Cash corporate credit might be in short supply but borrowers still need to tread carefully.

But the former Bundesbank head defends the creation of the euro.

Delphi’s bankruptcy shows that many of the imbalances remain in global structured credit.

Brokerage firm Refco steals the headlines but Samsung faces major fine. South Korean electronics conglomerate Samsung has pleaded guilty to price-fixing in a far-reaching probe by the US Department of Justice and has been handed down the second-largest criminal fine ever

Intrigue surrounds FSA views of an HBOS tier 1 deal. And the future’s not Bright for the bank’s funding chief.

San Francisco likes to think of itself as the most liberal US city. Every May, for example, the famous Bay to Breakers race takes place.

South Africa’s Standard Bank is poised to buy Bank of America’s Argentina business, although an agreement is unlikely before the end of the year. Standard Bank is leading a group of buyers for BankBoston Argentina, including two wealthy Argentine families. The acquisition would consolidate Standard’s Argentine presence after it announced that it was also waiting for regulatory approval for its purchase of ING’s local unit. Bank of America’s decision to sell is another indication of its retreat from the region. Last year it sold its commercial banking unit in Panama and has also said that it intends to dispose of its businesses in Colombia and Peru. The bank has also announced that it is selling its asset management business in Mexico.

Germany is the new battleground for French banks, it seems, with BNP Paribas and Société Générale both making hires. BNPP has hired Menko Jaekel from Citigroup’s Frankfurt office for its DCM financial institutions group’s coverage of Austria and Germany. He reports to Razi Amin and Anthony Fane, co-heads of DCM FIG Europe. The move is the latest in a series of appointments that the bank has made in an effort to grow its covered bond business. In structured products and derivatives it appointed Ralph Heinig and Marc Steiner for the same region.

Kyrgyzstan’s central bank governor, Ulan Sarbanov, has been placed under house arrest in the course of a government investigation into funds he transferred to the previous president, Askar Akayev, in 1999.

During the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington at the end of September, some of the leading names in global finance gathered at the Hay Adams Hotel to witness the presentation of Euromoney’s minister of finance and central bank governor of the year awards.

At long last the first big refinancing of German multifamily residential units is starting to happen. The €1.55 billion Immeo Residential Finance is in effect a new asset class – multi-family residential. The underlying asset is a portfolio of 48,000 units in the Rhine-Ruhr region formerly owned by Thyssen Krupp purchased by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF) and Corpus. This will be the benchmark for other German multi-family real estate refinancings that will take place in the coming months.

Increasing numbers of pension funds in Europe are making the choice not to use hedge funds in the region since returns have dropped off.

Montgomery & Co is known for its M&A advisory services. Now, it's pushing into equity research, institutional sales and trading. It will offer specialist research in key areas for growth companies: medical devices, biotechnology, speciality pharmaceuticals, wireless technology, digital media technology and semiconductors.

Why CFOs should stop mistrusting hedge funds

Another round of changes to financial legislation could reshape the German covered bond market. But it isn’t the new Pfandbrief Act that has got banks most excited. Laurence Neville reports.

It’s good to see that the world’s leading finance ministers slum it on the same flights as us mere mortals to the IMF/World Bank meetings. For who should be on the Virgin flight from London Heathrow to Washington, DC, than UK chancellor Gordon Brown?

Equal opportunities mean that the City of London is no longer just a boozy boys’ club – and rightly so. But plying punters with alcohol and beautiful women is still a great way to promote your product, even in these politically correct days. Just ask Threadneedle Investments.

The Philippines’ state pension schemes are in a parlous financial condition and in desperate need of reform, but the government has no money. A private sector solution is available and there is time to fix the problems, but only if politicians leave well alone. Chris Leahy reports.

“I have 18 proposals from different banks all offering the same type of deal. When you pile them one on top of the other they stand over a metre high. I am suffering from lead harassment”

47 The percentage contribution of equity capital market revenues to overall capital market revenues at investment banks in the third quarter. The contribution of ECM revenue to overall capital market revenues rose from just 38% in the second quarter, according to Dealogic estimates. 79,400,000,000 The volume of Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) ECM deals in the first three months of 2005. The figure is the highest for the first nine months of a year on record.

The sovereign should deepen its domestic market, not issue local-currency debt abroad

Concerns about hedge fund positions in the face of Refco’s collapse have been overstated. The real consequence should be that investors are more wary of what they buy into.

CDP’s latest issue shows the benefits of looking beyond the usual suspects to banks that offer strong secondary market support and enhanced distribution.

The hedge fund industry has matured at a faster pace than anyone could have anticipated. Sure, there are still problems, but the old habit of tarring all hedge funds with the old brush of suspicion must surely be left in the past.

The bankruptcy highlights the CDO market’s continued inability to price in potential credit events.

Dismissing the official charged with setting up a debt agency sends the wrong signals at home and abroad.

Investors want growth and are impatient to get it. Bank CEOs are feeling the pressure, so expect more M&A activity.

Hybrid corporate bonds might be the new hot product of the Eurobond market but originators’ hopes for a deluge of new issues have not been fulfilled.

With an amazing recovery from the brink of collapse and a comprehensive debt restructuring, everything seems to be going right for the Dominican Republic. But all the old economic weaknesses are still there and they need urgent attention. Felix Salmon reports.

Agency’s rating action places extra focus on bank’s securitization of first-loss positions.