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Hi-tech comes to Europe

After spending four months trying to hammer out project-finance strategy at the new UBS/SBC, Chuck Zabriskie, global head of the business at UBS, thought he'd finally struck a deal with the SBC-dominated board. He had, colleagues say, managed to retain his business structures and staff numbers, even though SBC pulled out of project finance three years ago. It looked like a small victory for the demoralized UBS footsoldiers.

The Asian Development Bank still has the best balance-sheet of the major multilaterals - on paper. But turmoil in the region and slowness by its major shareholders to pump in fresh capital could change the picture. Steven Irvine reports.

Japan's stock market has problems enough but the country's convertible bond market faces challenges of historic proportions. Once a premier source of funds for capital-hungry Japanese companies, the market has shrunk to a mere capital-markets sideshow, with the market index staggering ever downwards. Now the sector is returning to unwelcome prominence. The market faces colossal redemptions in fiscal 1998, amounting to ¥4 trillion ($30 billion). Efforts by some lowly rated issuers to scrape together the necessary funds to repay maturing convertibles - a burden they never expected - may become quite desperate, since these companies are already feeling the effects of a Japanese credit crunch.

Greeks have a high tolerance of political risk, which should give them an edge when competing for business with their volatile neighbours. Hoping to enter monetary union in the second wave, Greece is set become a powerhouse in "its natural backyard". Rebecca Bream reports.

In our review of Peter Spira's memoirs (Euromoney May, page 6) we failed to mention the title of the book. It is called Ladders and Snakes and you can buy it in London at Heywood Hill, Curzon Street and at Waterstones on Cheapside.

As our awards show, the world's best borrowers have turned adversity to their advantage.

Is this the biggest show in town?

Balkan odyssey

Three Turkish lira denominated Euromarket public issues made this year open a niche market for investors who want to play with Turkish treasury bills without exposing themselves to the risks commonly associated with this high-yield paper.

Cedel and Euroclear reckon half the volume they clear annually is repo business - $25 trillion. That includes government and corporate bonds. Add in the growing repo business in equities and there's a huge market - in collateralization, short-trading and securities lending. Katharine Morton reports.

Issuer: Tabacalera