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Liability Management: Derivatives Peers' vote - Results Index Page

Elections have a nasty habit of destabilizing Latin America's fragile financial markets. The latest election-inspired jolt came in July when Eduardo Duhalde, Peronist party candidate for Argentina's presidency, suggested that the country might not need to pay back all its debts. The impact was felt throughout Latin America. Spreads on bonds widened, stock markets fell and currencies weakened. While some Latin issuers have taken advantage of brief windows of opportunity to sell bonds and equities this year, many are struggling to raise finance, while much of the region heads into economic downturn. Michael Peterson reports

ARAB 100: Methodology

Last year's Russian crisis had one unexpected spin-off. For the first time investors started to differentiate between Russian risk and that of Kazakhstan. It was good news for Kazakhstan as Ted Kim reports.

Hyperinflation, a stalled privatization process, a lack of raw materials and a national currency near-impossible to convert have understandably encouraged the view among foreign investors that Belarus is an economic basket-case. But, as Theodore Kim reports, for the adventurous it's one of the cheapest places in the world to do business and it does have an industrial infrastructure so massive that it earned a reputation as the assembly plant of the Soviet Union

Brazilian institutions dominate the ranks of Latin America's largest banks by shareholder equity. But this ranking compiled by Fitch IBCA is based on the latest full-year figures, 1998, and is converted into dollars at last year's exchange rate. It therefore provides a snapshot of the sector just before Brazil's January devaluation. Next year's list may include a stronger showing by Mexican and Argentine banks

In the past six months international investors have differentiated central and eastern European countries they once grouped together. Economic performance and market development have varied widely, partly reflecting how badly each country was hit by the Russian crisis. The gap between the richest and poorest is growing, and there is increasing polarization between the first wave of applicants to the EU (Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia), the second (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovak Republic, Lithuania, Latvia), and the former Soviet republics. Rebecca Bream reports on Poland, a leader in attracting foreign interest.

The Asian crisis delivered a devastating blow to the region's sprawling conglomerates. For years they diversified and grew rapidly, feeding on a rich diet of debt, much of it in foreign currencies. Then suddenly their markets collapsed and their debt service costs soared. But the bad times are ending and after drastic restructuring the best companies are on the move again. Alex Mathias reports.

Last month an earthquake brought Turkey's economy to a temporary standstill. It was already in the throes of a recession. Now it's time to rebuild, take advantage of extra sympathy from the IMF and international capital markets, and perhaps revitalize and reform the country in a way that wasn't politically possible before August 17. Metin Munir reports.

Which firms do borrowers think of first when they want to raise money? That is always a key question for investment and commercial banks and it takes on particular relevance now. The capital markets are being transformed. A whole new group of borrowers is launching debut bond issues. Our poll shows which banks they rate best. Commentary by Michael Peterson; research by Rebecca Cicolecchia.

Country Risk: Methodology

Capital raising: Borrowers vote - Results Index Page