The chairman of the SEC throws his weight behind Sarbanes-Oxley

A research report published in May by the Institute for Monetary and Economic Research, part of Korea's central bank, recommends that regulators in Korea promote more investment in domestic banks by domestic investors at the expense of foreign capital.

The Chinese government is at it again. Having already spent at least $45 billion in what may well prove to be vainglorious attempts to fix the country's ailing state-owned banking system, the People's Bank of China (PBC) announced that the State Council has decided to part with another $15 billion of foreign exchange reserves to shore up the capital base of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, by assets, the nation's largest bank.

Management of emerging markets lender Standard Chartered Bank is putting its own advertising slogan, 'We go the distance so you go further', to good internal use in its efforts to integrate its largest acquisition, the US$3.4 billion deal with Korea First Bank (KFB).

Regulator makes new attempt to solve 'legal person' shares overhang

UBS economist Jonathan Anderson describes its as "one of the most, nay, the most overly-hyped themes in the markets today". But the question of when and if the Chinese renminbi – currently pegged at 8.28 renminbi to one US dollar – will be revalued against the US currency continues to fascinate and obsess global foreign exchange markets. There appears to be a growing consensus among analysts that the Chinese government will make some adjustment to the peg in the near future, perhaps even in the present quarter.

Investors snapped up the bonds on rarity value, as Germany went for an early deal

New services could help solve operational risk issues in credit derivatives

Banks readjust after rare correction in asset-backed market Structured credit markets approach the June half-way mark with the spread cycle reversed. All but the most recent new issues are trading below par and the heady times of heavily oversubscribed deals are over for now.

Between sessions on liquidity, capital issues and the future of credit markets, the big issues of a conference near Malaga in Spain were played out around the poker table

With Greece continuing to run budget deficits that are unpalatable to credit rating agencies and breach EU guidelines, the government must look beyond tax increases to deal with the problem. Dimitris Kontogiannis reports.

State banks are geared to an economy that is mainly state controlled and they dominate much of Iran's financial sector. But the six public banks are starting to fund the private sector, while newly formed, privately owned banks are finding their own niche market through better services and funding. Kate Luxford reports.

Real estate investment trusts have taken off dramatically in Japan, providing a new way to invest in the property market and an attractive rate of return compared to other investment products. Can the boom last? Andy Wright reports.

The rapid pace of development in issuance and investment techniques means that the progression of real estate to become a global asset class in its own right is not far away. Clive Horwood reports.

With banks more cautious about straight lending and bond spreads tight, real estate securitization through commercial mortgage backed securities is becoming increasingly popular, with conduit issuance taking a growing share of the market. Laurence Neville reports.

Real estate investment trusts have helped to drive development of the asset class in countries such as the US and Japan. Now a European-wide market is ready for take off. Helen Avery reports.

Iran's strong headline economic figures are out of kilter with the weakness of its private sector and feeble foreign direct investment flows. Can the authorities boost private sector growth and investment inflows so long as influential ruling groups remain suspicious of free enterprise?

China's domestic stock markets are a mess, riddled with inefficient companies, gerrymandered by a meddling government and hamstrung by a vast share overhang. Despite these challenges, Invesco Great Wall Fund Management Company has found a way to make money from stock picking. Much of its success rests on simply understanding the realities of its market. Chris Leahy reports.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association held a gala dinner in London in May to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

The Asian bond markets have given investors an easy ride in the past two years. Now, with inflation and interest rate uncertainty, buyers need to be smarter.

The unwinding of correlation model price-driven trades has caused losses, but the credit markets have withstood the post-GM fallout

The largest deal of its kind in Europe will herald an active period in property finance

A Goldman Sachs trading game at the Trade Tech Equities conference in Paris this April was billed as "five hours to make a million."

Global private equity firms increasingly have Asia in their sights. CVC Capital Partners (CVC) a privately owned investment and advisory company, has closed its $1.975 billion Asia Pacific Fund, CVC's second Asia fund and a joint venture with former parent Citigroup.

Some banks are already seeing an uptake from new buy-side clients

Other banks' proprietary platforms need to pick up market share fast

Investor sentiment has soured dramatically over the past two months, with more fund managers now expecting growth to slacken and corporate profits to fall. A Merrill Lynch survey of 300 fund managers indicates that a net 32% are now negative about growth prospects and that a net 34% are negative about the corporate profit outlook, a significant turnround from March when investors were positive about growth and corporate profits by a net 11% and 4% respectively. Expectations have not been this low since 2001.

Auna set for LBO record Three consortia of private equity firms are expected to submit bids of around e12 billion for Spanish telecoms operator Auna. If one succeeds, the deal would be Europe's largest-ever leveraged buyout and the biggest globally since KKR bought RJR Nabisco in 1989.

Everyone expected the downgrade of Ford and General Motors to junk status. Now it has happened, the long-term consequences for the market are unclear. The move threatens to wipe out the trading profits of hedge funds and banks, with CDOs causing particular concern. Mark Brown reports.

Government hopes delay will not harm investment drive