Foreign exchange has arguably held up better than any other financial market in the fallout from the sub-prime crisis. Will its robustness result in it being taken more seriously as both a business and as an asset class? And which banks have fared best in Euromoney’s benchmark industry poll?

Credit Suisse has appointed Chris Tuffey as the new head of European debt syndicate. Tuffey replaces John Fleming, who, after nine years in the job, and 14 at the bank, has left the business. Tuffey has worked at Credit Suisse for 21 years, spending much of the past 10 associated with emerging markets and investment-grade corporate syndication. In addition to syndication, he ran emerging markets origination for the past two years.

Flush with petrodollars and ambitious plans, Nigeria’s banks are coming to London. Guaranty Trust Bank, one of Nigeria’s leading banks, has just been authorized by the UK’s Financial Services Authority to operate as a bank in the UK. Its subsidiary, GTB UK, which is based in Margaret Street in London, will focus on commercial activity in areas where there are already established links between Nigeria and the UK and the other countries where it operates, including Gambia and Sierra Leone. The subsidiary will provide banking services such as receiving deposits and writing mortgages for both commercial and retail customers and intermediates.

Millennium BCP used to be the star of Portuguese banking. But a period of destructive internal rivalries, abortive takeover bids and dubious strategies made the firm a basket case. Can a new chief executive – seen as a safe pair of hands – rebuild the bank’s capital and revitalize its growth?

New organization for the merged RBS/ABN business is unveiled.

There may be plenty of doom and gloom among private equity practitioners in the US and western Europe as a result of the global credit crunch that has all but dried up their cheap financing. In Russia, though, the mood among their peers is almost euphoric. "I am amazed by how relatively easy it is to raise money for a private equity fund in Russia," says Florian Fenner, managing partner at UFG Asset Management in Moscow, which is fundraising for its second private equity vehicle. UFG is looking to raise at least $500 million and expects to make a first close at least half that figure in May.

Only suckers believe that the remedies applied to the credit crisis have cured the underlying sickness. There’s more painful adjustment to come, and it could last two to five years.

Osman Semerci, Merrill Lynch’s former global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities, and co-president of the EMEA global markets and investment banking business, has joined $1.7 billion alternatives group Duet as its chief executive. Duet Group, which started in 2002 with just $10 million in a single fund, now has 14 funds, and is looking to further expand its range of strategies, in addition to growing its private equity business.

A $259 million loan to support an acquisition financing for an offshore drilling vessel in Brazil completed syndication last month. The transaction, which was underwritten by GE Transportation Finance, GE Energy Financial Services and WestLB, was oversubscribed. The syndication, launched in February, has been deemed a great success. Mike Mullen Energy Equipment Resource, a Dallas offshore investor, has bought the vessel from Petrobras.

Russia’s infrastructure will cost trillions of dollars to fix. How are bankers and investors looking to profit from the rebuilding?

As part of Man Investments’ plan to expand its range, the firm has joined its European credit manager, Pemba Credit Advisors, with Ore Hill, a US credit specialist. Man has taken a 50% stake in Ore Hill, and Ore Hill has taken a 50% stake in Pemba.

In a further sign that the world’s leading companies view Russia as a core market, US drinks company PepsiCo is paying $1.4 billion to acquire 75% of Lebedyansky, Russia’s leading juice producer. Lebedyansky, which controls 30% of the country’s juice market, reported sales of $800 million last year. "This agreement provides us with a strong platform for continued expansion in one of the world’s fastest-growing juice markets," says Michael White, PepsiCo’s international chief executive. Once the initial purchase is completed a mandatory offer to buy the balance of the outstanding shares, which are listed in Moscow, is set to be launched later this year. Lebedyansky, which controls 30% of the Russian juice market, reported sales of $800 million in 2007.

Not content with its £10 billion-a-year PFI programmes, the UK government plans to extend its use of securitization to its student loan book. This is worth about £18.1 billion and is expected to increase in value to £55 billion over the next 10 years. Legislation is now in the House of Lords to enable the government to sell these loans to the capital markets – a process that it hopes will raise £6 billion by 2010.

The fuller acceptance of volatility as an asset has moved closer with a new range of investable indices.

"The problem is that banks have ended up lending to these deals by accident – they thought that they were underwriting them"

UniCredit Markets and Investment Banking has hired Xavier Alexandre as its head of e-commerce and electronic trading for FICC. The bank has yet to finalize the reporting lines for this new position. Alexandre will be based in London.

The Argentine central bank will shortly start operating as a counterparty in the local swap market traded at the country’s main fixed-income exchange, the Mercado Abierto Electrónico.

Senior officials at the US Treasury are urging Latin American countries to pursue policies that will help grow their mortgage markets, despite the sub-prime woes of the US.

A reduction in foreign capital flows means that many banks in eastern Europe are indirect victims of the credit crunch.

More on LTROs

In April, Instinet added Korea to the growing list of markets where it operates alternative trading systems.

The International Capital Markets Association raised SFr100,000 ($97,000) for underprivileged children with its annual ski weekend in Davos at the end of March. The event is more than 30 years old, but the potential for charitable contributions was only realized last year.

UBS has done a service to all investors in bank stocks and bonds by making public the report requested by the Swiss Federal Banking Commission into the root causes of its sub-prime losses.

Liquidity remains the primary challenge in the present environment, meaning that few credit managers have ventured beyond the relatively liquid credit derivative indices. Managers including BlueCrest, Cairn Capital, CQS and Pimco are all seeking to take advantage of the unique opportunities the dislocation in the credit market has created, say market participants.

A plentiful supply of cheap, high-quality farmland means Russia may become key in the drive to solve global food shortages.

The African Development Bank issued its third bond on the Bond Exchange of South Africa last month. The rand-denominated bond, the ADB03S, together with the ADB01S and ADB02S, which were issued in December 2007, total $408 million. Standard Bank managed and placed the issue. AfDB’s shareholders include 53 African countries and 24 countries from the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

High-ticket foreign purchases by Tata Steel and Hindalco have grabbed the headlines but India’s SMEs are also increasingly acquisitive. Cash-rich, or funded by enthusiastic local banks or foreign investors, they are taking advantage of turmoil in the US. Elliot Wilson reports.

The grip of the credit crunch seems to be easing for Brazilian corporates wanting to issue debt. This optimism from Brazil is in line with the rest of Latin America, where the debt market fog is clearing.

With the euro hitting fresh record highs against the dollar, it must be tempting for European policymakers to crow. However, complacency could lead to crisis.

Speakers at the EuroHedge Summit offered sound advice: leverage addicts were warned about the drug’s potency, and panickers were advised to panic in good time. Neil Wilson reports from Paris.