It could be the perfect storm – financial, macroeconomic and geopolitical risk are all on the rise. Risk is both where you anticipate it, and where you least expect it.

Poland continues to be a leading source of private equity business in emerging Europe, with recent transactions demonstrating the country’s attraction from both a retailing and manufacturing perspective.

The BarclayHedge CTA Index ended July up 7.08% year to date, outperforming the aggregate hedge fund index by more than 10%. The Barclay hedge fund index, however, returned –4.45% up to the end of July. Returns such as these are encouraging investors to allocate to CTAs away from other strategies, say managers.

Bank chiefs in the region have much to cheer but can’t help feeling a little uneasy. They have no direct exposure to the sub-prime fallout, but have had to rethink their funding strategies. And while they see clear opportunities to grow, an economic slowdown could be looming.

Euromoney asked eight leading chief executives what impact the credit crunch has had on their banks and what they think are the problems and advantages of being a local bank in a time of global crisis.

Continuing problems are forcing firms to reconsider market timing, the balance between public and private funding and the importance of neglected sources such as retail and corporate deposits. Six specialists debate the issues.

Government intervention in financial markets goes against the grain of any US administration. However, it appears preventing closure of the mortgage finance markets is more important than ideology.

Standard Chartered has promoted Todd McDonald to the new role of global head of FX electronic pricing and trading. McDonald, who was previously the bank’s FX trading head, Americas, will now be based in Singapore. As a result of his move, Keith Underwood, currently head of FX trading, UK and Europe, will relocate to New York.

"More business is done here in the sauna after a good round of golf than is ever done in meeting rooms," says a senior manager at a top investment bank in Seoul, perhaps a touch wistfully, when Euromoney’s correspondent asks for advice on networking on a recent visit to Korea.

Iran’s banks have had their access to international liquidity curtailed by sanctions imposed by the US. This photo, of a Bank Melli cashpoint, suggests its management may have gone a little too far in protecting their deposit base. Either that, or perhaps the marketing department got the wrong end of the stick in a drive to attract high net-worth individuals?

Of benefit to both the environment and HSBC’s bottom line is the opening of a new internal network of conference rooms by the UK bank, which CIO Ken Harvey says will give "the experience and benefit of actually being in the room with colleagues on the other side of the world, without having to pack a suitcase".

"Our long-term view remains – we will eventually see 1.60 for cable and parity for EUR/GBP" -Paul Day, Mig Investments

India moved a step closer to liberalizing its foreign exchange market with the launch of rupee currency futures trading on the National Stock Exchange on August 29. Initial activity was brisk, with about 70,000 contracts changing hands in the first session. The NSE contracts are extremely small by international standards – they have a notional value of just $1,000 – and would appear to be very much aimed at attracting retail participation. Perhaps not surprisingly, early trading was dominated by banks and large corporations.

Today’s long-term rise in agricultural commodity prices is different from previous episodic spikes. Higher prices are having knock-on effects on companies in the sector, as well as on farmers and the poor, and causing a re-evaluation of business models. Peter Koh reports.

The greenback revival, driven by ECB recognition that the eurozone is faltering, will be sustained by the narrowing of the US current account deficit, the fall in the oil price and the US pursuit of a soft monetary policy.

Gulf firms raised a record $15.76 billion in rights issues from July 2007 to June 2008, a 242% increase on the previous 12 months. In the first six months of 2008, rights issues in the Gulf Cooperation Council states raised $11.9 billion from shareholders, according to research from UK law firm Trowers & Hamlins.

Barely a day goes by without a new craze for so-called frontier markets in Africa being mentioned somewhere. But are the returns worth the fuss?

Georgia’s ill-fated attempt to prevent the secession of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is set to cost the country billions of dollars, but financial backing from western Europe and the US should help to ensure that the country’s economy remains one of the most open and business-friendly of the states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Australian hedge fund Basis Capital is to pay $23 million to investors in two of its funds. The investors put their money into the funds in June 2007, the month investments were frozen because of liquidity problems. Because the money had technically not been invested until September, the investors were able to claim a full refund. Other investors in the struggling funds now being advised by Blackstone will suffer losses.

The reintroduction of mandatory market-making in Pfandbriefe has not gone smoothly.

With a huge pipeline of covered bond issuance planned for the next few months, much is being asked of investors. There might not be enough of them to go around.

The blow-up of corporate trades in China might lead to regulatory restraints on transparent, run-of-the-mill derivatives use.

US leaders might ponder the lessons of Venezuela and Iran.

Despite a new round of fundraising for distressed ABS, a market floor is not necessarily in sight.

India remains an attractive investment opportunity for private equity funds despite a weakened economic outlook for the country and inflation at a 13-year high. Caroline Williams, a private equity partner at law firm Walkers in the Cayman Islands, says India is seeing increased interest from offshore money that is to be put to work in the national infrastructure programme over the next five to seven years. India is beating China in attracting private equity funds says Walkers. Private equity investment has risen consistently from $2.03 billion in 2005 to $17.14 billion in 2007. And the deals are getting bigger. In 2007, 48 deals of more than $100 million were closed compared with 11 in 2006, according to the firm. A further estimated $500 billion is needed in the next five years to meet infrastructure development plans for India.

Asia-focused hedge funds received $530 million in new assets over the second quarter, down from $1 billion in net inflows the previous quarter, according to HFRI. Its Asia hedge fund index has lost almost 14% this year. Recent research by Singapore fund of hedge funds GFIA suggests that performance is better among indigenous managers, and that London and New York will continue to lose market share to Asia strategies.

A study by quant fund AQR says hedge fund replicators are not necessarily what investors want. The new indices launched by banks such as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch are too highly correlated to other asset classes within an investor’s portfolio to add much value, says the study. Furthermore, their inability to capture tactical shifts in hedge fund exposures because of lack of public information means that replications might not keep up with hedge fund moves.

But exchange still looks like a political tool.

US long/short fund Andor Capital, spun out of Pequot Capital in 2001, is closing its doors and returning money to investors. The fund manages more than $2 billion in assets. Co-founder David Benton said in a letter to investors that he wanted to devote more time to his family and other interests.

Senior bankers in China remain confident that the economy will continue to provide a favourable backdrop for the banking industry, despite a slowdown in growth. However, some concede that a more complex economic environment in China and abroad will bring greater challenges to the banking system, especially in risk management.