Regulatory arbitrage will to take a new form once bankers can get their heads around Basle II.

Currenex’s sale may force a re-rating of FX platforms and their owners.

The imposition of policies to counter terrorist financing activities means that controversial decisions are inevitable. Even so, the US Treasury’s hard-line stance towards Iran’s financial institutions, two of which it publicly claims are funding the country’s nuclear weapons programme and Middle East terrorist organizations, raises important questions – not least whether its actions are interfering with international commerce.

Much of the singsong about the advantages to Euronext of the merger with the NYSE sounds flat.

A revival of domestic investor interest in Japan’s equity and real estate markets is inevitable.

The bank has changed. Now Green and Geoghegan’s challenge is to manage investors’ different expectations.

Five years after the economic crisis, concerns emerge about overheating.

Abuse of information prompts worries about integrity in credit markets.

Wealth managers are muscling in on the fund of hedge funds business.

Corporates need to recognize that they need to care about their CDS investors and that the old attitude of concentrating on the requirements of bondholders alone will no longer wash.

It could be that the bank is simply too large, and only disposals can change the culture. But the recent changes are, to date at least, a missed opportunity.

Big strategic acquisitions might be an exciting diversion for banks’ senior managers. But it is shareholders that pay for them.

The southeast of the region could be the star performer in 2007.

Is it really likely that DK will now be able to persuade better-quality individuals to join the firm? It might be struggling to retain the ones that are left.

Increased competition on cost between European exchanges might lead to liquidity fragmentation. Is there a solution to this?

The US bank has finally got what it wanted – but it remains to be seen what happens now with GDB.

Don’t be fooled. The ready availability of liquidity to buy loans of distressed companies in the mid to high 90s is not a sign of health but another symptom of a market that has abandoned rationality.

How much CPDO volume can be produced before it starts to affect the market of which it is a derivative?

Archeus Capital’s recent closure suggests that hedge funds should beware of relying on administrators to maintain vital data and should keep their own back-ups.

If, as expected, BT uses a bumper securitization to protect itself against LBO predators it might start to give other potential targets ideas.

Few would have predicted that credit spreads could get any tighter but CPDOs further underpin the market’s strength.

The saga of the PCCW takeover does little good for Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial centre.

Private equity in the Gulf is developing fast but investors need to seek out experienced firms.

Tata Steel’s bid for Corus is at the vanguard of corporate India buying cross-border assets.

The price that Macquarie was prepared to pay for Thames Water graphically illustrates the impact that infrastructure funds are having on this sector.

Technological developments in multilateral trading facilities look set to be much more significant than link-ups between private monopoly exchanges.

In October, two rating agencies struck down Italy’s credit ratings: Fitch lowered the republic’s long-term debt rating to AA–; Standard & Poor’s now has it at a lowly A+.

With falling returns for hedge funds, it looks as if a trend might be developing for their employees to return to less risky, better remunerated roles in investment banks.

ICBC listing might set a new record but investors should tread with caution.

Yucho privatization is a big ask for Japan’s financial sector.