares in that period.

The verdict comes 14 months after Du was arrested at the Hong Kong airport. He now faces up to seven years in prison when sentenced.