Ukraine is the latest emerging market in which asset-backed securities are being issued, with both international and domestic transactions appearing in recent weeks.

The foundation on which Ferrovial built its acquisition of BAA was its securitization exit. But nearly a year after the buyout, the refinancing is nowhere to be seen. Louise Bowman finds out what’s happening.

Asian investors still love property, despite the tight spreads.

Goldman Sachs has been fined what some might call a rather lenient amount, $2 million, for selling short an IPO pre-sale.

House painter Miguel Hernández has dreamed for years of buying a house and a car for his wife and three children. However, as one of the millions of Mexicans without a bank account, he has always been denied credit. But his luck could change in June when US-owned superstore Wal-Mart de Mexico opens banking services, joining a growing roster of local retailers moving into banking for low-income earners. "I’ve shopped at Wal-Mart for years, they know me and I hope they’ll let me open an account. It would change everything," says Hernández.

Cynics might argue that the US and Russia are leading villains in the global warming piece. But financial Realpolitik suggests that the world’s biggest polluter and Europe’s most polluted country have key roles to play in the fight to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Investors worry about lack of outside experience, lack of star quality and the temporary prefix.

A wobble in China, a rapid sell-off in global equities, a flight to the safe haven of government bonds and the unwinding of carry trades were all evidence of a change in investors’ risk appetite starting in February and going through into March. The moves showed many things, including the interdependence not only of various currencies but also different asset classes. For a brief period, the path of global equity markets seemed to be dictated by what was going on in an intraday basis in spot sterling/yen.

"Chávez is the ideological leader of the guerrillas in Colombia"

One man not joining the cult of Chávez is Latin America’s richest man, Carlos Slim.

Armeconombank is looking to chart new territory for Armenian banks with an international equity offering.

Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, announced in March a further relaxation of foreign exchange regulations designed to normalize trading in the Malaysian ringgit.

As the deal between US-based Lyondell Chemical and Saudi Arabia’s National Titanium Dioxide (Cristal) closes so Saudi Arabian merger and acquisition activity looks set to increase further, and to cover more types of business, in 2007.

With growth surging ahead and inflation high, some analysts have voiced their concerns that the Egyptian economy is getting ahead of itself.

The bizarre decision by Moody’s to grant Aaa status to a rag-tag assortment of obscure Nordic credits has put the raters in the spotlight. The relationship between the rating agencies and the big investment banks should also come under scrutiny.

Anyone who is anyone in the FX market wants to put up a good showing in the annual Euromoney survey – it is widely accepted as the most accurate gauge of how a bank’s business is doing. In some cases, it is rumoured that success in the poll is even more important than growth in revenues.

The Euromoney investment banking champions league game table is taking shape, and after a bloody back and forth at the top, Citi has put daylight between itself and its nearest competitor, BNP Paribas.

The good times might be back in Asia’s markets for foreign investment banks. Alas, though, the feel-good factor does not appear to have reached French bank BNP Paribas.

Hysterical headlines and wild index swings have disguised what is really going on in the world of home equity loan securitization.

Capitalizing on the surge of private equity funds to list on stock markets, in March Standard & Poor’s launched its S&P Listed Private Equity Index.

According to Highland Capital, there are at least 13 new managers poised to bring their first CLO deals in Europe this year. Twenty-two new managers joined the market last year, doubling the size of the market in just 12 months. If the market keeps growing at this pace there will inevitably be some form of consolidation since competition for assets is already acute. Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid is currently marketing its first self-managed CLO, Neptuno. The US market continues to boom – 16 deals a month closed last year and so far in 2007 17 have been announced and 44 are ramping.

Citadel Investment Group is reportedly set to market its middle-office and back-office hedge fund expertise to its peers from May, and is aiming at becoming one of the top 10 administrators within five years. Citadel Solutions was set up as a subsidiary earlier this year. According to news website Chicago Business, the business has the capacity to execute two to three times the 20 million trades that Citadel handles each quarter.

Cross-border activity to increase, say participants.

More real estate companies have come to the market in the past two months than in the past two years.

"Japan’s companies had better make use of the advantage of being in the Asian region. The urgent task for them is to promote localization in Asia, in order to secure from European and US firms the fruits that this prospering economy brings forth"

Press reports that hedge funds will be the hardest hit by the sub-prime mortgages free fall in the US have been proved wrong by Paulson and Co. According to sources, the $7 billion merger arbitrage and event-driven hedge fund has produced 100% net returns year to date, and 60% in February alone on the back of sub-prime bets.

Are present market conditions a threat or opportunity for permanent capital vehicles in structured finance?

Appointment shows growing importance of Asia for business and for career growth.

In March, Morgan Stanley became the latest bulge-bracket firm to enter the increasingly crowded Vietnam securities market.

Havens Advisors’ hedge funds focus on merger arbitrage, high-yield bonds and distressed debt. Helen Avery speaks to founder Nancy Havens about the opportunities in high-yield.