5 The number of years it has taken the S&P 500 and the FTSE100 share indices to reach levels last seen in 2001. On March 15, the S&P 500 crossed the 1300 mark for the first time since May 2001. This is still about 15% below the index’s March 2000 all-time high. The FTSE 100 crossed the 6000 mark for the first time since March 2001 but is still almost 1,000 points shy of its December 1999 all-time high.

Ultra-rich investors are seeking out higher-volatility hedge funds. But they will be hard to find until strategies catch up with demand.

Excellent market conditions, M&A, special situations and heightened insurance activity drove record subordinated supply in the first quarter; more deals are in the pipeline.

“I see you have the same problem as in my country: prostitutes everywhere!”

Euromoney meets the chief executive of a specialist financial services firm recently bought out by management. Such deals are rare in a sector where most participants are inherently leveraged through their day-to-day operations. Is the firm’s capital structure not now rather strained? Not at all, says the CEO. It could ask its backers or other third parties for more money tomorrow and get as much as it wanted. Raising money isn’t the problem. Almost anyone can get funding right now. Identifying the right investments to build the business – that’s the tough part.

NIBC is planning a hybrid capital deal linked to the 10-year constant maturity swap rate. The deal, via lead manager Morgan Stanley, is fixed for the first five years at a whopping 8% before switching to the 10-year CMS plus 10 basis points. The coupon is capped at 8% with no floor. Such deals were extremely popular until a year ago but hybrid capital referenced to CMS coupons has fallen out of vogue since. The sector boomed during 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, with borrowers attracted by the highly aggressive all-in after-swap funding costs. But after the curve flattened many of these securities have traded at prices in the low 80s. With the curve as flat as it is, it seems the view is that the downside is now limited.

The regional real estate investment trust craze has finally sired a pan-Asian Reit, driven from Australia, and to be listed in Singapore. Despite its billing however, Allco Commercial Reit currently boasts just three assets: an office tower and shopping mall in Singapore, a stake in an office in Perth and a minority stake in an existing Australian property fund managed by the same group. That hardly qualifies for the title pan-Asian Reit but the proposed $300 million plus proceeds will certainly provide the capital to acquire more properties. The key to the success of the deal will therefore be whether investors believe the deal’s sponsor, Allco Finance Group, has the ability to find and close sufficient deals to warrant the fund’s pan-Asian billing.

The US housing boom is set to collapse, with adverse effects on domestic consumption. This, unlike the slowdowns in Australia and the UK, will have a marked effect on global growth.

WaMu for covered bonds

Economic pressures and government policies are driving investment inland, but many of the so-called second cities already boast powerful economies. Banks see a new frontier of opportunity. Chris Leahy reports from the cities of Chengdu, Wuhan and Qingdao.

It’s a good job that many US investment banks have had such a strong first quarter. They need the cash to keep the regulators at bay.

The ECB’s March 2 rate rise is contra-indicated by the prevailing data, which are apparently distrusted by the central bankers. In their view, recovery is well established in eurozone countries.

Banks’ credit research departments are readying themselves for a turn in the credit cycle towards a higher level of defaults and volatility. Florian Neuhof reports on the state of play.

Venezuela’s president is planning to buy assets in Uruguay, according to the local media. Hugo Chávez is considering investing in Pluna, a small Uruguayan airline, through a state-owned Venezuelan airline. Conviasa is mulling over buying Brazilian airline Varig’s 49% stake in the Uruguayan outfit.

Finance minister’s resignation leaves investors feeling cautious.

Banking sector consolidation continues in Georgia, where Bank of Georgia recently acquired its ninth-largest competitor, IntellectBank.

CLO facilitates the provision of loans to the world’s poorest citizens.

Joaquim Levy, Brazil’s treasury secretary, tells Lawrence White how the sovereign is restructuring its debt management profile.

Vietnam’s stock market is roaring as speculative money chases the few listed stocks. Reform is on the way and the potential for growth is clear. Meanwhile, the market remains over-hyped, poorly regulated and lethal for the uninitiated. Chris Leahy reports.

Unbundling of commission regulation will increase independent data provision.

There are high expectations for European public-to-private deals this year but there is much uncertainty in the sector about how many will actually make it to market

For some FX traders the prospect of an extended holiday seems to be the deal clincher for switching jobs.

The London Stock Exchange’s shareholders clearly have a lot to gain from Nasdaq’s bid for the market, especially if, as is widely expected, the New York Stock Exchange joins in the fray and pushes up the price even further. But what, if anything, users stand to gain is far from clear.

Treat your back-office staff well lest they take umbrage and run away to a hedge fund.

Deutsche Bank has hired from a private equity firm to expand its presence in the rapidly growing real estate, gaming and lodging sector in Asia. The bank has hired Matthew Mrozinski from Colony Capital, the private equity firm that specializes in real estate investments. There, Mrozinski was vice-president of acquisition and head of Asia-Pacific capital formation. In this newly created role at Deutsche, Mrozinski will report to the bank’s head of M&A for Asia, Douglas Morton, but will also be responsible for the financings of real estate deals.

Domestic criticisms of Deutsche Bank’s international focus have not passed it by, prompting plans to develop its business at home. But as Jürgen Fitschen, who leads the initiative, tells Philip Moore, his bank does not intend to imitate rivals’ indiscriminate wooing of medium-size companies.

After its success with the sale of BCR late last year to Erste Bank, Romania’s government seems determined to press ahead with the sale of one of the few remaining banks of any size in central Europe, CEC. The final bidding deadline for the 85% stake is April 26, with six European banks – National Bank of Greece, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Dexia Bank, EFG Eurobank, OTP Bank and Raiffeisen Bank – having shown an interest by mid-March. The decision to go ahead with the sale surprised many bankers, given that the government had an alternative proposal to restructure the bank over two years to boost its value, with some suggesting until recently that CEC might never be sold.

Tough regulations hold back trade volumes.

The $67 billion AT&T/BellSouth merger catapults Evercore and Rohatyn up the league tables.

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani has many roles. As Qatar’s economy and commerce minister he presides over the world’s fastest-growing economy. He is also chairman of the Qatar Financial Centre and the Doha Securities Market. Al-Thani is considered one of Qatar’s most forward-looking policy-makers, a man who has great ambitions for the Gulf state. Talking to Sudip Roy in Doha, he outlines the economic progress of Qatar and argues that it will become the financial services hub for the Middle East.