HSBC and Credit Suisse win top honours in Euromoney Awards for Excellence; Ackermann receives Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contribution to Financial Markets

Brady Dougan and Paul Calello stripped down Credit Suisse’s investment banking vehicle as the credit crisis hit. Now they’re showing off a streamlined, non-polluting, yet powerful firm that even their competitors admire. Is Credit Suisse the model of a new investment bank? Clive Horwood reports.

Of the few global banks to have survived without state assistance, HSBC is the best positioned in the most attractive emerging economies. Its global banking and markets business is thriving. Its rights issue confirmed it as a better credit than many governments, and deposits have flooded in. Regulators will force other banks to copy it. Best of all, it has admitted its mistakes. Peter Lee reports.

FX retail leader might look offshore; Regulators’ moves “may not help investors”

US bank consolidation is hanging fire; Will private equity firms jumpstart the market?

The CDS market is hoping that the move to central clearing will silence its critics. It could be disappointed.

$16 billion in Reit offerings have been made in Q2; Reits eye distressed debt opportunities

Lenient treatment of property assets acquired in debt-for-equity swaps shows regulators are still worried by systemic vulnerabilities.

Time won’t solve problems; Transparency is paramount

Saxo Bank has purchased stakes in two specialist asset managers, taking the entire share capital of Capital Four Management and 51% of Global Evolution.

Selling BGI removes restrictions on Barclays Capital; The firm can now deal with US mutual and pension funds

Equity derivatives dealers responding to difficult trading environment; New products to cope with volatility and counterparty risk

There is a group of investors who don’t feel comfortable unless there’s a benchmark to use. So clearly there’s a need for indices that measure movements in FX.

BofA president bullish on prospects; Firm maintains top three revenue slot

Fortis acquisition gives unprecedented scale; Organic growth continues in France, Italy

The retiring chairman of Rabobank urges a new model of bank ownership; The view from a survivor is that the worst may be to come

Firm’s role in AIA offering shows it is a player to reckon with in the region.

IMF credit line brings into question robustness of country’s economy.

Emerging markets companies buying western assets must heed the lessons of Cemex and Tata Motors.

Financial troubles are plaguing some of the Gulf’s most prominent families.

Aedy begins to build team; Restructuring opportunities top of agenda

Boutique investment bank expanding in fixed-income trading; Plans origination expansion and a push into Europe

Re-remics salvage value from battered CMBS.

Officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council have set 2013 as the new deadline for the region’s common currency, according to Standard Chartered, quoting local media reports. The initial deadline for the project was 2010 but progress has been slow and complex, with both Oman and the UAE pulling out of the union. Despite this, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have decided to go ahead. But Standard Chartered says that even if the union is effected, excluding the UAE means the region’s second-largest and most diversified economy will be outside it.

Roberto Isolani, co-head of global capital markets at UBS, is to leave the bank this summer. Isolani spent just over two years in London after he was recalled from Italy to run debt capital markets. He is a 17-year veteran of UBS who was elevated to co-head of capital markets alongside Matthew Koder just over a year ago when the troubled Swiss bank merged ECM and DCM.

Steady supply for three months shows market is back; Sub-investment-grade names welcomed

Corporate, not real estate, is key; White Tower teeters on the brink

Have we learnt anything from the unsettling events of the past nine months? I have learnt that bankers have short memories and exceptionally short recall regarding painful reminiscences. Maybe it’s part of the human condition. It certainly seems to be part of a banker’s DNA.

The credit crunch and recession will reshape finance and markets in some surprising ways.

Jobs are scarce and job interviews competitive but how far would you go to get noticed? From a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site in the US, apparently candidates are willing to try any tricks. Here’s a selection of tactics that employers reported during the survey: