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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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Five years of debate do not seem to have taken the Asiaclear concept very far. Now there are fresh moves to set up an Asian-wide settlement system. But, reports Steve Irvine, perhaps Euroclear is already too far ahead even in Asia.

Deal: Block trade in BP stock

"The emergence of the German public-sector borrowers has probably been the most important single feature of the international primary debt capital markets during the 1990s," says the head of syndication at one of the bulge-bracket US investment banks. Few people would argue with that.

HSBC Holdings has held on to the top spot in this year's rankings, while mergers have propelled Credit Agricole and Wells Fargo up the table. Elsewhere, Japanese banks have fallen while American banks have made a steady climb.

Issuer: Svensk Exportkredit

After years of affirmative action a new class of ethnic Malay businessmen has emerged. These entrepreneurs quickly scaled the heights of industry and commerce to control powerful sectors, from the motor industry and the national airline to property and media