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Introduction of euro notes and coins involves complex decisions on the part of bankers on how to deal with legacy currencies in contracts.

Walking around mid-town New York in December is always a chore. And the 15-block section of Fifth Avenue south of Central Park is the worst of the lot. Last year was no exception. Despite the creeping economic gloom of the past 15 months, despite the huge personal and economic costs to New York of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September, there were still hordes of Christmas shoppers crowding the streets.

Mexico

The Enron saga showed vividly how credit rating agencies can be key players in the endgame facing a stricken corporation. That's a disquieting role for the agencies, which present themselves as mere observers. But downgrades, by setting off forced selling, can push troubled companies over the edge. How did investors come to rely so heavily on ratings and what do they intend to do about it?

Latin America

The happy solution to volatile equity markets or an accident waiting to happen? Hedge funds, long the darlings of super-wealthy individuals, are now attracting attention from institutions and even retail investors. Funds are pouring into the sector faster than ever. But though the salesmen say there is plenty more room for investors to fill their boots, some people fear that they could be the next investment bubble after dot coms and private equity.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are among 10 states, mostly central and eastern European, that Brussels is vowing to admit as soon as 2004. Only Bulgaria and Romania would be kept waiting. But this idea doesn’t please some existing EU members – and a radical view is emerging that what matters is market reform, not EU membership.

Of the other international corporate deals launched from the region this year, there were a couple of distinctive transactions. The controversial €800 million ($736 million) bond issued last October by Poland's state-owned utility company PGNiG, the largest-ever euro-denominated corporate bond from the region, won Euromoney's corporate deal of the year for 2001 (see February 2002 issue). However, for astuteness in its overall borrowing, Russian mobile operator MobileTelesystems (MTS) deserves a special mention.

Adrian Nastase, the prime minister of Romania and Social Democratic Party leader, has been described as “a proactive politician”. During a recent trip to the UK, he explained that positive action is his priority.

Despite jitters after the September 11 attacks, tier-one bank capital issues offering better returns than government bonds have continued to remain popular with investors, boosted by attractive new structures.

Collateral

The focus of interest in central Asia is returning to strategic and newly oil-rich Kazakhstan where tycoons and reform politicians are vowing to shake up the longest-lasting regime in the post-Soviet constellation. With growth in double figures, foreign investors are watching too.