“We’ve got samurais, kangaroos and bulldogs – now what we really need is a name for all these bonds coming out of Kazakhstan...”

The increased use of ever more powerful computers in the financial markets is having an unexpected effect on Canary Wharf, London’s supposedly modern, high-tech business location.

“Another pandemic or a large event risk such as a full-scale ground war, or various nuclear bombs exploding in large cities in any of the three countries would cause a loss for the noteholders”

Bolivia signed a deal last month worth $17 billion that is set to triple its sale of natural gas to Argentina. Under a new contract, Bolivia will increase exports to Argentina from the current maximum of 7.7 million cubic metres a day to 27.7 million cubic metres a day over a 20-year period beginning in 2010.

Banks jostle for league table positions as volumes show no sign of letting up.

MDM deal heralds new swap technology.

There is anecdotal evidence that hedge funds have been increasingly important players in emerging markets for some time now. But a new report from Greenwich Associates has quantified the trend to a startling extent.

The City of Moscow’s Sergei Pakhomov hopes that full rouble convertibility will offer a way around restrictive legislation that governs municipal issuance in Russia.

As governments across the continent are engaging in economic reforms and building their country’s infrastructure, new types of investors are starting to see Africa as a safe bet when searching for higher returns.

The privatization of Japan Post means that a huge store of capital will be unleashed into the private sector. Lawrence White travelled to Tokyo to find out what progress has been made, and to assess the likely effects of this historic IPO on the global capital markets.

Private equity in the Gulf is developing fast but investors need to seek out experienced firms.

Tata Steel’s bid for Corus is at the vanguard of corporate India buying cross-border assets.

The back office is the unglamorous end of the deal chain. But as some banks are now finding out, keeping the pipes clear is vital if business is to be kept flowing from the front end. Lee Oliver reports.

The price that Macquarie was prepared to pay for Thames Water graphically illustrates the impact that infrastructure funds are having on this sector.

Technological developments in multilateral trading facilities look set to be much more significant than link-ups between private monopoly exchanges.

Ben Shoval and his partners have found a lucrative real estate niche: early stage, short-term funding for sound, non-speculative developers. Helen Avery reports.

Investment banks in Japan are preparing to compete for a share of the lucrative market for corporate hybrid capital issuance that they hope will develop following retailer Aeon’s pioneering 50-year security.

As the unremittingly positive attitude of investors and analysts towards Vietnam just seems to get even more positive, capital raising for new fund launches is rising fast.

The central banks of Argentina and Brazil are putting together a proposal that will ease trade payments between importers and exporters in the two countries.

Regulators hope to repeat their success in reforming practices in the credit derivatives market.

Strange market conditions prevail as companies face investors that are spoilt for choice and hedge funds that are increasingly cautious.

Model can help to attract new investors to asset class.

In two new reports, TowerGroup makes the easy prediction that daily volumes in FX will soon surpass $3 trillion. But making sense of whether the market will consolidate has proved harder to predict for the consultancy firm.

But are the banks really supporting the programme?

Despite reasonably supportive market conditions, a record level of M&A, and confident predictions from investment bankers, the volume of new convertibles issuance in Europe over the past four months has dropped to a trickle.

91% the increase in real estate/property sector IPOs year to date over the same period last year. Global IPOs in the sector have raised $21 billion so far, already the highest ever yearly volume, according to Dealogic.

NYSE will keep the floor alive having introduced electronic trading; critics say floor traders will soon be swamped.

After the defection of three of its key FX staff to Merrill Lynch, Dresdner Kleinwort has acted quickly to try to instil some stability into the business unit.

It’s easy to see why Brian Hunter of Amaranth notoriety – and so many others – were caught long of natural gas. The prices of natural gas have risen dramatically since 2000. But how much of that increase has been due to underlying supply and demand?

Spotted on hedge fund website Albourne Village’s ordinarily sensible and informative Residents’ Questions Board: