Banking is in the blood for Ariel Salama, global head of private banks at ABN Amro's wholesale clients business. For almost 300 years his family ran a bank that financed Egypt's cotton business, until the 1952 revolution forced closure and a move to Paris. There, his great-uncle, Maurice de Botton, (uncle to Gilbert de Botton, founding chairman of Global Asset Management) established Banque Générale du Commerce, where Salama began his banking career.

The covered bond market is growing fast on heavy demand for alternatives to supra/agency debt and on buoyant supply as more and more countries pass enabling legislation. Pfandbriefe might still dominate but expansion is bringing in its wake a wide variety of variants on this classical model.

"It's not true that you need to be bald to get on the board of Rathbone Brothers, but it helps." So says Andy Pomfret, who was promoted from finance director to chief executive at the private-client UK investment manager at the beginning of October, replacing Roy Morris. Pomfret was speaking at a Private Asset Management Conference in London alongside similarly bald colleague Richard Lanyon who heads investment management. The double act discussed the UK strategy and the push in the unit trust management business, which will contribute to group profits for the first time this year.

Few Russian companies have done foreign IPOs, and even fewer have issued domestically. That looks set to change in the next 12 months. Investors should expect more diversity, some big winners - and one or two unpleasant surprises.

Ukraine was evenly divided ahead of presidential elections on October 31 as leading opposition candidate and liberal reformer Viktor Yushchenko faced off with the establishment's candidate, prime minister Viktor Yanukovich. Campaigning has been dirty and the threat of riots will hang over Kiev if the opposition feels it has been cheated out of an election victory that could shake up the balance of power and define foreign policy after a decade of dithering between turning east or west. The stakes are high: the two candidates were running neck and neck on the eve of the vote and Ukraine is the only former Soviet republic that can boast a grassroots political opposition.

As Singapore moves to meet the challenges of globalization and the greater influence of China and India, once-sleepy Temasek Holdings has been told to hike returns and promote a new vision. The result: frenetic activity.

When Diageo offloaded its US Pillsbury food division to General Mills for stock in 2001, it did not expect still to be the biggest shareholder in General Mills three years later. But as pressure mounted to dispose of the stake, poor performance at Pillsbury, SEC investigations into General Mills and the overhang of the Diageo block held back the share price. It took an exceptionally well-structured and well-executed deal to overcome these obstacles last month.