DIC Asset Management – a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai International Capital, the international investment arm of Dubai Holding; HSBC Bank Middle East; and Oasis International Leasing – has concluded the first close of its MENA Infrastructure Fund with commitments totalling $300 million.

The Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), is fishing for extra funds after recalculating its plans and projecting that it will lend as much as 15% more than expected for the 2008-11 period, as it seeks to step up its investments in infrastructure. BNDES president Luciano Coutinho has been talking about growth of 10% in lending for infrastructure projects, focused on energy, communications, railways, ports, and water and sanitation. The bank has already announced that it needs an extra R$25 billion ($14 billion) for next year, prompting speculation about how the money will be found.

In a world of increasingly powerful and mistrusted sovereign wealth funds, Temasek, the investment arm of the Singapore state, stands apart in terms of governance, openness and performance, claims Simon Israel, its executive director. Chris Wright reports.

Infrastructure investment is not without risk. Even the US has found this; the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis in August led to the realization that much of the country’s ageing infrastructure needs refurbishment. But flows of new money bring their own problems. Investment skills and experience remain the pre-eminent qualities required to succeed.

With little to choose between the capabilities of covered bond departments, issuers are granting mandates for different reasons.

The hoarding of cash by banks is understandable but dangerous.

The US bank recovered from a similar crisis in the early 1990s. But this time around it lacks strong leadership.

The monolines should survive this crisis, but only because the prospect of them being downgraded is an outcome too far for the battered credit market.

Spain’s thriving cajas show the rest of Europe the way forward.

The strong run of emerging markets equities looks set to continue.

Global problems require global answers.

There’s a lot to be said for a monetary union for north America.

Africa’s banking and capital markets are showing encouraging signs of maturity.

The sinking dollar – not ­the sub-prime fallout – is the big hurdle for India’s most buoyant sectors.

Those looking to harm Ms Whitney may want to think twice.

Industry veteran Albert Maasland has been appointed as Saxo Bank’s European chief operating officer. Previously, Maasland was head of business development, e-commerce at Standard Chartered. He has also held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and Chase Manhattan. "I’ve had a great time at Standard. It’s a really good bank, concentrating on what it does well. But I’m looking forward to starting at Saxo. It is hard to overestimate the impact that Saxo Bank are having in the financial services industry and their future growth potential and I am keen to be part of that winning team," says Maasland.

The withdrawal of liquidity that started in July has posed a challenge for the financial markets, not least credit investors. Solent Capital, a $7.4 billion credit asset manager, has experienced first hand what happens when markets dry up. Helen Avery reports.

"If the shoe was on the other foot, if these were sovereign wealth investors in France, Germany, the UK or the US earning fabulous returns, reducing national deficits, funding social security costs and investing into the rest of the world, would they think it was an issue? I suspect not"

Spotted in India: Goldman Sachs’s chairman and CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, enjoying the festivities at a party in New Delhi hosted by Azim Premji, the silver-haired chief of one of the subcontinent’s biggest IT firms, Wipro.

There have been few signs of summer loving in the boardrooms of the bulge-bracket banks, with more and more senior executives being told by angered shareholders and directors "You’re the one that I (don’t) want" as post-sub-prime gloom spreads.

"I was talking to a Merrill Lynch banker the other day who said he wanted his firm to be like Goldman Sachs. I replied: ‘But you’re not.’ It’s like saying you want to be cool when you’re not"

The world’s most profitable chemicals company, and possibly soon to be its biggest, has ploughed ahead with big expansion plans despite the credit crisis, making more use of Islamic and local capital markets. Dominic O’Neill talks to Sabic’s CFO, Mutlaq Al Morished.

HSBC’s global headquarters in Canary Wharf hosted an entirely different type of journalist last month at the press conference announcing the British bank’s sponsorship of the British and Irish Lions for their 2009 tour of South Africa.

Citi has merged its equity capital markets and fixed-income capital markets divisions.

New regulations are always unpopular with bankers struggling to keep on top of increasing numbers of oversight and compliance rules. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) is proving particularly unpopular with those working in the equity-linked structured note market, who say it is simplistic in its approach to derivatives-based investments.

Many investors had been positioning themselves for an inevitable downturn in the leveraged finance market long before this summer’s dislocation. But, ironically, the underwriting abuses of the past few years mean that they could still face a long wait before any meaningful opportunities arise. Louise Bowman reports.

Primary debt issuance out of Latin America is expected to pick up at the beginning of next year, according to bankers who work in the region.

Mid Europa Partners, the leading independent private equity firm focused on central and eastern Europe, has established a notable benchmark for the industry in the region, raising €1.5 billion in commitments for its latest fund, Mid Europa Fund III.

‘Riskless’ exposure comes back to haunt banks

AUM may be still in its infancy but the quality of managers is appealing.