Goldman Sachs shows that marking to market goes hand in hand with good risk management and smart position taking.

Bank to expand retail business.

Calyon’s management uncovered a large position of credit indices in its New York office’s proprietary trading desk last month. The bank said positions were largely built at the end of August and were above internal limits. Calyon said appropriate disciplinary action had been taken and controls strengthened to prevent any repeat. The losses, following a winding down of the positions, were €250 million.

The ADR has been a very important equity market tool for many years. So long in fact that in 2007 the instrument celebrates its 80th birthday. Apparently, the ADR was invented by John Pierpont Morgan, Jr when his friend and fellow American, Harry Gordon Selfridge, the owner of Selfridges, one of London’s most renowned retail stores, asked him to develop a way for Selfridges shares to be sold in New York. Morgan’s good deed for a friend turned into a very profitable line of work, and one that JPMorgan still holds the top spot in. Now the only question that remains is how exactly JPMorgan is planning to commemorate this momentous year.

The recent rise of shareholder activism, particularly from the hedge fund sector, has not been universally welcome. But should politicians and regulators step in, or should the market police itself?

Takeover of partner Synthesis Bank is central to planned expansion into wealth management.

The summer volatility in financial markets has caused numerous corporates to delay debt and equity capital raising.

Thomas Fischer’s grand plans for WestLB were doomed to fail. Now potential buyers are trying to work out how they can make money out of what’s left. But could Fischer’s bold but ultimately futile attempts indirectly herald the shake-up that the German banking system so desperately needs? Philip Moore reports.

A long-standing contact gets in touch with a Euromoney journalist via letter.

JPMorgan is making a big push in the Middle East, and particularly in Islamic finance, after announcing last month that it had hired some of the biggest names in investment banking in the region.

I do expect some tales of woe. I am nervous about UBS and Deutsche and concerned about Merrill.

Negative headlines continue but innovation is reviving CPDOs.