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BLOM launches Egyptian investment fund BLOM Bank’s investment arm, Blominvest, is to launch and manage an investment fund in Egypt called the BLOM Pyramids Balanced Fund. The new fund will invest in the burgeoning Egyptian market, where gross domestic product is forecast to grow beyond $200 billion in the next few years.  The fund is to invest a minimum of 50 percent in Egyptian debt instruments and a maximum of 50 percent in equities. Subscription and redemption in the fund is conducted on a weekly basis with a starting unit price of $5,000. Checking on the up Lebanon saw a 38.7 percent rise in check clearing activity in the first quarter of 2010. According to figures released by the Association of Banks in Lebanon, total cleared checks came to $16.9 billion. The increase was attributed to a 43.1 percent surge in foreign currency denominated checks, 22.7 percent higher than in