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Despite much hype and enthusiasm, the DIFX, Dubai’s new international stock exchange, has got off to rather a slow start.

In the first of a regular series of columns, John Arrowsmith casts light on what at first sight appears to have been a sudden volte-face on interest rates by the European Central Bank.

As Latin American economies look forward to another year of robust growth, remittance flows continue to outpace expectations. With payments by expatriates worth a record $45 billion last year and increasing at more than 10% a year, it is little surprise that banks now want a piece of the action. Latin American and US banks are not only eyeing services to rival traditional wire services to bring in extra revenues, but also see money flows as a way to develop portfolios aimed at the small-scale Latin American customer, offering loans and mortgages.

by John Ferry

CNOOC finally closed a significant Nigerian oil deal in January.

Japan’s corporate sector has spent the past few years selling businesses off to pay down debts and restructure but there is gathering evidence of the emergence of a more acquisitive bent.

Lotte Shopping, a stores-to-cinemas group and one of the biggest retailers in Korea, launched its IPO in January as a dual listing in Korea and London, with Goldman Sachs and Nomura Securities as joint global coordinators and Daewoo Securities handling the domestic IPO. Although pricing will not be fixed until the end of January, the valuation, believed to be up to $3.8 billion, means this will be comfortably Korea’s largest IPO. In addition to the domestic and international listings, Nomura Securities will undertake a public offer without listing in Tokyo.

SBI Capital Markets, the investment banking and project advisory arm of the State Bank of India , has agreed a strategic business alliance with Asian broker and investment bank CLSA to provide investment banking services in India . The two firms will work jointly on large equity capital market transactions, M&A and other advisory work as well as cooperate on research products. The alliance is for an initial period of two years but might be extended by mutual consent.

Asia Debt Management, a successful distressed debt fund manager based in Hong Kong, has teamed up with the Asian Development Bank to launch a $338 million closed-end fund targeting financially distressed companies that need rehabilitation. This is the second Maculus fund: the ADB also invested in Maculus I and this time has committed $45 million to the Maculus Fund II. The new fund will invest primarily in the capital structure (securities, loans, equity or other assets) of potentially viable, listed or unlisted companies, in financial distress due to excessive debt or unsustainable capital structures. The fund has a five-year life but might be extended for up to two consecutive one-year periods at Asia Debt Management’s option.

The Philippines’ capital markets have started 2006 positively. Capitalizing on the immediate strength of the peso, the Republic of the Philippines was Asia’s first sovereign to tap the market when it raised $2.1 billion from a $1.5 billion 25-year bond and a €500 million 10-year bond, one of the largest fund raisings from Asia for several years.

594,900,000,000 The global dollar value of equity capital raised in 2005. The figure is up 4% from 2004 and is the highest since 2000.