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The military dictatorships are gone and the civil wars are over. Now, as Central America's governments overcome their suspicion of foreign borrowing, the region is opening up to foreign investment. James Rutter reports.

Suddenly the search for higher yield goes out the window and investors, we are told, are clamouring for greater tradeability. The bond salesman's answer is super-jumbo bonds upward of $4 billion and market-maker commitments to dealing spreads of a few basis points. Big tickets, reversible short positions and hefty benchmarks are the result. Does this mark a sea-change in the bond markets or is it just a fin de siècle fad? The search for greater and greater liquidity hasn't yet been tested in a bear market. Peter Lee kicks off our 82-page report on the biggest, brightest and best of Euromarket names.

The two most talked about themes in the capital markets right now are jumbo issuance and the changes that will occur as a result of the introduction of the euro. Many of our readers will be able to quiz issuers directly at our Borrowers and Issuers Conference in mid-June. Victoria Whitenton, treasurer of Freddie Mac, for one will be there hoping that "at the Euromoney conference we will get feedback both from investors who have participated and those who have remained on the sidelines".

South African banks were once regarded as introspective followers rather than leaders. But in the last six months, Investec, the independent Johannesburg-based investment bank, has broken the mould to become the foremost symbol of a financial services sector that is belatedly waking up to the pressures of globalization.