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...argues Standard & Poor's, deserve a better credit rating than their sovereign. But not everybody in the market agrees, nor do other raters. Especially when it's banks that have been re-rated. Suzanne Miller reports on a growing controversy

These are nervous times for investors in Pakistan's power sector, which has attracted around $3 billion since 1994. Allegations that agreed tariffs were set too high and that several of the 18 independent power projects (IPP) that have achieved financial closure involved illegal gifts to members of Benazir Bhutto's government have prompted Nawaz Sharif's administration, which took office in February, to scrutinize terms and conditions.

A special report prepared by Dresdner Kleinwort Benson

With its tale of fool's gold and mysterious death, the Bre-X story is on its way to becoming a Hollywood remake of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The book contracts have been signed, the movie rights sold. But the story is only beginning for the hundreds of investors suing to recover their lost fortunes. Investors claim they were duped by the Canadian company and, in one case, the brokerage and analyst that promoted its stock to stratospheric levels.

With Russian issuance still in its early days, any new bond is a source of interest and speculation. The City of Moscow's debut didn't disappoint. Charles Piggott reports.

Toys, baseball caps, anything to give investors that feelgood factor. It may seem like all cosmetics and packaging, but don't skimp on marketing your issue. Your access to funding could diminish next time round. Michelle Celarier reports.

Despite the hardships caused to African countries by the 1980s' IMF and World Bank structural adjustment programmes, there have also been benefits. Market-determined exchange rates, interest rate liberalization, privatization, private sector budget deficit management and the removal of price controls have injected new life into African business. Philip Eade profiles some of the continent's listed companies

April is the cruellest month, wrote TS Eliot. Chinese investors may beg to differ. They found May pretty cruel. In the past month the Beijing authorities have declared war on China's two principal stock markets, rattled by alleged speculation. This had carried the Shanghai domestic share index to gains of 55% since January, and pushed Shenzhen up 75%. By the time Beijing decided to act the two markets were on P/E ratios of nearly 50 times historical earnings. But at first Beijing's usually subtle hints had no impact on a market convinced of its own immortality.

Private investigator Kroll Associates has worked hard to restore its reputation following allegations in the early 1990s that its subcontractors employed unsavoury tactics to uncover company information. It has also adapted well to changing business patterns. Now, though, it faces competition from big accounting firms. Public ownership may be the answer, but could its absorption into US insurance information services company Equifax dull its investigative edge or turn it into big brother? Michelle Celarier reports.

The job of borrowers today is to do much more than merely borrow. As well as raising new debt, they must think strategically: taking care of whole portfolios of existing liabilities; managing these liabilities against assets; managing duration and currency gaps between assets and liabilities to beat their benchmarks. Only then can they plan their moves in secondary markets or through new issues. It's a complicated and demanding game.

New president Junichi Ujiie says he wants to introduce radical change to clean up and modernize Nomura Securities. If he succeeds, the Japanese house could pick itself up from its recent scandal and bounce back to become a global financial power-house. But first Ujiie must halt the bloody factional infighting that marred the term of his predecessor, Hideo Sakamaki, and wipe out the pernicious influence of two former presidents, the Tabuchis. Garry Evans reports.

Portugal's banking sector has consolidated rapidly since reprivatization but assets of $250 billion are still divided among more than 40 players. Emu and foreign competition demand even more mergers or alliances. The three big controlling families already have informal connections that could form the basis for closer ties.