As more and more Mexicans are encouraged to buy their own homes, the companies that provide mortgages will increasingly look to the international capital markets to fund their lending. Armando Guzman, director general of mortgage provider Metrofinanciera, talks to Lawrence White about his expansive borrowing strategy and his hopes for the development of mortgage-backed securitizations.

If a product swamps a market, prices go down. Yet this basic economic tenet seems to have eluded many of the issuers in the Spanish covered bonds market. How else to explain the consistent lack of coordination in issuance endemic in the world of the cédulas?

Greece has lagged behind the rest of the eurozone in its use of techniques to free up value in real estate loans and assets. But banks’ needs for capital should fuel securitization, and new legislation will enable public bodies to make sale and leaseback deals. Dimitris Kontogiannis reports.

Investors need to tread with caution as uncertainty surrounds the Federal Reserve’s next move.

The advent of whole-business securitization and the creation of a liquid market in project-related debt has opened investors’ eyes to the rewards available in infrastructure. Governments’ desire for off-balance-sheet funding has also boosted the supply of suitable investments. But what makes infrastructure different? How do you buy it, sell it and manage it?

Andy Abrahams, you’re rubbish...

The listed infrastructure fund, which is common in Australia, is gaining traction in Asia, with two new structures hitting the market in recent weeks.

“It’s so bloody liquid, it’s not even funny.”

Overvalued IPOs give cause for concern. Some bankers are becoming wary of damaging their reputation with rushed or over-valued Russian IPOs. Two banks dropped out of a deal last month and some analysts urge that caution be exercised in further IPOs.

Investment banks are thinking of setting up their own alternatives.

The ability of the US to run a high current account deficit rests on a widespread belief that inflation and the cost of capital will remain low. But the conditions that underpin the deficit and the dollar’s role as the principal source of global capital are unlikely to be sustained for long.

Despite its size and maturity, the covered bond market is fast changing. New countries, new asset classes and new issuers vie for investors. But does the conflict between regulators’ desire for quality and consistency clash with investors’ needs for yield and diversification?

Maverick leader opens arms to international and national investors.

...While Wax wows them

One piece of analysis that is certain to be a fixture on desks this summer is a 59-page report by Goldman Sachs. In preparation for the football World Cup, which kicks off on June 9 in Germany, Goldman Sachs has put together a guide to each participating country and its team’s chances of success.

Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s former prime minister, says her political coalition is committed to a programme of privatization and economic reform if a representative of her team assumes the top job in the country’s next government.

At a time when M&A volumes are rising, a toughening up of the CFIUS could deter foreign companies looking to buy in the US. And that would take a serious chunk out of Wall Street’s fees. Kathryn Tully reports.

Saudi petrochemicals company Sabic will issue domestic sukuk bonds with a total value of at least SR1 billion ($267 million), according to the company’s financial vice-president, Mutlaq al-Morished. The bond should be finalized this month or next, with huge demand expected from the paper-hungry local market.

Merrill Lynch has upgraded Tunisia to overweight in response to the government’s announcement of a $1.56 billion debt management programme to be funded by the privatization of Tunisie Telecom. The bank believes this active approach will help bond prices, and categorizes Tunisia as a defensive asset at a time when the global emerging markets outlook is unsteady.

Indian companies have been the largest issuers of foreign currency convertible bonds in Asia. But there could be trouble ahead.

Despite brighter prospects for the Japanese economy, corporate issuers are not rushing back to the international or domestic bond markets. Chris Wright reports.

Why the European government bond markets have failed...and what the European Union would like to do about it

Richard Longmore, head of EMEA FX sales, has abruptly left Merrill Lynch.

The eagerly awaited opening up of mainland China to Reits investment continues to hang fire but the market is hot elsewhere in the region, with retail and institutional investors piling into new issues. Some in the market, though, reckon that investors often have over-inflated expectations of Reits’ returns and a poor grasp of the complexities of the deals. Chris Wright reports.

Financiers in the Caribbean are planning to establish a region-wide capital markets exchange to create a financial hub with critical mass.

Lebanon puts itself back at the hub

Funds are circumventing anti-concentration regulations with single-stock futures.

Wondering why everyone in global capital markets is thinking China these days? Look no further than PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Greater China IPO Watch. According to the accountants, the average deal size from the Greater China region (including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) was $260 million in 2005, an increase of more than 200%. For the first time, it exceeded that of the US ($170 million) and Europe ($100 million).

Troubled emerging markets companies could soon benefit from the development of sophisticated bespoke deals aimed at increasing investor confidence.

After years of unfulfilled promise, there is the whiff of optimism in Indonesia as government tackles tangled economic and political challenges. Euromoney spoke to Indonesia’s finance minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, about problems, progress and promise. Chris Leahy reports.