There is no doubt that the ECB’s December three-year long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) auction was the key factor in taking the likelihood of a liquidity-driven bank funding crisis off the table in Europe.

Private banks are looking to help clients move away from the greed-is-good mentality.

The market’s almost hysterical reaction to the European Central Bank’s December three-year LTRO shows just how much funding pressure had built up among Europe’s banks in the second half of last year.

The business is consolidating rapidly and survivors might enjoy rising market share and healthier margins.

Issuance is booming but barriers will continue to hold back the market’s potential.

US and European banks might soon do business in Myanmar, and could learn much from Indonesia and Vietnam’s transitions.

Brazil’s IPO market has been tarnished, so it’s imperative the first deal for 2012 is done with care and respect.

The ECB doesn’t have to take the same losses on Greek debt as the private sector – but it should.

Compensation levels in the US show that most bank CEOs have yet to learn the meaning of the word restraint.

Will Europe’s leaders do enough to convince banks to finance its problem sovereigns through an ECB-led carry trade?

So long as Asian markets remain risk-on bets to global portfolio managers, capital will continue to flee when things get bad elsewhere.

A look at 2011’s investment-banking business makes grim reading for banks fearing a further decline this year.

Russia’s capital markets face a difficult future. Even if the will for change is there, it will be a long and difficult process.

When, in December, Brazil withdrew its IOF tax on foreign investments in Brazilian equities many breathed a sigh of relief – not just for the marginal benefits that the removal will have on the poorly performing Bovespa, but because it could be seen as the end of the currency wars. The rapid appreciation of emerging market currencies had led Brazil to introduce a range of capital controls aimed at stemming the capital inflows that pushed the real to $1.50.

Cost of protection under scrutiny as demand for risk transfer grows.

Focus Media’s plight shows how quickly a short report can smash a company.

Decoupling the country’s economy from inflation will take a long time and prevents long-term credit from developing.

Lack of repossessions hides extent of US’s dire economic situation.

The UK banking system is reasonably well fixed, but relentless regulatory pressure renders it useless to the real economy.

Does a failed Bund auction last month reveal serious investor concerns about Germany’s credit fundamentals if treaty changes lead to closer fiscal union and put it on the hook for the periphery’s debts?

Sales and trading volumes slump in third quarter but CVA masks true extent of damage.

The demise of MF Global shows that, more than three years after Lehman, financial watchdogs remain miles off the pace. But there is a solution.

The near-term dangers in emerging markets remain high, even assuming a breakthrough in the eurozone crisis – and emerging Europe is most at risk.

The EU’s plans for the EFSF are a retrospective masterclass in everything that went wrong with structured credit.

With local banks becoming dominant in the region, foreign banks will need to take on a more local persona to remain competitive.

In theory, any boost to banks’ capitalization should enhance their credit metrics and make their bonds more appealing to credit investors. But the great bank recapitalization plan unveiled at the European heads of state summit in Brussels at the end of October won’t do much to halt the slow-motion run on bank funding that has been unfolding since the summer.

Many of China’s provincial and municipal authorities are in financial trouble; a new bond issuance programme won’t help in the short run.

After regulators prevent them gouging one set of customers, banks struggle to exploit another.

The fortunes of Tunisia and Egypt are diverging rapidly since the Arab Spring. Tunisia offers encouraging signs but it is less influential.

With its banking system in decline, Europe must support the capital markets as providers of credit.