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What does the future hold for Mexico’s Banamex, which Citi owns? Although the US bank claims that Banamex is important to its recovery, after its sub-prime losses, many bankers and analysts in Mexico are sceptical. Speculation is rife about the future of the bank.

The Norwegian government and Eksportfinans have announced a facility that will provide long-term financing for the country’s export sector.

The proliferation of alternative trading venues in Europe has vastly complicated the task of achieving best execution.

Otherwise the country faces a crisis akin to 1998.

Zurich Insurance wants to expand its insurance offerings for U.S. middle market property owners, real estate investment trusts and property managers. The insurer has a 5% share of the real estate insurance market and hopes to grow this to 15% over the next five years, said Richard Elliott, global head of real estate.

Saxo Bank has had a mixed press this year, which is perhaps testament to the fact that it can no longer be considered to be a junior upstart in foreign exchange.

India’s largest corporates, desperate to shore up working capital or pay the interest on overpriced flagship acquisitions, are trying every trick in the book to raise cash from investors, banks and non-bank financial institutions.

Few would have predicted such a result given the underlying doom and gloom in the financial markets, but Icap’s 16th annual charity day, held on December 10, proved another outstanding success. The company donates all of its brokerage earned during the day to various charities. Last year, it raised a record £9.2 million ($14 million) and few realistically expected that figure to be surpassed. However, despite the sombre mood nearly everywhere else, the atmosphere at Icap was buoyant. As has become the custom, the company’s offices around the world were visited by a string of celebrities throughout the day.

Pension funds could be interested in acquiring Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh airports, IPE Real Estate reports. The Competition Commission said the British Airport Authority must sell the airports to enhance competition and improve its services across U.K. airports. The Commission is planning to sell Glasgow airport as an alternative to Edinburgh’s airport and has suggested that the government make changes to boost airport regulation and give the regulator more authority to intervene on issues such as performance and financing.

According to a statement released after the Latin American Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (Claaf) meeting in December, Latin American governments could have very limited access to credit in 2009. The committee, which includes former finance ministers and central bank governors in the region, fear that Latin American borrowers could get crowded out of the credit markets as the US attempts to fund its fiscal deficit of more than $1 trillion. As large volumes of US treasury bonds are issued so the Latin governments, which face financing needs in excess of $250 billion next year, will have to develop "powerful and innovative" new mechanisms to direct money back to the region, warned the Claaf committee.

Markets are positioned for something akin to the Great Depression. With so much doom and gloom in the air, now is the right time to buy equities.

The endless series of new index lows has repeatedly confounded investors who see equities as having become cheap again. The rally at the end of last year has raised hopes once more that valuations might have found a bottom. However, for some leading strategists, what looks like cheap today may not be cheap enough.