Activity remained high into mid-December after the majors finally broke free of their narrow ranges.

In 2000 Saddam Hussein attempted to stop accepting US dollars for oil transactions in favour of the euro, threatening demand for and the liquidity value of the dollar. After the Bush regime had invaded Iraq and ousted the dictator, they quietly went about converting Iraq’s oil currency back to the dollar.

Just over one-third of people in the region believe that their economic situation has improved.

Bolivian president Evo Morales has taken control of foreign energy companies operating in the landlocked country. The deals give the government a majority share of the companies’ revenues, generated by the second-largest natural gas reserves in Latin America, behind Venezuela. According to Morales, this nationalization process, begun in May with the petroleum industry, “will continue [in 2007] with the recovery of other natural resources benefiting the Bolivian people”.

The SEC has proposed increasing the minimum net worth for an investor in hedge funds to $2.5 million from $1 million in 2007. The $2.5 million net worth minimum is to include only liquid assets. Analysts doubt that the move will have much effect.

After some considerable time in development, Eurex plans to launch the world’s first exchange traded credit derivatives contract on March 27. The contract will be based on the iTraxx Europe five year series and – dependent on market demand and sufficient market maker support – Eurex might also list futures contracts on the HiVol and Crossover indices on the same date. The contracts will be cash settled.

It is traditional around year-end for awards to be received for deeds performed during the previous 12 months. We hereby announce Euromoney magazine’s inaugural awards for high-quality press relations. We did not ask for submissions as we are constantly bombarded with incidents from which to choose.

At the start of December, Ford Motor Co grabbed a liquidity lifeline with its first ever secured loan facility. All manufacturing and auto assets, plus some or all of its subsidiaries, are included. The move structurally subordinates unsecured debt holders, particularly in FMC, prompting one-notch downgrades to triple Caa1 for FMC from Moody’s, and to B from Fitch and a two-notch move from S&P to CCC+. Ford Motor Credit remains in Single B territory.

Uncertainty and opportunity as the central Asian republic prepares a currency float.

Surprise suggestion to take Stansted out of the regulated asset base.

“The most important project ever contemplated for the continent”

January is the month to purge the excesses of Christmas and New Year from the system. Detoxing won’t be so easy for the markets.

When it comes to hedge fund regulation 2006 is a year to be forgotten. It began with regulation by the SEC, only for it to be withdrawn later after an adverse court ruling. And no country seemed willing or able to decide what to do about international regulation. A pessimist would suggest that things won’t change much in 2007.

The wonderful world of financial PR

Moody’s threw a potential spanner in the works of the European hybrid market by announcing a consultation on possibly increasing the notching on securities with non-cumulative deferral features and cumulative deferral with stock settlement. Feedback was due at the end of December.

Austria’s RZB has hired Tracy Frampton to head up its sales of central and eastern Europe capital market products. Frampton was previously in fixed-income sales at Troika Dialog UK, where she focused on Russian corporate external and domestic debt. Before that she was head of distribution at Moscow Narodny Bank. Frampton is based in London.

In its financial stability review in December, the European Central Bank suggested the introduction of an international register containing information on the exposure of firms to highly leveraged institutions, such as hedge funds and prime broker banks. The register would provide prime brokers with frequent and aggregated risk information on the whole portfolio of an individual hedge fund, says the report. However, the report adds, it’s a little bit complicated and might be best left to some of the existing market products that collect reporting and flow information.

Marina Bay Residences: Singapore’s “first Über Penthouse”

The securities prove to be among the hottest assets of 2006 – some of the best trades across the globe.

“I’m afraid he says he is unable to speak with you at the moment.”

Germany’s deputy finance minister, Thomas Mirow, has promised that industrial nations will “coordinate efforts to reduce risks posed from hedge funds”, in a briefing dealing with Germany’s upcoming presidency of the G8 in 2007. He did, however, add that regulation might not be the way to reduce risk, suggesting that more transparency might rather do the job.

New FX indices have been separately launched by the International Index Company (IIC), the company behind the successful iBoxx bond and iTraxx credit derivative indices, and JPMorgan.

Farouk Ramzan has joined Lloyds TSB as head of debt origination reporting to Mark Grant, head of DCM. Ramzan was a long-standing member of SG’s debt team where he was head of UK corporate DCM.

The launch of Goldman Sachs’s Absolute Return Tracker Index in Italy in December has revived the argument about the value of passive hedge fund investing through indices compared with direct hedge fund investments or investment through funds of hedge funds.

Strong business confidence, healthy demand for German products and an increasing share of income going to capital belie fears that Germany’s growth rate is under threat.

Vincenzo Pelosi explains why pension funds are catching the swaps bug.

China is the world’s largest-ever catch-up economy. It will soon be the world’s largest economy, period. But policymakers in Beijing face some tough choices in the years to come to cope with the strains that industrial revolution brings, writes Diana Choyleva.

The UK private banking market is in rude health. However, although London still dominates, banks are throwing resources into regional growth. The biggest obstacle to organic growth is the lack of suitable talent to drive this expansion. Banks have to decide on the best business development strategy – acquisition, organic growth or servicing from the City? Julian Marshall reports.

Dresdner Bank’s EUR medium-risk portfolio is one of six risk profiles the bank runs for high-net-worth investors looking for a balanced portfolio and accepting exposure to global markets.

India’s recent rapid growth masks the fact that it still lags far behind China in terms of its economic development. Its catch-up potential remains huge, and its growth could be even faster. By Diana Choyleva and Maya Bhandari.