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Republic of Colombia

It is not just American businessmen and tourists filling the seats of Thai Airways' new non-stop route between Bangkok and New York.

United Utilities

Some banks are already seeing an uptake from new buy-side clients

Republic of the Philippines

Stock markets are unimpressed by president's pro-business reforms

Investors snapped up the bonds on rarity value, as Germany went for an early deal

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), domestic bond markets help to foster financial stability, reduce inflationary funding, improve financial intermediation and assist governments in managing the effects of volatility in the international economic and financial system. Khaled Fouad, senior vice-president, merchant banking at TNI, says: "In the absence of a debt market, any crisis in the banking industry will have a spillover effect and would likely require the government to step in and assume the burden in order to prevent the financial system from collapsing."

Investor sentiment has soured dramatically over the past two months, with more fund managers now expecting growth to slacken and corporate profits to fall. A Merrill Lynch survey of 300 fund managers indicates that a net 32% are now negative about growth prospects and that a net 34% are negative about the corporate profit outlook, a significant turnround from March when investors were positive about growth and corporate profits by a net 11% and 4% respectively. Expectations have not been this low since 2001.

Turkey

Despite a more uncertain rate and credit environment, new issuers and investors continue to enter the covered bond market. As the boundaries between traditional and structured products blur, Asia and the US are the targets.

Banks have been trying to crack the CMBS market in Germany for years. Their success has been limited by the German banks' willingness to lend on their books and the conservatism of many borrowers. But the economic slowdown has taken its toll on banks, and private-equity houses are increasingly involved in German real estate.