Posit Now is the latest newcomer to European equities trading venues.

"We lost more money than any other bank during the crisis because of our high profile, and if we speak to the media again at this time we could suffer again. We have worked hard to achieve a lower profile in the press."

Row with Russia leaves large hole in the country’s current account.

Aeon Credit Service, a credit card issuer, became the first Japanese company to tap into the growing market for Shariah-compliant debt when it began issuing under an agreement signed with joint lead arrangers, managers and bookrunners Aseambankers Malaysia, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and CIMB Investment Bank.

Rated sovereigns in the Middle East and Africa are expected to show net borrowing decreases in 2007 because of large debt repayments, according to Standard & Poor’s.

A shift of depositary receipt issuance to London comes at a time of soaring interest in the asset class in the US.

A survey by Absolute Return magazine indicates that US hedge fund launches slowed in 2006 – the second year of slowdown in a row.

The SEC has launched a probe into allegations that Wall Street firms might be tipping off certain customers, namely hedge funds, before large trades are made by mutual funds, a practice often referred to as "front-running".

Should prime brokers be supervising their hedge fund clients? Yes appears to be the message sent out by New York bankruptcy court judge Burton Lifland.

Foreign investors are starting to return to Argentina’s capital markets just five years after the country’s severe economic crisis. However, their confidence has been shaken following the government’s apparent manipulation of the inflation rate for January.

Use is increasing across the securities industry.

Investment bankers have been described as masters of the universe before. Now, according to CLSA, they are getting the chance to prove it.

“Normally, the willingness of the monolines to go long-term means that they are cheaper for long-term funding. But the banks have been pushing the envelope on tenors and prices so this is simply not the case any more”

Barclays has announced the appointment of Matt Barrett as head of distressed debt and special situations investing. He is joined by two more new hires to work as managing directors in the same department, as Barclays looks to substantially increase its power in this market.

Kotak Mahindra, one of India’s largest financial groups, is launching a fund in the first quarter of this year that offers global institutional investors the possibility of receiving returns above the domestic stock market in a private equity-type offering.

Military government described as inept, while foreign business wobbles.

Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, has signed a deal with London mayor Ken Livingstone to supply the UK’s capital with cheap oil to help run the city’s buses.

Credit Suisse has promoted Ram Nayak and Darren Walker to head its emerging markets group within its fixed income division in London.

As is the fate of most technologies, algorithmic trading is spreading from the developed markets to the developing. Mexican broker-dealer Finamex is the latest to catch the bug, announcing on February 20 that it had chosen US-based Progress Software’s Apama platform to offer algorithmic trading to its buy-side customers.

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Moody’s announced in February its intention to start publishing pre-sales reports for the faltering US sub-prime RMBS market. These reports will include opinions on the expected cumulative losses and key structural considerations, as well as a transaction’s provisional rating.

Many participants in the foreign exchange market were shocked by the sudden departure of nascent trading platform FXMarketSpace’s chief operating officer, Bryan Hunter, on February 12. His exit came just days after he had helped present details of FXMarketSpace to the European Central Bank in Frankfurt with his long-time colleague Rick Sears.

The search for yield has resulted in an increase in overseas investment. But according to a recent research note put out by State Street Global Advisors, fund managers might have been lulled into a false sense of security by the low volatility environment.

Little more than a year ago Commerzbank was the sick man of European finance, seemingly destined to a lonely, perhaps terminal, decline. Now insiders say the surprise acquisition of Eurohypo has given the merged firm, and its investment bank, a new lease of life. Philip Moore reports on the patient’s progress.

Once the ugly duckling of the FX market, the retail segment is now seen as offering rich pickings from those who position themselves correctly.

Cairn Capital is on the road marketing the first managed constant proportion debt obligation. The deal, which is structured by JPMorgan, seeks to offer investors an improvement on static CPDOs and is proof of the rapid evolution in the product.

Nick Munns, David Frist and Chris Morrison are all believed to have left JPMorgan’s foreign exchange proprietary trading desk in London.

An increasing number of funds of hedge funds are issuing collateralized fund obligations. There have been 20 such transactions, 10 of which were launched in 2006. "We expect the number of CFO transactions in 2007 to surpass that of 2006," says Ken Margolis, co-head of global CDOs at Merrill Lynch.

Event risk remains the biggest threat to the world’s economic prospects. But globalization means that, although economic imbalances might persist, the likelihood of a major worldwide correction is low.

Latin America’s best companies, like its capital markets, are beginning to find their bite. Boldness is the buzzword in a stable environment of 5% regional economic growth. For a growing club, foreign markets are the targets for home-grown Latin success stories. Leticia Lozano reports.