Trio of projects set to be signed; Commercial bank lending recovering

Santander has been one of the winners of the credit crunch. Its chief executive, Alfredo Sáenz, believes the bank’s success has been due to sticking to a model that was appropriate through the cycle. Euromoney asks him how the bank is adapting to pressures from the market and the regulators.

The study concludes that the generally accepted wisdom that managers get six out of 10 decisions right is wildly optimistic.

Dracula’s original 1931 movie poster sold for $310,700 in April. And one for Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film, Sabrina, netted $15,480 in March.

Have you got children in their late 20s and 30s who are still single? Perhaps it is time to become a client of Hana Private Bank.

Market poised for record-sized issues; Corporates see debt as more attractive than equity

Burgeoning equity derivatives market; Introduction of futures on individual stocks a priority

Retail platform provider Gain Capital, owner of the forex.com brand name, signalled just how fast and far the sector has developed when it filed for an initial public offering on August 31. The company, which was formed in 1999, is planning to offer around $125 million of shares, with the proceeds going to the company’s existing shareholders. Gain has declined to say what percentage of the company the IPO represents.

The ever pleasant Ben Welsh, former head of fixed income, commodities and currencies at UniCredit Markets and Investment Banking, started at JPMorgan in early September as managing director, proprietary trading, in the bank’s commodity group. Bizarrely, JPMorgan declined to comment, perhaps as a result of the wave of publicity generated by the defection of several of its prop team to Barclays. Market sources are openly speculating that Welsh will soon be joined by former colleague Dan O’Sullivan, previously global head of FX trading at UniCredit.

Chilean broker and US bank to build derivatives platform; Economists view Chile as Latin tiger

Re-elected president set on more clean-ups; Economy on a steady growth path

Brazilian exchange faces multiple competitive threats; Enters exclusive talks with Nasdaq OMX

Economic stimulus needed; More uncertainty about requirements

Danish online specialist Saxo Bank says it managed to maintain its revenues in the first half of 2009, although an increase in its operating costs, primarily as a result of new office openings, product launches and contributions to the Danish State Guarantee Scheme, adversely affected its pre-tax profits. These came in at DKr55 million ($10.6 million), compared with DKr162 million for the same period in 2008. Operating income remained stable at DKr969 million. "We did expect 2009 to be a difficult year," said Saxo’s joint chief executives Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen. "However, the results reassure us that we took the right decision when we chose to steer the bank into a new phase based on a more flexible structure before the financial crisis took hold."

Youssef Khlat has joined Calyon as global head of high-yield capital markets, several months after parting company with BNP Paribas (where he was European head) when it pulled back from the business. Commenting on the hire, Tim Hall, global head of DCM origination at Calyon, says: "We expect the high-yield market to be increasingly relevant to non-investment-grade companies globally due to pending maturities coupled with tighter liquidity in the bank market."

Dealers, investors and issuers welcome BABs; Expected to be a long-term part of the US muni market

Auto ABS transactions mooted for Q4; Barclays takes soundings for possible RMBS deal

Benefits from improving commodities strength; Fastest-growing economy in Latin America

US bank gets secondary market nod; Still lacks crucial underwriting licence

The sub-prime crisis has presented opportunities for institutions whose balance sheets have been left relatively intact to boost their trading operations, not least in foreign exchange. Several, such as Canada’s CIBC and Japan’s Nomura, have already started to build out their FX businesses, while the market is still waiting to see how existing heavyweights HSBC and JPMorgan will evolve. BNP Paribas is another player that market participants might be wise to watch.

The first Swiss issuer of jumbos; Broader investor base sought

Deutsche Bank has become the latest bank to incorporate algorithmic trading functionality into its proprietary trading platform. The tool, called autobahnFX Algo, will enable clients to control how they time and price large orders with greater levels of precision, efficiency, flexibility and transparency.

Slight pick-up in volumes; Investors see value in battered UK

"No bank’s stakeholders are going to be comfortable operating with the thin margins of capital they had two years ago. Take that capital model to the Smithsonian because you’re never going to see it again"

BNP Paribas has hired Margaret Ren, one of the original China banking rainmakers, as chairman and chief executive of corporate finance, Greater China. Ren, most recently head of China Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch, made her reputation for her ability to use her connections in China to land big deals for her employers, first Bear Stearns and then Citigroup, where she worked until 2004. Those deals included getting Bear Stearns, which had little China presence at the time, on to big equity mandates for China Telecom and Guangshen Railway.

Purchases from RBS broaden horizons; But were the best assets bought?

Junior lenders frustrated; IMO case sets precedent

Development agencies emerge as key players; Other funds in the pipeline

Boost in markets reignites demand; Private equity players return

Bankers are back in the saddle, pursuing ever-greater profits and rewards. Investors are back at the casino trying to recoup their losses. Have fund managers – and the analysts that rate banks – learnt any lessons from the banking crisis? Dawn Cowie investigates.