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ABN Amro last month made a curious choice of words to announce the arrival of some new staff in its commodity derivatives division.

By Ravi Raju, Head of Investments, Asia Pacific & Middle East

Development bank AFD's issue offered government-style risk with enhanced yield. That was a winning formula with investors, whose interest rapidly took the e300 million deal's book to e1.2 billion.

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By Craig Lewis, Head of Investment Consulting, CSPB

Certificates based on implied volatility indices open up new opportunities-

Glittering skyscrapers, air-conditioned malls, manicured lawns, litter-free boulevards, and a law-abiding population... It is hard to believe that 200 years ago Singapore was a disease-ridden backwater populated by fisherman and pirates. And just 40 years ago the island state was racially divided, lacking in resources and reliant on unfriendly neighbours for food and water. Singapore?s transformation into a thriving global financial centre, however, is not a result of natural evolution. Rather, its leaders have approached it as a carefully thought-out project. What Singapore has lacked, it has simply created ? it?s ?a man-made miracle?.

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Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays, is adding to its equity derivatives team across three continents with up to 15 hires in a bid to enhance its structuring, trading and distribution network.

Portuguese banks got through last year's recession remarkably smoothly. But despite their strength, there's still talk of further consolidation. Quite how this would be achieved is not clear, particularly as the government is likely to resist further foreign involvement.

Of all the global investment banks, UBS has perhaps the most unlikely provenance, rooted as it is in private-banking skills. After transformational acquisitions a new UBS has emerged that means business. Group CEO Peter Wuffli outlines its ambitions in Asia.

?Have your cake and eat it?