Algeria: bank reform picks up pace

Looming implementation of the EU Prospectus Directive is adding momentum

The potential for a López Obrador administration has hit stock markets

News that Knight Trading has agreed to acquire Attain, a small ECN, passed almost unnoticed as the securities industry's attention was focused on the New York Stock Exchange's dramatic decision to merge with electronic rival Archipelago, and on Nasdaq's acquisition of I-Net.

FX settlement system CLS has responded to its member board's request to investigate the feasibility of adding a matching and netting facility for non-eligible currencies (NECs) and the settlement of FX option premiums, non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), interest rate swaps and credit derivatives. CLS Bank Settlement Members have been meeting with CLS to thrash out the design and the attractiveness of the inclusion of these more complicated FX-related products. While use of FX derivatives has grown, some banks have voiced concerns that the pace of growth is stretching their back offices. "FX players are now being squeezed between the conflicting forces of growth and the need to tidy up their operations," says Jonathan Butterfield, executive vice-president at CLS. "The optimal way to do this is to establish a level of standardization and use of common infrastructures collectively."

Cash rich investors are looking to put their money to work

Investors welcome a market-friendly deal achieved with the minimum of fuss

The rumour mill is creating great opportunities for debt vs equity trades

Despite concerns, long-only funds are trying to flatter their returns

Borrower matches investor demand for yield as well as long-dated assets

ECM syndicate merry-go-round BNP Paribas has hired Florence Sztuder from SG to replace Tom Kennedy, who left the bank in April, as head of equity syndicate.

Mizuho has announced plans to establish a private banking company in Japan. The 70-person unit, Mizuho Private Wealth Management Company, will provide consulting services and various personalised financial products for clients with 500 million yen or more in assets. It will be a tough market to crack, however. A private banking market in Japan has never fully taken off despite attempts by both foreign and domestic players. Wealthy Japanese have tended to keep their money on deposit, while the banks have not focused on customer service. Even at a retail banking level, only now is there evidence of a service-oriented banking culture, led by Shinsei and Tokyo Star.

Attention now turns to more complex Al Marai transaction

Delay could mean SEC is reconsidering terms

Regulation:

Raiffeisenbank International's CEO, Herbert Stepic, says he intends to use the profits from Raiffeisen's successful IPO on April 21 to bid for Aval Bank, the second-biggest bank in Ukraine. He says: "We are in good negotiations with the owners [private Ukrainian investors] and we hope to come to terms by the start of June." The deal would be one of RZB's largest acquisitions in eastern Europe. Aval Bank has the largest retail banking business in Ukraine, with total assets of €1.5 billion.

Bankers see little chance of a global bond issue

Despite a more uncertain rate and credit environment, new issuers and investors continue to enter the covered bond market. As the boundaries between traditional and structured products blur, Asia and the US are the targets.

Many funds say the fall-out from GM/Ford has been overstated

New launch is sign of growing sophistication in fixed income investing

What connects the world's best borrowers in 2005? Their ability to secure attractive funding through innovative structures or reaching out to new markets, often when the conditions are not in their favour.

Government-guaranteed issuers have long been a mainstay of the Japanese bond markets. Now the zaito issuers are seen as a market in their own right. Chris Leahy and Andy Wright report.

Since the adoption of an enabling law in 1999, Portugal's securitization market has grown rapidly, embracing many of the innovative techniques and influences seen elsewhere in Europe. With a new law allowing issuance of covered bonds expected this year, structured finance volumes look set to grow. And the market remains eager for further innovation. Sarfraz Thind reports.

It's not just General Electric which is getting all puffed up about green technology through its Egoimagination drive.

What was it that Donald Rumsfeld famously said? "There are known knowns, the things we know we know. There are known unknowns, things we know we don't know. And then there are the unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know."

As the huge US and global debt bubbles burst under the weight of the cost of servicing, the US is certainly not the place for investors to be this year. Look instead to Europe, Japan, cash and gold

The New York Stock Exchange's historic deal with electronic rival Archipelago and Nasdaq's acquisition of rival I-Net dramatically reshape US cash equities trading. But what do they mean for OTC and listed trading, regional exchanges, and users now that the SEC's controversial Reg NMS has been passed? Peter Koh reports.

Singapore: REITS get more sophisticated A series of recent transactions from Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Singapore, the de facto non-Japan Asia centre for the specialist property investment vehicles, are proving not only the popularity of the asset class with investors but also their flexibility as funding vehicles for real estate assets.

UK junior market AIM could be hampered by tight interpretations of EU rules on what constitutes a public offer

Brazil: keep your eye on the ball