Euromoney’s annual survey invites investors to rate the quality of bank research on Middle Eastern equity and debt bearing in mind overall performance and accuracy.

Bank analysts and equity investors give their opinions on which companies they think are the best by the individual company sectors.

Banks profit on originate and hold; Expectations ‘ahead of themselves’

"Deals are being oversubscribed by anything ranging from three to four times up to 15 times – and these are for small $100 million deals up to multibillion dollar deals"

"It’s a minor irritation. We’ve always thought Moody’s was shit, but S&P has now proved it’s just as shit too"

Air Liquide attracts new investors; More deals to follow

More issuance likely from PDVSA; Currency appreciation might force devaluation

First international sovereign issue for 90 years; Aftermarket performance disappoints

Signs of life driven by blocks; Rise in bookrunners ‘frustrating’

M&A activity drops after introduction; Cade’s response faster than predicted

QE distorts currency trading; Returns exist, but in limited pairs

NBAD announces six-month waiver; Rules could promote federal borrowing

Bonds rise on announcement; Recovery-note holdouts threaten resolution

Fine wine shows an attractive Sharpe ratio; Investors must be wary on valuations

More issuance expected; Indonesia performance remains lacklustre

Priced to support post-deal performance; Mexican equity story outshines Brazil’s

$5 billion under management; Employs advisers and third-party fund manager

Depository law proves final hurdle; OFZ spreads tighten on foreign buying

Nine-year tenure ends; Maliki seen to be consolidating power

Veteran lured away from Deutsche; Signals BAML ramping up effort in Asia

Euromoney paid a visit to the annual British Bankers’ Association conference last month in London.

If there was ever any doubt about who Wall Street wants in the White House, a cursory glance at the top contributors to the campaigns of president Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney clears that up in a hurry. It might even make the president regret being quite so harsh on a group who backed him pretty heavily (for a Democrat) when he was first elected president after a campaign during which he is thought to have broken the world record for saying: "Yes we can".

The BBA is holding worthy-sounding debates on regaining trust. Instead they should be following an example from 16th-century Germany.

The IMF/World Bank meetings in Tokyo produced nothing of note in terms of concerted action to counter the global financial and economic crisis.

Pension plans are on the verge of a big move into riskier, illiquid investments to deliver promised returns; they might be better advised to curtail those promises.

Domestic political concerns continue to stall progress on solving the euro crisis. Fortunately, there are more propitious financial indicators elsewhere in the world.

It’s never quiet in UK banking these days. In a fitting episode of handbags at dawn, Ana Botín, the chief executive of Santander UK, reneged on an agreement to buy 316 branches from RBS. The provisional sale agreement had been signed in the summer of 2010 when António Horta-Osório was running Santander UK. Santander wanted to expand its penetration of the small-business market and was prepared to pay £1.65 billion to do so.

Pandit and Havens used to work at Morgan Stanley. In fact, at one time, Pandit was president of the firm. As James Gorman struggles with John Mack’s legacy, a wild thought crosses my mind. Might Pandit one day return to run his alma mater? Over at Morgan Stanley, Gorman is facing the third anniversary of his ascension to the chief executive throne. And the going has not been easy.

Barclays shows advantage of scale; Failure of RBS disposal too late for NBNK

There is no clearer sign of the strength of investor interest in emerging markets than the scramble for African sovereign bonds, but how long can it last?