The Tokyo Stock Exchange found that a malfunction in its new and trouble-prone trading system prevented Mizuho Securities from being able to cancel the mistaken J-Com order.

Investment banks Nomura and Mediobanca are about to close Italy’s largest ever securitization of regional healthcare receivables, according to market sources in Italy and London. “This is the largest ever deal of its type, and it has unique structural features that have never been used before in this asset class,” says a source close to the €2 billion transaction.

Innovation and wider investor participation continue apace.

Euromoney reports on the innovations driving the market forward, and profiles the winners of latest Islamic finance awards.

Fewer new financial sector rules from the EC might sound like a welcome respite, but it is not the same thing as no new rules.

If Mifid forces banks to physically trade illiquid bonds they publish prices on, they won’t risk their capital.

Although Asia remains in the vanguard of private banking growth, a new survey from Boston Consulting Group highlights key challenges ahead.

In battle for Time Warner, he must convince institutions and the proxy recommendation service advisers.

Calpers, the largest US pension fund, is on the prowl for a new chief investment officer to replace Mark Anson, who stepped down in October to become chief executive officer of Hermes Pensions Management Ltd. The $200 billion fund says it has appointed a recruitment firm and hopes to fill the position in the next six to eight months.

Tougher financing conditions are now making it harder to execute.

Scotland’s richest man, Sir Tom Hunter, plans to pull out £100 million ($177 million) he has invested with UBS Wealth Management after falling out with UBS executive Jon Wood, according to the UK press. The two have been battling it out in a court case in connection with their personal involvement in The Gadget Shop.

Has Gartmore’s public mulling of the possibility of an IPO in the past few months been nothing more than an attempt to attract takeover bids? Statements from the fund manager now pour cold water on the notion of an IPO but concede that the firm is open to acquisition enquiries. The latest buyer to be mentioned in the rumours is Lehman Brothers.

Dresdner Bank has sent out a request for proposals for a sale and leaseback of its retail banking network in Germany. The deal involves some 300 banks and will raise an estimated €2 billion. In mid-December four buyers were left in the auction process – Babcock and Brown, Carlyle, Citigroup Property Investment and Fortress.

After earlier forecasting that European share prices would rise in 2006, Standard & Poor’s equity research now expects a 7% fall. The change in outlook is the result of the European Central Bank’s decision to jump on the bandwagon of global monetary policy tightening.

The general picture’s good and the four biggest economies are simultaneously on a growth path.

Just as Schroders Investment Management joins the ranks of company pension funds to dramatically cut equity exposure, the debate about the merits of such moves is heating up.

With their core jobs as trustees and paying agents commoditized, corporate trustees are relishing the chance to carve out a new role for themselves on structured credit deals.

As economic growth slows in 2006, more businesses are expected to fail, with the biggest increases likely in Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US.

A trader at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo accidentally sold 610,000 shares in J-Com for ¥1 instead of one share for ¥610,000.

ABN Amro bit off more than it could chew when it tried to sell a 4.9% stake in Dutch Telecom company KPN for the Dutch government in December. The bank was unable to offload the entire €883 million block and was left with stock on its books that rivals estimate could be worth hundreds of millions of euros. At least ABN Amro was in good company. Lehman Brothers and HVB also bungled a pre-Christmas trade. Lehman and HVB Corporates & Markets tried to sell an €804 million block of Munich Re shares, equivalent to about 3% of the company’s outstanding shares, at a price range of €116.75 to €117.50 a share, but the deal, on behalf of HVB’s parent, closed at just €116.30. Rivals believe the two might be facing seven-digit losses.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is helping to develop securitization structures in central and eastern Europe. Sudip Roy reports.

In an open letter to market participants, the New York-based Foreign Exchange Committee has warned about some of the dangers posed by the advent of retail FX products. The committee says technology often separates “the wholesale foreign exchange dealer from the end user, perhaps by multiple intermediaries”. This makes it difficult for banks to “know their customer”, and possibly hampers such compliance measures as anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism obligations.

A recent report by BreakingViews has revived the familiar story that EBS is up for sale, claiming that the company was hawking itself around via its adviser, Citigroup. The £1 billion ($1.8 billion) valuation that BreakingViews has put on EBS looks a little toppy and might well scare potential suitors away. Back-of-the-fag-packet calculations suggest that EBS captures about 20% of the total spot market. As FX volumes are still expected to grow, and EBS could quite conceivably increase its market share, someone with deep pockets might well decide it is worth a punt, even at £1 billion. However, whether its multiple owners will ever agree on the attractions of a suitor remains to be seen.

The security for the sixth ministerial conference was intense but Korean protesters were still able to set off a police fishing operation and the director-general did not escape a barracking, while residents wonder what it’s all for.

Europe is in better shape than a cursory examination of its politicians might suggest.

Like bespoke tailors, private bankers have to offer clients just that little bit extra.

Funds are still unsure what use they can make of derivatives.

Speculation continues about the value of funds of hedge funds. A recent survey of 146 European institutional investors by research firm Investor Source and law firm Clifford Chance revealed a significant drop in interest in funds of hedge funds. Only 50% were investing or considering investing in such vehicles in the third-quarter of 2005, down from 65% at the beginning. And of those investing in both funds of hedge funds and single hedge funds, 18% have switched to invest in just the latter.

JPMorgan found itself in a sticky hole last month when its private equity arm, JPMorgan Partners, was part of a consortium bidding for US doughnut company Dunkin’ Brands, which was being sold by French drinks company Pernod Ricard.

Concerned about growing inflationary pressures, Russia’s government plans to limit the amount state companies can borrow in international bond markets. Julian Evans reports on likely effects on the rouble capital market.