The country is looking to the future under a pro-investment government. Foreign banks, private equity funds and manufacturers are interested, but there’s no guaranteed alpha on the Mekong. Lawrence White reports.

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

Bankers are in the final stages of preparing Iran’s first ever securitization, according the head of a Tehran investment bank.

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.

Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank.

With the sale, among other assets, of the state telecommunications firm, privatization in Iran seems to be accelerating. There is an apparent eagerness to attract foreign investors. But, some say, if capitalism in Iran is being let out of the pen, it is still being kept on a tight leash. Dominic O’Neill reports.

Prime brokers' relationships with hedge funds have inevitably be modified by the credit crunch but ultimately the brokers have to provide the full range of services funds require at a reasonable cost and without undue constraints.

"For the rest of the bank, we’re actually managing the businesses; with the problem assets we’re not really managing them at all, we’re just managing the accounting"

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.

Lawyers around the world are readying lawsuits to file against banks that sold toxic products to investors. Which types of deals are likely to be the subject of the biggest payouts? And how will banks pay for them?

Peru’s dramatic rise from market pariah to investors’ darling was capped this year with investment-grade status awarded by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, opening Peruvian capital markets to huge interest among institutional investors. Ironically, Alan García, the president who made Peruvian debt a no-go area in the 1980s with soaring inflation and bond defaults, oversaw the upgrades in his second term, two decades later as a free-market convert.

"Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory." That’s one veteran Moscow-based fund manager’s view on recent events in Russia. And no, he’s not referring to the conflict with Georgia, where Russia’s still formidable military might has arguably carried the day.

ENRC floated in London last year on the promise that it would make transformational acquisitions globally. Its play for rival Kazakhmys has, however, proved abortive. So what next for ENRC and its frustrated shareholders? Elliot Wilson reports.

After a two-year hiatus, China’s regulators are allowing more foreign investment banks to enter the domestic capital markets. What are their strategies and is China’s potential as great as everyone assumes? Sudip Roy reports.

The Brazilian billionaire built Banco Pactual into one of Latin America’s foremost investment banks before selling it to UBS in 2006. After an inglorious and turbulent two-year stint at the Swiss firm, he is returning to his entrepreneurial roots by setting up a new asset management company. He talks to Chloe Hayward about his plans.

The bank has shone through Kazakhstan’s financial sector gloom thanks to the chief executive’s cautious policies that he put in place while rivals were borrowing abroad to fund over-risky lending. Elliot Wilson reports.

Some European banks are coming through the credit crisis relatively unscathed, or even with enhanced market positions and reputations. Never has differentiation been more important.

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

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

In contrast to the US and western Europe, the private equity industry in Russia is in rude health. Guy Norton reports from Moscow on the rationale for the optimistic outlook.

As foreign banks – with the notable exception of Santander – draw in their horns, local mid-tier banks are racing to take advantage of the domestic boom in Brazil. Chloe Hayward reports.

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.

Mexico’s central bank governor has achieved rock-star status with his tough line on inflation by standing up to the president’s pressure to reduce interest rates.

Complex securitization without a single new bond.

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.

Growth potential, better corporate governance, a shot of expert knowledge and a troubled stock market are all reasons why family-owned firms might sell stakes to interested outsiders. Alex Warren reports.

The spectacular growth of Middle Eastern markets is attracting new ventures of all sizes. But smaller, more specialized firms are increasingly popular. Jethro Wookey reports.

New governor Boediono has to put the central bank back on track as a corruption trial looms over a previous incumbent.

HSBC’s management has stated that developing markets are key to its growth – and no market is more important to it than China. A confidential report seen by Euromoney sets out aggressive targets in the country where a global banking empire began. Elliot Wilson asked the executives in charge of the China push if its goals are attainable.