Despite the volume of high-profile mergers and acquisitions between exchanges, the number of trading venues in the US is an astonishing 55 and rising. According to industry consultant Larry Tabb: "The US financial markets are not just in flux; they are in full-out, no holds-barred, free-for-all radical change." Moreover, it is a trend that he believes is likely to be exported.

Last month two interdealer brokers unveiled their participation as official venues for the trading of Dutch bonds.

Rapid growth can mean rising inflation, as Vietnam is discovering.

ECBC plenary meeting divided about how to handle market making.

One characteristic that both the ABS and leveraged loan markets share – apart from having had a hideous time over the past nine months – is that fledgling indices for both (the ABX and LCDS/LevX respectively) have been subjected to the most testing market conditions in memory very early on in their development.

March 7

It’s pitiful trying to blame short sellers for the woes of the financial system.

Are banks biting the hand that feeds them? Perhaps, but what choice do they have?

If there’s another Bear Stearns or Northern Rock-style blow-up, will any other bank be willing or able to pick up the pieces?

But CDO managers are paying a premium, especially in the US.

Rating agency considers wider implications of CDO methodology change.

"Low sovereign default rate reflects buoyant global market conditions."

$20,500,000,000 The value of equity capital raisings postponed or withdrawn so far in 2008, according to Dealogic. The value of deals pulled is more than 10 times as much as the $1.9 billion over the same period in 2007 and is the highest ever on record.

Small-cap stocks in the US have so far weathered the deteriorating credit market conditions better than their international peers. According to Credit Suisse, however, the situation, is looking increasingly anomalous and is likely to change as the effects of the liquidity crunch catch up.

The Fed is finding innovative ways to fund US financial institutions to combat the systemic risk that has done for Bear Stearns.

"The private equity party is over," says Kevin Dolan, chief executive of $5 billion fund of hedge funds La Fayette Investment Management in London. The credit crunch has made it difficult for private equity firms to take companies private, and that is good news for activist hedge funds, he claims.

Even though spreads for most foreign exchange products are often so thin that they barely exist, the use of transaction cost analysis (TCA) to measure execution is on the increase.

Citadel Known to be taking full advantage of the carnage in the markets, Citadel is now launching a multi-strategy macro investment business to cash in on arbitrage and trading opportunities. Kaveh Alamouti has been hired from Moore Capital to run the business.

The highly respected Gavin Wells has left Citi after a 14-year stint at the bank. Wells originally joined as part of the bank’s experiment of recruiting former British army officers; he successfully marched through the ranks to ultimately head the bank’s e-commerce trading force. Following Wells’s decision to stand down, Citi has decided to use its existing forces and deploy them in more distinctly divided specialist areas.

But lenders will price to encourage trading.

Don’t confuse a lack of deals with inactivity; allocations to private equity are set to rise.

With the public markets all but closed, issuers have turned to private and structured products to fulfil their requirements. Those who have maintained the best relationships with their investors and dealers have proved best able to ride out the turmoil, printing deals at half their CDS levels or better. Infrequent borrowers and those who have taken cheap funding for granted are in for a shock.

"It is an inauspicious year because the rat year brings about slower world economies where unemployment, money matters and environment matters would be the key issues. There would be plenty of natural disasters/diseases which could affect the world."

Despite avoiding the worst effects of the global credit crunch, Kazakh banks will need to undertake reforms in the coming months if they are to regain trust and confidence, concludes Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Ekaterina Trofimova. She says: "The Kazakh banking system has reached a decisive point in its development, with the continuing turbulence highlighting the need for a deep transformation of business practices, strategies and regulation."

Deutsche Bank’s global head of equity and derivatives trading, Noreddine Sebti, is packing his bags and ditching the Big Apple for Hong Kong, in a move that the bank says reflects Deutsche’s increasing focus on the Asia-Pacific region, which it expects to overtake Europe in terms of equity trading this year.

Since it launched its FXTrade platform in 2001, Oanda has carved out a reputation as an iconoclast and innovator in the foreign exchange industry. By making use of smart risk management tools, it has helped pioneer the delivery of tight spreads initially to retail customers but increasingly to institutions.

Its strength in emerging markets makes it a serious player in FX.

Brazil’s Banco Itaú plans to open a Tokyo branch of its securities subsidiary, Itaú Securities, in the autumn. The subsidiary will become the first securities firm from the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) to set up an operating base in Japan. The new branch will sell Brazilian stocks, bonds and other financial products to institutional investors.

Foreign exchange settlement system CLS has established a new record for the value of transactions processed in one day, soaring through the $10 trillion ceiling.

Citi has apparently raided rival UBS and captured its global banks marketing team. Neither bank was able to comment at the time of writing but it is believed Citi hires include Bruno Widmer and at least five of his Zurich team.