Wider LatAm agreements planned; Brazil to introduce high-frequency trading

Five failed Russian IPOs in London this year; Realistic pricing key for successful deals

JPMorgan did a fine job in downplaying the significance of its recent payment of $153.6 million to the SEC to settle accusations of fraud over a mortgage-backed CDO squared product from 2007. The SEC had alleged that JPMorgan was negligent in failing to disclose the role that hedge fund Magnetar played in selecting the mortgages in the synthetic CDO, then taking the short side of the credit derivatives trades used to create the portfolio.

Deutsche’s CIB chief knows market share is crucial in the post-Basle III world, and believes that a closer integration of its businesses will be key to achieving it.

Manufacturing production and exporter orders down; Inflation pressures ease

For almost 10 years Josef Ackermann has regularly proved his critics wrong. His latest retort has been to rebalance Deutsche Bank's business mix and maintain returns within a much-changed investment bank. But can he meet the aggressive new targets he has set?

While retaining the independence to best advise companies and governments on how to finance, the firm boasts a global M&A business of a scale comparable to the largest banks.

Swiss bank leads wary clients through uncharted territory.

A series of acquisitions has rebalanced the German bank’s business mix but it still remains one of the most formidable firms in investment banking.

The bank shows that in times of regulatory uncertainty, high levels of client service trump outright scale.

The bank focuses on advice, though it is happy to arrange as well, and seeks out close integration between sectors, regions and sources of finance.

Already a powerhouse in FICC, Barclays Capital is muscling its way into the upper echelons of global M&A advisory and equity capital markets. Its three-year investment programme to build global franchises on the back of Lehman’s US rump is nearly done. The firm’s bosses promise shareholders that they are about to reap the dividends and that revenues and income will flow in. The handful of leading global investment banks have a new competitor to deal with.

Includes Bonds, Equities, Loans, M&A, MTN, Project Finance

Will low mark 666 be revisited?

China stock scandals

Governments turn to private sector to fund infrastructure.

Country risk rankings are dropping sharply in the Eurozone periphery and across the entire Middle East, including Qatar which had been viewed as relatively immune to the fallout from the Arab Spring. Andrew Mortimer reports.

Brazil is a big financial market with lots to manage and plenty of challenges. New investment rules offer broader opportunities. International investors are starting to see the potential too. Rob Dwyer reports.

Fertile crescent

Euromoney surveyed the FX options market for the first time in 2011 as part of the annual FX survey. Deutsche Bank (with a 17.32% market share) showed itself to be a powerhouse in this market, as it has been in the spot and forward markets for the past seven years.

Freedom to perform

Three months before the start of the credit crunch in 2007 this column predicted that the IPO of Blackstone Group marked the “endgame for private equity”. With Glencore listing in London there might be good reasons to call time on the commodities bubble.

Bond investors no longer put blind faith in top credit ratings – even the safest-seeming borrowers can expect searching questions. So the openness of such issuers as the Spanish sovereign has paid big dividends. It is a lesson even the most successful issuers are learning. Philip Moore reports.

Investors are taking a more enlightened stance towards Spanish Treasury funding.

Aftershock of European debt crisis hits supranationals.

Local/foreign companies looking to list; Economic recovery underpins investor demand

European fund to raise €8 billion in June, will expand to US qualified buyers before year-end

Santander Investment, JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the mandated bookrunners for a potential $100 million IPO of Santander’s Argentine subsidiary.

The European stranglehold over the headship of the IMF needs to be replaced by an appointment by merit alone