An intimate knowledge of the market, a good track record and a favourable cost basis – what more could a credit rating agency ask for?

After its success with the sale of BCR late last year to Erste Bank, Romania’s government seems determined to press ahead with the sale of one of the few remaining banks of any size in central Europe, CEC. The final bidding deadline for the 85% stake is April 26, with six European banks – National Bank of Greece, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Dexia Bank, EFG Eurobank, OTP Bank and Raiffeisen Bank – having shown an interest by mid-March. The decision to go ahead with the sale surprised many bankers, given that the government had an alternative proposal to restructure the bank over two years to boost its value, with some suggesting until recently that CEC might never be sold.

Bank is making use of its wide geographical experience to build cross-border expertise.

French chemicals company Rhodia has announced several initiatives that will help Rhodia Energy Services optimize the value of its carbon emissions receipts, which have been generated from projects to reduce emissions at Rhodia’s plants in South Korea and Brazil. In its first hedge using carbon emission receipts, it has sold 8 million tonnes of CERs, of which 6.5 million will be sold at €15 a tonne, to be spread over 2007 and 2008.

Deutsche Bank has hired from a private equity firm to expand its presence in the rapidly growing real estate, gaming and lodging sector in Asia. The bank has hired Matthew Mrozinski from Colony Capital, the private equity firm that specializes in real estate investments. There, Mrozinski was vice-president of acquisition and head of Asia-Pacific capital formation. In this newly created role at Deutsche, Mrozinski will report to the bank’s head of M&A for Asia, Douglas Morton, but will also be responsible for the financings of real estate deals.

Ed Mizuhara has left Lehman Brothers where he ran the sovereign, supranational and agency syndicate, to join Credit Suisse. He will report to John Fleming, head of syndicate, who moved fast to find a replacement for Nick Dent. Dent resigned in February to join Merrill Lynch.

Domestic criticisms of Deutsche Bank’s international focus have not passed it by, prompting plans to develop its business at home. But as Jürgen Fitschen, who leads the initiative, tells Philip Moore, his bank does not intend to imitate rivals’ indiscriminate wooing of medium-size companies.

Unbundling of commission regulation will increase independent data provision.

WaMu for covered bonds

There is a consensus view that European equities are cheap and that M&A will continue to drive the market up and keep the liquidity flowing. This rosy vision is built on the assumption that earnings will remain strong, that global growth is re-accelerating, that the risk from inflation is minimal and that interest rates are therefore likely to remain low.

The low-key business of advancing tiny loans to the poor in developing countries is not the most obvious starting point for a new asset class on Wall Street. Microfinance has always struggled to develop because of a lack of access to financial markets. But the consistent profitability of microcredit companies is turning heads, according to Acción International, a non-profit organization that promotes small lending programmes worldwide. Its affiliates extended loans of almost $2 billion last year. “Microfinance as an industry is becoming a separate asset class for Wall Street,” says Acción International’s president, Maria Otero.

52 The percentage growth in Lehman Brothers’ equities business, the investment bank’s fastest-growing sector. After slashing costs and investing in more automated trading during the lean bear market years, investment banks are now making more money from equities than ever before.

Tough regulations hold back trade volumes.

Vietnam’s stock market is roaring as speculative money chases the few listed stocks. Reform is on the way and the potential for growth is clear. Meanwhile, the market remains over-hyped, poorly regulated and lethal for the uninitiated. Chris Leahy reports.

The US housing boom is set to collapse, with adverse effects on domestic consumption. This, unlike the slowdowns in Australia and the UK, will have a marked effect on global growth.

The introduction of a covered bond law in the UK is meant to sound the death-knell of RMBS. But the traditional financing vehicle of UK mortgages still offers greater leverage, diversification and liquidity. That’s why banks such as HSBC are considering setting up both covered bond programmes and new RMBS master trusts. Louise Bowman reports.

5 The number of years it has taken the S&P 500 and the FTSE100 share indices to reach levels last seen in 2001. On March 15, the S&P 500 crossed the 1300 mark for the first time since May 2001. This is still about 15% below the index’s March 2000 all-time high. The FTSE 100 crossed the 6000 mark for the first time since March 2001 but is still almost 1,000 points shy of its December 1999 all-time high.

Mexico has long considered itself a groundbreaker in international debt capital markets. But its latest attempt to make history fell rather flat: it was downsized by $2 billion in the face of weak demand for the new debt part of the deal.

Ultra-rich investors are seeking out higher-volatility hedge funds. But they will be hard to find until strategies catch up with demand.

Record liquidity stymies growth of securitization.

Rising personal bankruptcy levels and an uncertain economic outlook in the UK might suggest that non-conforming and sub-prime mortgage lending is not the smartest business line to jump into at the moment. Try telling that to the succession of new entrants now preparing to try their luck in this sector – one in which veterans might suggest that they are already 10 years too late.

First the bad news: the securities valuation office of the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has ruled that the very first Lehman Brothers ECAP is equity. Insurers would be required to hold greater amounts of capital against ECAP structures that are regarded as equity rather than preferred securities.

Icelandic bank spreads, which had been drifting wider late last year, moved out sharply in early March.

It seems no one has the right returns

Connecticut-based currency manager Tradex Capital Markets has been awarded the management of UBS’s external allocation programme for FX-only investments. Tradex will assume responsibility for portfolio construction, maintenance and manager negotiations on behalf of UBS. Steve Jury, chief investment officer at Tradex, says: “In addition to the continued growth of our conservative, low-volatility fund, Tradex aims to move aggressively into the business of building customized multi-adviser platforms for asset managers, pension funds and government institutions. The unique funding possibilities in FX allow for the creation of portable alpha strategies that can be created with very low cash requirements. The firm is researching new ideas including notes, swaps and index development that we will likely market jointly with large financial institutions. Our wealth of FX market experience allows us to assess and quantify currency managers. This edge will enable us to help investors build return and avoid the pitfalls in a difficult and developing asset class.”

For some FX traders the prospect of an extended holiday seems to be the deal clincher for switching jobs.

The volume of European equity capital market deals from the real estate sector has been growing strongly over the past two years and is expected to increase again this year.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has made no secret of its desire to diversify into Asia. So its agreement with the China Foreign Exchange Trade System & National Interbank Funding Centre (CFETS), China’s interbank foreign exchange and bond market, to provide electronic access to its FX and interest rate products should come as little surprise. “The signing of this agreement is a significant step in implementing our long-term Asian growth strategy,” says CME chairman Terry Duffy. “It is the result of many years of effort by Leo Melamed, our chairman emeritus, to help develop our Asian strategy as well as the contributions of other key individuals including Phupinder Gill, our president and chief operating officer, CME retired chairman Jack Sandner and president Xie Duo and his colleagues at CFETS.”

Spanish bank forms a joint venture with alternatives specialist Vega to cater for institutional investors.

NIBC is planning a hybrid capital deal linked to the 10-year constant maturity swap rate. The deal, via lead manager Morgan Stanley, is fixed for the first five years at a whopping 8% before switching to the 10-year CMS plus 10 basis points. The coupon is capped at 8% with no floor. Such deals were extremely popular until a year ago but hybrid capital referenced to CMS coupons has fallen out of vogue since. The sector boomed during 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, with borrowers attracted by the highly aggressive all-in after-swap funding costs. But after the curve flattened many of these securities have traded at prices in the low 80s. With the curve as flat as it is, it seems the view is that the downside is now limited.