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Investment bankers scouring Russia for the next juicy deal are salivating at the prospect of mortgage-backed securities written off Russian property.

Amid speculation about how emerging markets specialist Caspian Securities is faring, a new chief executive is to replace its founder, Chistopher Heath.

Peregrine's last days, by Andre Lee

When the Czech Republic privatized its communist-era industry in the early 1990s it made a serious mistake. It left the banks in state hands. Selling the banks is more difficult now. Their stock has fallen; their loan books are weak; and political opposition to the sell-off is strong. Nigel Dudley reports

This is the risk they won't talk about in Brussels, Bonn or Paris - that monetary union, once entered into, goes horribly wrong, scuppering the SS Euro. Prudent financial management demands that the risk of failure, exit by one country or dissolution should be considered. Research suggests it isn't negligible and that its consequences for financial contracts and exposures will be devastating. David Shirreff reports.

The secrecy of the negotiations and the price paid stunned the City into awed silence. Merrill Lynch's takeover was certainly a good deal for Mercury Asset Management's shareholders. But was Merrill so taken with the brand name that it underestimated the fund manager's problems? Mercury has little room for growth at home and has never had much success expanding abroad. Mercury wants to keep some independence, but how long before it gets Merrillized? Antony Currie reports.

The European Central Bank's governing council might not be meeting yet, but Deutsche Bank - who else? - has the inside track. For about six months its leading economists in 10 locations have been acting out a "shadow" ECB council which, in a monthly conference call, sets a shadow interest-rate policy for the euro.

Bargain hunters spread to Europe

European corporates may enthusiastically be embracing the idea of shareholder value, but does this create value for bond investors? This was a question that investors were keen to ask Diageo - the new company created in last year's £9.75 billion ($16.25 billion) merger of Guinness and GrandMet - during its roadshows for a debut $500 million Eurobond. As the trend for European corporate M&A continues, debt investors will increasingly find that recognized names are absorbed into new companies with unfamiliar credit stories. That puts an emphasis on both borrowers and lead managers to explain developments to investors. The trend of hiring highly creative and expensive consultants to come up with new and apparently meaningless company names, scarcely helps.

It's all in the price

Telstra fuels an equity boom

Simon Brady becomes editor of Euromoney from next month. He succeeds Garry Evans who has worked for the journal for the last 12 years, eight of them as editor, and who has moved to Tokyo to fulfil an early ambition to work in Japan. Evans became a great editor of Euromoney, swinging its editorial into the different mainstreams of international finance with growing dexterity and judgement, setting a pace that impressed professionals in markets across the world. He will be missed.