Belgium is seen as one of the bright spots in the eurozone and competition is increasing for the assets of the country’s wealthiest individuals. For those with investment expertise and knowledge of the intricacies of the Belgian wealth market, the future looks promising.

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Euromoney’s inaugural credit survey confirms the broad market power of three elite fixed-income houses, and points to a widening gulf between the haves and have-nots of the global credit markets. Joti Mangat reports.

GDP growth must be sufficient to outweigh possible deleterious effects of sovereign budget cuts and measures to increase revenues. It’s an impossible ask for Japan and an extremely tough one for the eurozone.

The mood at the IMF meetings was doom and gloom. News of UBS’s rogue trader loss didn’t help.

Investment bank expects 30% fall in revenues; FICC business holding up

Faced with an unpalatable menu of policy choices, there is concern that another course will be taken: financial repression. It is the economic prescription favoured by Fagin. Bondholders should beware.

Telecom IPOs prepare for market; Bank M&A activity in pipeline

Chief executives say French banks’ exposure to risky European sovereigns is minimal; Loss of access to funding will speed asset and business disposals

Joe Hockey, like many Australians, didn’t agree with our decision to recognize Wayne Swan’s achievements by giving him Euromoney’s finance minister of the year award. We didn’t expect him to either. He’s the opposition treasurer in the Canberra parliament after all.

Citic’s qualified success not a barometer for others; Issuers pull deals as sentiment weakens

"You shouldn’t automatically take it for granted that the world is going to end"

Halyk Finance to act on sale of electricity grid; State seeks more international banks for deals

Emerging markets central banks are moving away from using rate changes solely to control inflation. Brazil seems to have joined the trend.

CDO Wells Notice has serious ramifications for S&P.

More pressure on East African currencies; Kenyan central bank raises rates

Banks desperate for business are faced with renewed demands for hard underwriting.

Chile sovereign bucks a trend; More Chile deals might set benchmark

Amid the gloom of the IMF meetings, it was comforting to know that at least some people in the US Treasury were having a good time.

Central bankers seem to have had just about enough of Jamie Dimon’s spittle-flecked rants about the dangers of increased regulation. The JPMorgan chief executive lambasted Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke over the costs of regulation in a public debate in June, then followed up by arguing with Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney during the recent IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington. Dimon has also warned that some reforms are “anti-American”.

Banks need better regulation, but the terms and conditions set out by Basle III already look woefully out of date.

Mass lawsuits filed against issuers; Banks likely to settle out of court

My concern about succession planning at UBS was well founded. As politicians, central bankers and financiers gathered in Washington for the IMF/World Bank meetings, the UBS board met in Singapore. And contrary to what most people including myself had expected, UBS’s chief executive Oswald Grübel resigned, saying that he had to bear ultimate responsibility for the recent rogue-trading scandal inflicted on the bank by Kweku Adoboli.

On September 27, Enesa Participações became the latest Brazilian company to pull an IPO. However, a couple of days after that announcement Colombia’s Grupo Exito completed a successful Ps2.5 trillion ($1.3 billion) follow-on to highlight the country’s strongly performing equity market.

Disclosures from UBS about the details of the alleged fraudulent trading that has cost the bank $2.3 billion raise more questions than they answer about the extraordinary episode.

Exit would be more expensive than bailing out the periphery.

Default won’t trigger CDS; Greek CDS hedges unwound

Anti-monopoly regulator approves plan; New securities laws awaited

European banks are looking to their counterparts in Asia to help them with their capital-raising problems, according to sources in Hong Kong familiar with the deals, but are struggling to sell more paper as the news out of Europe worsens.

Medvedev and Putin’s next finance minister has a lot to live up to.