Can Dubai take advantage of Tehran’s rapprochement with the US to once again become Iran’s de facto financial link to the world?

The global financial crisis might mark the beginning of a broader realization that global hyper-capitalism has reached its limits. The failure of the AstraZeneca/Pfizer merger shows that, for good or ill, a backlash has begun.

Short-term gains for some energy firms and industrials; longer-term energy strategy review needed.

Joint investment fund undertakes new deals; Kazakhstan’s nationalized bank sell-offs set to go.

A lack of rain to fill the dams that power Brazil is becoming a potential crisis. But as experts call for action to protect dwindling reservoirs the government refuses to act, and running the hydrology risk is becoming increasingly dangerous for it.

Barclays estimates 300% fall in bolivar; deficit should fall to 10%.

AbdulMagid Breish, the chairman and acting CEO of the LIA – the man who launched litigation against some of the biggest names in global banking – reveals the sovereign wealth fund’s plans for the future and the battle to move on from Gaddafi-era investments.

Last month Goldman Sachs filed papers in the UK courts seeking to have a case for mis-selling brought by the Libyan Investment Authority summarily dismissed. This is not the first attempt by the bank to end the problems caused by its engagement with Gaddafi-era Libya. In a 2010 memo, Goldman proposed a complex structure that would have involved a $52 million payment in exchange for unwinding trades that had cost the Libyan fund almost $1.3 billion. While the US investigates, LIA chairman Abdulmagid Breish is making plans for the sovereign wealth fund’s future – and he wants his country’s money back.

How hard will an emerging market portfolio get hit? Differentiation, not blind love, will tell.

The increasingly litigious Libyan Investment Authority has turned its attention from Goldman Sachs to Société Générale, as it tries to get money back from investment advice it received in 2008. Court documents shed light on a mysterious Panama-based company – whose function for the LIA and the Gaddafi administration has long puzzled observers – which is alleged to have received $58 million in bribes from the French bank.

Gaining diversified access to the African growth story can be difficult when local capital markets are limited and illiquid. Private equity should help fill the gaps.

The region’s businesses are being held back by weak transport links, while markets are underdeveloped because of lack of infrastructure. Will Asean’s economic fusion in 2015 give southeast Asia the injection of funds it so desperately needs?

Ghana's currency and Eurobond yields took a big hit last week as markets continued to take fright over its twin deficits. Here's the sorry tale in pictures.

Goldman’s controversial relationship with the Libyan Investment Authority was brought back into focus this week after a former executive of Palladyne International Asset Management brought a claim against the Dutch firm describing it as a ‘money-laundering operation’ for the former Gaddafi regime.

Turkey deserves an investment-grade status, according to data from Euromoney Country Risk, despite political risks, the impact of Fed tapering, Standard & Poor’s low rating and Moody’s downgrade threats.

Africa’s economic growth over the past decade has propelled the number of high-net-worth individuals on the continent to new highs, creating a new and powerful class of super-wealthy Africans who are taking on oligarch status.

For second consecutive year Chilean retailer Falabella wins the category for most convincing and coherent strategy. Grupo Sura becomes the best-managed company in Colombia for the first time, while Credicorp wins the regional category of banking and finance.

The birth of Azerbaijan’s capital markets has been continually predicted, but has never come to pass. Now a tiny IPO is raising renewed hopes of access to one of the richest frontier markets. Will this time be different?

Demographics are the forgotten dimension of investment. The experience of Japan suggests we should pay more heed.

Privatizations in the country promise to further turbo-charge growth, a bright spot in emerging Europe. But worries about the stability of the ruling coalition and governance persist.

Nigerian central bank independence passed away this week, according to traders, after a long battle with government officials that culminated in the downfall of the celebrated reformer Lamido Sanusi.

Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania – new African producers – should not be complacent on Dutch-disease risks, warns Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank and respected economist.

Investment authority says bank implemented trades that it didn't understand, costing it $1 billion.

As Fed tapering gathers momentum, frontier markets in Africa are not as vulnerable as their emerging market heavyweights, but those with higher current-account deficits will feel the pressure.

Strength of economic recovery exaggerated; Necessary reforms in Brazil are lacking

The hedge fund industry is coming off another year of substantial underperformance to market benchmarks in bizarrely rude health. Total assets in the industry rose to $2.01 trillion in December to set a new record total above the previous peak of $1.95 trillion in June 2008, according to data firm Eurekahedge. Other monitors put the current total as high as $2.41 trillion.

New funds to track both A50 and CSI300 indices; Ucits compliance opens funds to European buyers

Central and eastern Europe is attractive for private equity houses. But they need to get their priorities right.

Rwanda’s finance minister Claver Gatete waxes lyrical over the country’s bid to become an international-investment hub for the budding East African Community and defends the administration’s security policy.

As competition between financial hubs heats up, London’s ambition to become the western destination of choice for offshore renminbi received a boost from crucial market players this week, following a flurry of successful renminbi-related developments in the City.