Head of global markets, Bank of America

Securities lending

Banks and opportunity funds are lining up to benefit from an expected transfer of real-estate assets from cash-strapped corporates to investors. There’s one catch – some corporates aren’t in a hurry to sell.

How much would you pay to dine with your CEO? Too much and you'll be seen as a creep, too little and you can wave goodbye to that promotion. That's the quandary facing Merrill Lynchers, who can bid for a tête-á-tête with Stan O'Neal - CEO in waiting.

The Irish covered bond, endlessly promised and hyped for the past couple of years, is set to emerge in the new year. Some features that were unique attractions when the legal framework was first proposed in early 2000 have been nullified by other markets' progress in the meantime - the amended German mortgage banking act, for example, allows the inclusion of assets from a wider range of countries in Pfandbrief covered pools.

A big chunk of Iceland's second-largest bank looks destined to fall to a father and son team who made a fortune from selling their brewery in Russia. Questions remain, though, about their suitability to control the National Bank of Iceland.

Hutchison publicly blames its abandonment of a foray into euro bonds on adverse market conditions. But the company and its advisers seem to have neglected to weigh up specific reasons for investor caution.

The Islamist AKP fought Turkey’s elections fuelled by discontent with political corruption and incompetence. All the aspirants to power were promising the earth, but can they deliver?

The flight to quality has brought KfW new bond investor friends to add to an already highly satisfied clientele. The bank hopes to broaden its paper’s appeal still further by stressing its quasi-sovereign status.

Russia

Collective action clauses have been inserted into bond documentation for nearly as long as bonds have existed. They're still completely standard in bonds issued under London law, and have never been an issue when those bonds come to be priced.

Japan

Managing director and global head of fixed income e-commerce, Lehman Bros