The financial supply chain is an important concept for CFOs and treasurers to understand. However, it is one that they might be unfamiliar with, and certainly it is unlikely to be at the top of their agenda.

The inflation-linked bond market has grown dramatically in size and sophistication. What is driving its expansion, and just how far can the market develop?

With gross public debt more than 170% of GDP and domestic investors increasingly diversifying overseas, the country is keen to attract foreign investors, even as it struggles to reduce government bond issuance and stave off roll-over risk. Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan’s vice-minister of finance for international affairs, speaks to Peter Lee about Japan’s funding policy and broader economic prospects.

Eisuke Sakakibara is known as Mr Yen for the influence of his pronouncements on Japan’s currency and was Japan’s vice-minister for finance for international affairs from 1997 to 1999. An internationalist famed for making key policy speeches in English, he argues in this interview with Tetsuya Shibata that Japanese companies must become more outward-looking to prosper.

Asia’s debt markets have soared and spreads over US and European markets have all but disappeared. Meanwhile, risk appetite continues to rise as new products become increasingly marginal. Asia’s debt bankers have much to ponder. Chris Leahy reports.

Lebanese banks have maintained a comfortable financial position despite last year’s Israeli attack and a continuing stand-off between Hizbollah and the government. However, the macroeconomic situation is far from rosy, not least because the country has the world’s highest debt-to-GDP ratio. James Drummond reports from Beirut.

Dubai’s investment agencies might not have the scale of their counterparts from other parts of the Middle East but they are becoming voracious buyers of assets. Who are they and what are their plans? Sudip Roy and Simon Brady profile the people and strategies behind Dubai International Capital and Istithmar as they join the ranks of the world’s most powerful investors.

But move would boost liquidity when volumes are falling.

Structured covered bond may be repeated by other German issuers.

The fourth CLO designed to free up risk capital for reinvestment in the PFI market has been launched. Roger James reports.

The regulatory framework of Europe’s single payments system is effectively in place. But the details of implementation by banks and corporates are still a matter of debate.

Dubai’s Emaar Properties has announced that it has struck a shares-for-land agreement with Dubai Holding, a state-owned conglomerate.

BTA Ipoteka became the first Kazakh bank to issue a securitization of residential mortgage loans in the international public markets.

Stock markets keep on rising as the country celebrates the onset of the Year of the Pig. But market participants expect a correction soon and the regulators are eager to ensure that it is a controlled one that does not see off foreign capital. Elliot Wilson reports.

Energy development and production have vast and growing capital needs that offer opportunities for investment banks. Add in commodity risk management as well as carbon trading and the prospects look even more glittering. Peter Koh reports, while a new survey shows which banks are leading the way.

The launch of LCDX and release of Isda documentation in Europe could revolutionize risk transfer.

Long overdue fiscal prudence and a rising economic tide have presented the Philippines with its best chance in decades for sustainable economic growth. Chris Leahy reports.

Will AgriBank be an IPO too far?

The recent sell-off in global stock markets will not be a repeat of last May – a short correction leading to new highs. There is now more to worry about in the global economy and the liquidity cycle is at a turning point.

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"Actually, I just pitched one of those today," says a debt capital markets banker when asked whether he detected developing interest among emerging market clients in toggle notes.

Deutsche Bank, in conjunction with VTB Bank Austria and VTB Bank, has launched the first rated CDO of CIS corporates.

For the funds, there are lots of advantages: diversification of funding sources; the ability to invest in less-liquid opportunities; and the power to raise more AUM. But do investors understand what they are buying? Helen Avery reports.

Alan Patterson, head of the financial institutions group at Citi, is moving on from origination to a new role of capital management advisory. He will report to Valentin Ehmer, who runs the fixed income and derivatives product group.

Goldman Sachs is pursuing innovative structures, including LBOs and other transactions not previously executed in Brazil as it seeks to become one of the top three banks in the country.

The equities business at leading investment banks is booming, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group.

According to a survey by Tiger 21, a US group for high net-worth investors, the wealthy wouldn’t have been too hard hit by the sharp slide in public equity markets last month as they had already cashed out and moved money to alternative investments. Tiger 21’s 115 members, who have $7 billion in assets, reduced their public equity exposure in 2006 by 30% in anticipation of a correction. They doubled their exposure to alternative assets to 9.5% over the year.

Relics of a troubled past are soon going to be put behind Mexican glass company Vitro, which has just completed a total debt refinancing. Chloe Hayward speaks to CFO Alvaro Rodríguez about his company’s rocky past and shiny future.

Revenues at Instinet’s Asian business grew by an impressive 50% last year, double the growth in regional trading volumes. The electronic broker has ambitious plans to expand throughout the region this year, opening an office in Singapore, becoming the first remote member of the Australian Stock Exchange, and establishing a partnership in India to offer electronic direct market access. However, it is in its new adopted home of Japan that the broker is making its boldest moves.

Latin American markets have proved to be a fine investment in recent years, although not, it seems, for Mexican private pension fund managers. Pension funds, afores as they are locally known, are coming under increasing scrutiny for failing to provide the kind of stellar returns posted in Chile and Peru, despite new freedoms to diversify investments.