Fitch Ratings has downgraded its rating for the Islamic Republic of Iran from BB– to B+, to take account of what it calls the “escalating confrontation between Iran and the international community over Iran’s nuclear programme.” Although it contends that material sanctions are still some way off, it argues that the risk is increasing and events “are becoming increasingly unpredictable”. The agency acknowledges, though, that with high oil prices Iran’s external financial position remains strong.

BMA chief confident about region’s fundamentals.

The Kazakh authorities would like to establish Almaty as a regional financial centre but further reform and market development is necessary first. Patrick Gill reports.

In his last interview as director of public credit for Colombia, Felipe Sardi talks to Lawrence White about the strategies his successor will inherit, his efforts to increase the liquidity of Colombian securities and his plans for the federation of coffee growers.

London is seen as the property hotspot in 2006.

Will US issuers start to look at Europe’s institutional markets?

Equity derivatives dealers have set up an industry group to improve trading efficiency and iron out operational issues in their market.

More than a few doubts have been raised about the rumoured plans of state lender China Construction Bank to buy a major stake in US investment bank Bear Stearns. However, sources in the firm’s Asian head office believe the plans are serious. “I haven’t seen a lot of guys with white socks walking around the office yet,” says a senior employee, “but there’s definitely truth to the rumour. It’s typical Bear strategy: late to the party, perhaps, but a smart call.”

No, you didn’t misread the headline. This year’s re-rating of the Philippines’ economy recently pushed short-term yields to four-year lows and even inside their US counterparts’ temporarily, according to ING. Could the unthinkable be happening? Might Asia’s perennial underachiever be about to turn the corner?

Having been fined £6,363,643 in April by UK regulator the Financial Services Authority for failing to observe proper standards of market conduct and failing to conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence, Deutsche Bank must be keen to promote a spotless reputation in all aspects of its business.

A collection of valuable photos brought together by Refco over three decades is on sale at Christie’s in New York in an attempt to raise money to help pay back the $16 billion the commodities trading firm owes to creditors. Works by such photographers as Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus and Andres Serrano are included in the collection, which is expected to raise north of $6 million.

Bankers reckon convertible bonds will be a product to watch in the developing world.

The removal of restrictions on trans-national M&A are fundamental to EU principles. Turkey is setting an example.

More challenging asset classes will require a different approach to Italian public sector risk.

There’s widespread agreement that there are too many portals providing FX prices but consolidation has been slow. Is the market going to stop waiting and roll out multi-asset platforms instead?

“I tried really hard not to use the words ‘dead cat bounce’ when we met.”

At the start of April, Chuck Prince, chairman and CEO of Citigroup, came to Riyadh to lobby the Saudi finance ministry, central bank and capital markets regulator to let the US firm back into the kingdom less than two years after Citigroup sold off its 20% stake in Samba (previously Saudi American Bank). It was one of the early big decisions of Prince’s tenure as CEO and signalled the end of Citigroup’s presence in a country where it had operated since 1955.

Morgan Stanley has made its most senior investment banking hire since John Mack took over as chief executive last year and since the departure of one of its star M&A bankers, vice-chairman Joe Perella, one of the key defectors during the turmoil at the bank in the first half of last year.

Forget the stymied constitution, Parisian événements, electoral tangles and government overspending – eurozone corporates are doing just fine and consumers are picking up on the mood.

Deutsche Bank is about to launch an entirely new FX trading platform aimed squarely at attracting flow from the retail end of the market.

The New York Stock Exchange needs to have its hybrid system ready before Reg NMS takes effect but it has only just completed Phase I. It might not have too much to worry about, though, as many other market participants are unprepared and a delay is widely expected.

Germany’s True Sale Initiative received some much-needed publicity last month when the first CLO to be structured under the programme emerged from Dresdner Bank.

“Debt providers are becoming more selective about the opportunities they are willing to support and are now concentrating on companies with good forward earnings visibility”- James Stewart, ECI

A compulsory minimum free float for banks listing in Russia is illogical, hard to police and might not be in investors’ best interests.

10,000,000,000 the minimum amount in dollars that Russian IPOs, excluding Rosneft, are expected to raise this year, according to bankers. The Russian government hopes to raise as much as $15 billion from a London IPO of Rosneft this year.

Is there enough room for both sorts of hybrid in the European acquisition finance market?

UK companies struggling with pension fund shortfalls have been thrown a lifeline in the shape of investment banks and hedge funds. Wheels are in motion to create a market of defined benefit pension buyout ventures back by banks, hedge funds and entrepreneurs.

Recent figures from Reuters’ Loan Pricing Corporation show that borrowers have it better in the US now than ever before. Strong growth in the M&A market meant that syndicated loan issuance in the US reached the highest volume on record in the first quarter of the year.

The ECB sets great store by the transparency of its decision-making process and the clarity of its communication with the outside world. ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet was reminding us of this again last month.

Azerbaijan Electronics, one of the country’s largest energy utilities, has sold a $1 million one-year bond, the first from an industrial issuer in the country. The bond yields 14.5% and was issued at par.