IPOs are scarce enough as it is in this gruesome global market. But the largest ever IPO from one of the world’s poorest countries, whose previous record deal was in 1994? That’s rarer still.

As the equity market continues to struggle in Brazil, the local debt market is growing in importance. The challenge is to find enough bankers to fill the demand.

The tables are starting to turn in the Brazilian banking market – for the first time foreign-owned banks have become acquisition targets for locals Itaú and Bradesco, valued at more than $60 billion each, which now dwarf the purchasing power of several of the international banks in the aftermath of the sub-prime crisis.

Hedge fund administrator Fulcrum, has merged with the hedge fund services arm of Butterfield Bank, an award-winning Bermudian bank.

Japan’s agencies have long been dependable if staid issuers, with their government backing and tendency towards regular benchmark issuance providing a steady source of bonds yielding 15 to 20 basis points more than Japanese treasuries. Now they face change: in a series of reforms aimed at reducing government involvement in public finance, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) is to be privatized and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is merging with a group of other government finance institutions to form a new firm called Japan Finance Corp. Their paths will diverge dramatically: JBIC will continue to enjoy government backing and is thinking only of tinkering with its borrowing routines by offering more benchmarks. DBJ is striking out on its own as an investment bank, and aiming rather high if management are to be believed. DBJ, a regular benchmark yen issuer in the international markets since 1960, is to begin to be privatized in October and will gradually reduce issuance of government guaranteed bonds from the present ¥190 billion ($1.9 billion) to a projected maximum of ¥160 billion in financial year 2008.

HSBC’s attempted takeover of Korea Exchange Bank has been in limbo for more than a year, pending regulatory approval that in turn depends on the outcome of a court case involving individuals charged with improper conduct in the Korean bank’s original sale to private equity firm Lone Star. With the initial deadline already passed, the Financial Services Commission has said it is still reviewing the case, and Korean banks have said that they too would be interested in KEB. Richard Wacker, the bank’s chief executive, is a 20-year veteran of General Electric brought in by Lone Star in February 2004 to turn the then-troubled bank around. Euromoney spoke to him in Seoul about the frustrations of the delayed deal, his plans for KEB’s future and what having HSBC as a majority shareholder could mean for his bank.

CLS has hired Roger Rutherford as its head of product management. Rutherford, who reports to Rachael Hoey, director of business development, joins from Icap’s EBS unit where he held several roles, including leading the EMEA sales team; he was also a key member of the team that launched EBS’s prime brokerage offering and more recently was spearheading the introduction of NDF trading on to the EBS platform. Many years ago, he was a voice broker at Marshalls.

Faced with growing evidence that issuers were gaming the scheme, the European Central Bank has finally tweaked the collateral requirements for its repo liquidity programme. Haircuts for ABS and unsecured bank bonds have been increased, the former up from 2% to 12%. This brings the scheme into line with Bank of England and Federal Reserve rules – but in reality makes ECB rules more stringent as the maturities on offer are shorter. The ECB has also tightened the close-link rules so that ABS collateral for which the seller is also swap counterparty is disallowed. Seller liquidity support of more than 20% has also been axed. The rules are likely to have an impact on smaller banks that have relied on ECB liquidity but analysts at Deutsche Bank calculate that the incremental cost to banks following the haircut change is 50 basis points. This means that the ECB window is still the most cost-efficient funding channel available to banks if maturity is not a consideration. "This change alone is unlikely to compel many banks to return to the securitization capital markets," conclude the DB analysts.

MBIA has agreed to reinsure a $184 billion portion of FGIC’s municipal bond book in a deal that reduces risk exposure for the latter and improves the capital position of the former. The solid municipal credits will also improve the risk profile of MBIA’s book. Under the deal, if a credit event is triggered on FGIC, protection buyers have a claim on MBIA for these assets – but there is still some legal uncertainty as to how this process would actually work. In a separate development, FGIC has paid a $200 million settlement to Calyon to commute CDS written on IKB’s Rhineland conduit. FGIC is suing IKB for fraud in relation to the now defunct vehicle.

The rapid expansion of samurai bonds (yen-denominated deals sold by foreign borrowers into Japan) puts them firmly in the coveted list of credit-crunch beneficiaries. Borrowers of all types facing the increasingly expensive prospect of issuing in their illiquid domestic markets are finding an attractively cheap alternative in Tokyo. The bonds are also attractive for individual investors in Japan, offering higher yields than domestic bonds or the interest paid on savings accounts.

Bureau de change claims liberalization of country’s regulations.

Commodity prices will need to go higher again to prompt consumer and producer actions that bring them down.

The Middle East's most successful banks remain on a determined course for growth, both regionally and in terms of the products they offer. Will the boom in financial markets and services continue, despite political uncertainty and the contagion of the credit crunch?

Banks are booming in Nigeria on the back of oil revenue inflows. But solutions to some of the country’s problems – particularly the need for infrastructure development and a reversal of falls in oil production – remain stymied by an inflexible political system. Rupert Wright reports.

Moscow private equity firm Mint Capital has taken a stake in beer restaurant chain Tinkoff Restaurants.

VTB’s ambition is to be a leading universal bank in Russia, with a strong balance of revenues from its retail, corporate and banking arms. But does it have the wherewithal to achieve those lofty goals? Guy Norton reports from Moscow.

International supranational, sovereign and agency borrowers raised billions in dollar issuance during the first half of the year. This was a continuation of 2007, when volumes from supras and European agencies rose 14% to €241 billion, according to Dealogic. The dollar activity was driven, in large part, by central bank investors that were attracted by wide swap spreads and their wish to diversify away from the government-sponsored enterprises. The woes of the GSEs have increased and the high-level investor sponsorship the European Investment Bank received at the end of August for its $4 billion three-year issue, led by BarCap, Citi and JPMorgan, illustrates the state of the frequent borrower sector.

Commercial banks eager to exploit the opportunities in a rising sub-Saharan Africa might have to pay a high price for first-mover advantage. In this most local of retail banking markets, home-grown firms have developed the most effective, innovative approaches. As Dominic O’Neill finds out while bouncing along dirt roads in Kenya and Mozambique, international firms need to follow the locals’ examples, or discard their most basic ideas of what a bank can do.

Mexico’s capital markets have held up better following the US sub-prime crisis than experts expected, highlighted by recent issuances of record-size residential mortgage-backed securities.

"Why did I tell you that? Please, please forget that I mentioned it," a chief wailed.

The chief executives of 11 of the world's biggest banks discuss the lessons they have learnt from the global financial crisis, their concerns over a regulatory backlash, and how they plan to rebuild profitability in the toughest markets in history.

Does Syria’s long-awaited equity market finally mean business? Alex Warren reports.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has pushed through a contentious $7.7 billion acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange following months of negotiations. The CME was already the largest derivatives exchange in the world but the combined group, with pro forma 2007 annual revenue of $2.7 billion and average trading volume of approximately 14.2 million contracts a day in the first two quarters of 2008, will now control some 98% of trading in US futures and exchange-traded options. "As a united company we are well positioned for a new phase of growth, innovation and product development that will benefit our customers, shareholders and market users around the world," commented CME Group executive chairman Terry Duffy.

Citi

Global regulators are poised to introduce new rules to clamp down on the securitization industry’s worst excesses. But in doing so they could kill it off for good.

VTB, Russia’s second-largest banking group, continues to add to the array of western talent in its investment banking business. Its latest hire is Herbert Moos, who has been named as chief executive of VTB Bank Europe in London. Moos joins from Lehman Brothers, where he spent 14 years, most recently as chief financial officer for Asia-Pacific ex-Japan. Moos will be responsible for developing the investment business of VTB in London, Asia and the Middle East. He will report to Yuri Soloviev, head of investment banking.

Has the credit crunch led even the brightest students to lose all interest in the financial services industry?

Markets are more susceptible to the herd mentality and the creation of bubbles because of agents’ behaviour. Following the money can solve a large part of the asset price puzzle.

The SEC and the FSA have both acted too hastily in reacting to short selling. In the UK, the new disclosure rules have compounded the turbulent mood of the market. Neil Wilson reports.