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Argentina: Dollar bond revival

Venezuela's president considers buying Ecuador bond

We have the tools to develop much more coherent and flexible financial markets. But it will only happen if a spirit of openness is maintained, says Philippe Buhannic.

Inside IT | Boom time for IT vendors | Definitions:Software gets space-age | Survey results | Trading Screen: Pulling IT all together

Copenhagen is costly, but to great effect. Spend a bit, drink a bit and you'll end up enjoying a tradition of companionship, cosiness and conviviality. But Danes aren't inward-looking. They've stuck with their national currency, though many still favour regional integration.

The financial software user survey was sent to software companies' clients. Each respondent was able to rate up to three products, including those from other vendors, in every applicable functional category (six categories, and 22 sub-categories). Euromoney received 145 verified unique client responses, generating 505 different ratings. Each software product was rated on a 10-point scale for service, usability, return on investment (cost), and application programming interface (network function), together with an overall rating. Respondents were also asked for their perceived weighting for each of these areas. The average weightings were used in determining the overall grade. The scores from these five scales formed the basis for the overall score.

Credit card bad loans to rise but business still highly profitable

The UK Debt Management Office has put a brave face on the disappointing response to its issue of 50-year gilts in mid-July. The DMO, in its second sale of these ultra-long bonds, sold £2.25 billion worth; but the sale drew bids of just 1.23 times the amount on offer, the smallest cover for any conventional gilt auction since the creation of the DMO in 1998. The DMO reintroduced the 50-year gilt in May after a break of more than 40 years. The result was particularly surprising in the light of the supposedly enormous gap between the supply of long-dated assets and the demand for them. Changes to pension fund regulation in Europe – Spain is the latest in a growing line of reformers – as well as increased pensioner longevity are forcing trustees to look hard at their asset/liability matching. In addition, there is a growing belief that the last 30 to 40 years, in which inflation has been high by historical standards and equities have been the logical asset in which to invest, have been some kind of blip.

Investment banks: How to succeed at succession

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Saudi Arabia: investment incentives