Government investment funds from China and Qatar are moving new money into Western financial companies, a sign that the cash-rich funds haven't completely pulled back from the volatile U.S. and European markets, the associated press reported.
The funds, often known as sovereign wealth funds, plowed about $40 billion into troubled institutions such as Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. early this year but have since largely avoided U.S. and European banks as the financial crisis worsened.
Any renewal of interest from the sovereign funds could provide much-needed capital to Western financial institutions and other companies.
On Thursday, Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group said it had raised $8.75 billion in new capital, most of it from the Qatar Investment Authority, the Persian Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund.