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Standard & Poor’s has bought software services company Imake Consulting and ABSXchange, a portal for structured finance data, analytics and modelling.

Net jumbo Pfandbrief issuance is likely be down again this year for the third year running, while structured covered bond issuance grows apace. This is generating some bitter debate about just how much investors understand the difference between the two types of debt. Louise Bowman reports.

When the investment trust structure appeared four years ago, the securitization market jerked into action and local banks jumped on a growing opportunity. Now foreign banks are taking a fresh look at the market, eyeing the rich pickings that are emerging from securitizing receivables for corporates, banks and states. Chloe Hayward reports from São Paulo.

Vladimir Evtushenkov, the chairman of Russian conglomerate Sistema, describes his company’s focus as consumer services but is tight-lipped about what that means. It apparently stretches to stakes in oil companies and a willingness to sell off what looked like a core element of a successful insurer. Laurence Neville reports.

Serbia’s minister of the economy and former finance minister is uncompromising – and his approach has been crucial to the revival of his country’s economic fortunes.

From Cuba to Zimbabwe, and from Iraq to Sudan, London-based securities firm Exotix has taken the esoteric markets label and made it its own. Following its recent split from parent company Icap, Exotix is turning away from its background in distressed debt and trading more and more assets from frontier markets. Dominic O’Neill reports.

Taiwan’s grandiose plan to create a big national financial holding company by the end of 2007 has left analysts on the island cold.

Sinan Al-Shabibi, governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, speaks to Sudip Roy about the bank’s efforts to control inflation, curb exchange rate instability and cope with the difficult security situation.

UNTIL RECENTLY, INDIA occupied a hazy part of the average global investment banking CEO’s brain marked "untapped potential". That fuzziness has been wiped clean this year. Investment banks are piling into India, snapping up experienced local and expatriate talent, completing multi-billion dollar cross-border mergers, and establishing cost-efficient data centres employing thousands of skilled engineers.

Brazil plans to allow the country’s mutual funds, which have $525 billion in assets, to invest an unlimited proportion of their portfolios in overseas assets by the end of this year.

Exotix pushes beyond the wild frontier

Liquidity in the global debt and bank markets is scarce but judging by the action of Brazil’s leading private equity firm, the financial crisis has yet to hit Latin America’s biggest economy. São Paulo-based GP Investments has entered into one of the biggest leveraged buyouts in Brazil, in what is expected to be the first of many similar transactions. In August, the private equity firm agreed to acquire 100% of Pride International’s Latin American Land Drilling and E&P Services businesses for $1 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter.