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The near-term outlook for the Shanghai and Shenzhen equity markets is certainly not helped by the fact that the best and brightest corporate issuers usually chose to head west and list directly in Hong Kong or New York. Davin Mackenzie, managing director of Peak Capital, a Beijing-based private-equity firm, says the best investment prospects in China – if they can be identified – have the same characteristics: transparent accounts that show a record of compliance with tax laws, constant improvements in their core businesses rather than over-diversifying, and management teams that include senior executives who have been educated abroad and spent significant time there. “These types of good investment targets are often already listed overseas, allowing them to ‘step outside of the inherent restraints of doing business in China,’” says Mackenzie.

Balkans – Equest Balkan Properties plans to list its shares on AIM, giving investors the opportunity to buy into property markets in south-eastern Europe. The fund will focus mainly on retail, office and industrial assets in Bulgaria and Romania. It will also look at assets in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the FYR of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey. The company expects a target yield of 7.5% once the proceeds of the placing are fully invested, rising to 10% over time.

Can wealth management truly thrive within the confines of an investment bank?

Brazil’s biggest private sector bank is a retail powerhouse. But Bradesco’s president Márcio Cypriano tells Sudip Roy that the bank intends to beef up its capital markets business.

Latin America’s two biggest equity markets have agreed to integrate as part of a pilot scheme to bolster liquidity in the region. Brazilian and Mexican investors to gain access to each other’s markets.

Banks get together to create industry utility.

Argentina is threatening to leave the IMF, according to reports in the local media, as relations take another turn for the worse. Basking in his success in October’s legislative elections, president Nestor Kirchner wants the IMF to soften its demands. The Fund wants Argentina to let the peso appreciate and to tighten monetary policy.

Lack of liquidity and diversification still restricts managers’ strategies.

The decision of £118 billion ($202 billion) pan-European fund manager F&C to dissolve negotiations to outsource its operational functions to Mellon Financial Services strikes another blow to back-office operations providers. Earlier this year, Schroders and JPMorgan cancelled their outsourcing agreement, and consultants say it’s a sign that fund managers and service providers are realizing that outsourcing is not as easy to conduct as was once thought.

Foreign investors concerned about the effect on bond prices.

Most of the key investments in China’s largest state-owned banks have been settled, but international investors are still eager to pour money into the sector. ICBC, NCCB and Hua Xia Bank are all on the receiving end.