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Vietnam’s market is small at some 4% of GDP but it is not likely to remain that way for long. As irreversible economic reforms take hold and the government continues to privatize state assets, a lengthy pipeline of IPOs is emerging that promises to dwarf the existing market.

The UAE capital markets received a boost last month when National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) issued a Dh2.5 billion ($680 million) tier 2 convertible bond through a private placement. It is the first time this type of hybrid security has been issued in the UAE.

There has been a lot of talk about the use of computerized trading in foreign exchange. Discussions at a recent seminar in London suggest that there is real substance, not just hot air, behind the chat.

Dealers say the backlog of unconfirmed credit default swap trades has been reduced by 54% since September 2005. The New York Fed is asking for a further reduction by the end of June this year. How near is the market to having an infrastructure able to cope with massive growth and a broadening of the uses of CDS? Helen Avery reports.

French chemicals company Rhodia has announced several initiatives that will help Rhodia Energy Services optimize the value of its carbon emissions receipts, which have been generated from projects to reduce emissions at Rhodia’s plants in South Korea and Brazil. In its first hedge using carbon emission receipts, it has sold 8 million tonnes of CERs, of which 6.5 million will be sold at €15 a tonne, to be spread over 2007 and 2008.

Domestic criticisms of Deutsche Bank’s international focus have not passed it by, prompting plans to develop its business at home. But as Jürgen Fitschen, who leads the initiative, tells Philip Moore, his bank does not intend to imitate rivals’ indiscriminate wooing of medium-size companies.

Connecticut-based currency manager Tradex Capital Markets has been awarded the management of UBS’s external allocation programme for FX-only investments. Tradex will assume responsibility for portfolio construction, maintenance and manager negotiations on behalf of UBS. Steve Jury, chief investment officer at Tradex, says: “In addition to the continued growth of our conservative, low-volatility fund, Tradex aims to move aggressively into the business of building customized multi-adviser platforms for asset managers, pension funds and government institutions. The unique funding possibilities in FX allow for the creation of portable alpha strategies that can be created with very low cash requirements. The firm is researching new ideas including notes, swaps and index development that we will likely market jointly with large financial institutions. Our wealth of FX market experience allows us to assess and quantify currency managers. This edge will enable us to help investors build return and avoid the pitfalls in a difficult and developing asset class.”

Online trading platform MarketAxess plans to launch a client to multi-dealer emerging markets CDS index trading system in the second quarter. The system will be the first of its kind and Latin America-related business is likely to be prominent.

Investors were asked to rate named analysts and teams for the categories indicated. The credit research houses themselves nominated teams. Scores were given in the ratio 5:4:3:2:1 for first, second, third, fourth and fifth place nominations respectively, then summed and divided by the total score in each category to produce a percentage. See full Credit research poll methodology