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The organizers of Rosneft’s IPO, tentatively scheduled for October or November, are considering placing the shares in Tokyo as well as in Russia and London, according to Valery Nazarov, head of the Federal Property Management Agency. However, he has so far ruled out a simultaneous flotation.

Italy’s Intesa has won the battle to acquire an 85.42% stake in Ukrsotsbank, Ukraine’s fourth-largest bank. The bank has 527 branches and serves more than 660,000 customers. Banca Intesa says that it values the bank at $1.3 billion and that its total investment will amount to $1.61 billion, including the share capital increase. Intesa already owns banks in Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia & Montenegro.

Kazkommertsbank sold a S$100 million ($61 million) bond last month, the first ever Singapore dollar-denominated issue from a Kazakh issuer. European investors bought 65% of the three-year paper, with the rest divided between Asian and offshore US accounts. Singapore government securities offer very low absolute rates, and the deal’s success was attributed to the pick-up and currency diversification that it offered.

Fitch and S&P put Nigeria’s risk of default on the same level as Brazil and Turkey.

Flushed with the success of its 2005 activities, with more than $20 billion raised through privatizations for the Turkish treasury, the country’s privatization administration wants to reattempt the sale of tobacco firm Tekel. The government’s latest attempt to sell the firm was just last year, but no bids were received. This was blamed on an increase in tax on tobacco products. It also tried, but failed, to sell the company in 2003. Other entities slated for privatization this year include Halkbank, petrochemicals firm Petkim and Turkish Airlines.

The fortunes of Korea Exchange Bank, the Korean lender controlled by US private equity fund Lonestar, have been joined at the hip to those of its biggest debtor, Hynix Semiconductor, for years. Despite the successful restructuring of the company, it would appear that little has changed.

Taishin Financial’s share price soared 14% on the first day after the announcement of its link-up with Asian private equity firm Newbridge Capital, and gave a shot in the arm to Taiwan’s banking sector. Finally, it seemed, someone wanted to invest in a Taiwanese bank.

How will money be made in emerging markets debt when bid-ask margins are anorexic and expected returns uncompetitive?

Stock market reforms and restructuring portend further share price rises. There is money to be made, say fund managers, for those with patience and diligence.

The problems of open-ended real estate funds might pave the way for the rapid success of Reits.

Javier Lazaro has joined Credit Suisse as head of global markets solutions covering Spain and Portugal from Goldman Sachs’s leveraged finance group. He will report to Paul Raphael, head of European equity capital markets, and Marisa Drew and Craig Klaasmeyer, co-heads of European leveraged finance origination.

The number of Middle East-based hedge funds is set to increase. In January, Abu Dhabi headquartered First Gulf Bank launched the first hedge fund of significance in the region. The fund, Al Saqer (“the Falcon”), is a macro-strategy hedge fund and has a capitalization of Dh3 billion ($817 million).