Cross border equity tie-ups between financial firms have enjoyed mixed success to put it mildly (think HSBC and Household Finance in the 2000s, or Deutsche Bank and Morgan Grenfell in the 1990s).

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Their decision to switch the tie to Highbury for financial reasons was understandable, however, and Boro could at least say they had tackled some of the world's best players as Arsenal fielded the likes of Robert Pires in their starting line-up.

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Its tie-up with Discover Financial Services, will be launched in Q2 2013.

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The company has been testing offline modes through its PayPal Here device and announced a tie-up with Discover Financial Services in Q3.

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Tie-ups with Discover Financial Services, NCR, PayPal Here and increasing usage of mobile devices for browsing the internet are factors which lead us to expect a similar growth in 2013.

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Also, mining titan BHP Billiton tried to tie the knot with Rio Tinto in the midst of the financial crisis two years ago but ultimately dropped its offer citing economic conditions.

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The overall increase in financial scrutiny, coupled with this new, up-close and personal tie between executive and the corporate information being disseminated by corporations--and the costs associated with it--has sparked an ongoing debate in boardrooms across the country.

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In contrast with News Corp's sally for Dow Jones, many of the thorny details of the proposed tie-up between Reuters and Thomson, the second- and third-largest providers of financial data respectively, have already been worked out.

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