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Nigeria debate: Nigeria leads the continent

Merrill Lynch has launched an investable index that the bank’s researchers say gives investors cleaner and more efficient access to US equity market volatility than products linked to the present benchmark, the Chicago Board Option Exchange’s Vix (Volatility Index). The Merrill Lynch US Forward Equity Variance Rolling (FEVR) index is designed to measure the performance of a long S&P 500 volatility strategy and follows the launch last year of a similar index in Europe, based on the volatility of the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50.

Muslim Commercial Bank is again nominated best bank in Pakistan. Moreover, MCB has proven itself to be one of the best-performing banks in Asia, and garners our award this year for best overall regional bank in Asia. The award is well deserved. MCB posted a 26% rise in full-year 2007 profits, to PRs15.3 billion ($242 million). Analysts attribute the strong performance to an aggressive foray into consumer finance and low administrative charges. MCB is well placed geographically and financially. Its return on assets at March 31 2008 stood at 5.69% – one of the highest rates in the world – and its solid financial performance continued this year, with profit after tax rising to PRs4.1 billion in the first quarter of 2008, up more than 10%. MCB’s financials have hardly been ruffled by the challenging global environment. "Pakistan is very non-correlated to the US economy – rather, it is strongly connected to the Gulf region, which is driving the investment in Pakistan stocks," says a Hong Kong-based investment banker. "Moreover, Pakistan has one of the best and strongest banking sectors in the world, with MCB the strongest bank in the country. They’re a class act." MCB has been further boosted by the sale of a 15% stake to Maybank of Malaysia this year for $680 million. Maybank’s acquisition, at 5.1 times book, shows how highly MCB is valued – Maybank has the right to boost its stake to 20% by May 2009. The Pakistan bank said the alliance enabled Maybank to join forces with a lender with a strong consumer and Islamic banking franchise.

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans are borrowing from a new kind of creditor, called a sofom, but experts are concerned that the unregulated lenders are charging extortionate rates of interest. In July 2006, a change in the law enabled sociedades financieras de ojeto multiple (sofomes) – financial companies that provide all classes of credit, including mortgages, car loans, personal loans, bridging loans, department store loans, credit cards, commercial loans, leasing, and microcredit – to be created.

"You should come to Beirut soon. The situation has improved a lot," Adnan Kassar, chairman of Lebanon’s Fransabank, advises Euromoney.

Voracious risk appetite propelled Goldman’s earnings in the good times and induced rivals to follow suit. Only when the crash came did they learn, too late, how good a risk manager Goldman is. By managing itself well and avoiding the worst hits, while rivals are clearing up their own mess, Goldman has enhanced its client franchises. It is open for business with customers and reminding them why they wanted to deal with the firm in the first place. How has Goldman achieved this? Peter Lee asks the firm’s senior management to answer the question.

Bankers that cover financial institutions’ debt capital should be in greater demand than ever given market turmoil surrounding their client base. Banks have always been the largest component of debt new issues but now are forecast to dominate primary flows to an even greater extent because of their pent-up demand for financing. Not only are many of them in desperate need of funds following the closure of structured finance markets, they are also selling bonds that earn underwriters a greater amount of fees than was the case pre-crunch.

With almost 100 years of foreign exchange experience between them, the three executives running Tradex Capital Markets have plenty to say about the industry.

Santander chairman Emilio Botín accepts the award presented to the bank 10 July – watch the video footage

On almost the anniversary of what it termed a “functional alignment” of its FX business, Bank of America has made what appears to be a further set of substantial senior level changes. The bank announced last night the departure of Richie Prager, who managed its local rates, currencies and commodities (GRCC) businesses.

Well-placed sources say that Calyon is poised to announce a new global head of FX trading, although the bank has, as ever, declined to comment on staff matters. The sources say that Nasir Afaf will shortly be taking up the role, having recently left Commerzbank, where he was head of FX options. Afaf is replacing Steve Nutland in the role; Nutland moved at the end of June from London to run FX in Asia for the bank. Apparently, Calyon’s overall head of FX, Vincent Leclerc, wanted someone with greater derivative experience to run the bank’s FX trading operations. At the time of writing, it is not known when Afaf will start or where he will be based.

It’s time for a new game plan. When it comes to operating in today’s real estate markets, simply buying an asset and waiting for it to appreciate isn’t going to bring adequate returns. Investors will tell you that the idea that the rising tide raises all boats is passé. The new accepted wisdom is: if you’re going to the market with the same old strategy, you will fail.