The landscape of the Italian banking market has been completely redrawn over the past 12 months but consolidation remains work in progress.

Markets used to move at the hint of change in the political landscape. These days, surprise election results seem to have little or no impact.

Europe’s supranational and agency borrowers are becoming ever bigger issuers in the international capital markets even as their historical missions appear to have been met and the banking and financial market to have matured enough to finance at commercial rates most of the lending risks the agencies assume. The debate as to whether these subsidized institutions distort or complement the capital markets continues unabated, as private lenders submit to capital adequacy directives that do not extend to the agencies. Alex Chambers reports.

Likelihood of “ratings shopping” by borrowers/dealers increases.

"The bosses of Europe’s big three stock exchanges, the LSE, Deutsche Börse and Euronext, deserve to have their heads knocked together. They appear to have let their egos get in the way of getting together and forming a genuine European powerhouse."

There has been no relief from the pressures that last year’s annual cash management poll detected: globalization, declining margins and intensified competition. Smaller banks face a choice between expanding to compete or forming difficult-to-implement partnerships. Some might soon begin to question whether all the effort is worthwhile. Lawrence White reports.

The gap between the top two and their closest rivals continues to increase, according to results from our recent survey on international cash management.

The postponement because of rain of the annual charity hedge fund polo tournament in Darien, Connecticut, meant a few key players were unable to make it, but it didn’t stop play altogether.

FXMarketSpace has made four senior appointments as it gears up for its launch in 2007. Two of the appointments, Jane Forster and Dan Rosenberg, have been lured from rival EBS. Yigal Oren moves over from Reuters, FXMarketSpace’s 50% owner, and Debra Rabichow comes from futures commission merchant Goldenberg, Heymer & Co.

Leading US private equity firm Darby Overseas Investments is poised to begin pre-marketing on a global emerging markets fund that will have a heavy focus on Asian investments.

Leasing is one of the hidden jewels of European banking. Its use by balance-sheet-constrained large private companies, credit-constrained small and medium-size enterprises and indebted public sector entities, including municipalities and local authorities, is growing rapidly. Europe is fast surpassing the US as the largest market for leases as more and more borrowers see the advantages compared with traditional loans. Peter Koh finds that banks are delighted and selling the product busily through their branch networks.

“When you talk about leasing, everyone thinks you’re talking about cars. My mother-in-law thinks I sell cars for a living”

Do superheroes need financial advice, and if so, how do you go about giving it?

From a research note entitled The largest OTC exchange

Islamic investment and finance company Investment Dar will increasingly look to the sukuk market to meet its funding needs, according to its chairman and managing director, Adnan Al-Musallam, because of limited opportunities for bank finance in Kuwait.

The British Bankers’ Association’s Credit Derivatives Report 2005/06 was unveiled at the BBA’s third annual credit derivative conference held in London on September 21. In 2004 the BBA survey predicted that the global credit derivative market in 2006 would be $8.2 trillion but it is actually $20.2 trillion.

Buzz over US continues, but Europe still getting its act together.

A liberalization of the mortgage market in Argentina could lead to a rise in securitizations and the creation of the country’s equivalent of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mexico broke ground this year with a $160 million, three-year catastrophe bond to cover an earthquake disaster, the first developing country to do so. With the success of that issue, Mexico’s finance ministry is now considering issuing against hurricanes and intense rains that cause flooding. As Mexico recovers from the devastation brought by Hurricane John in September and scientists warn of ever-more severe weather because of global warming, the need to protect against such disasters is clearly urgent. According to José Antonio González Anaya, the finance ministry’s insurance chief, bonds issued by the hurricane-prone US state of Florida could serve as a model for Mexico. Those bonds generally pay more interest than corporate bonds with the same rating and need a category 5 hurricane directly hitting a city to trigger them. The finance ministry says that ideally Mexico would issue a cat bond against hurricanes before president Vicente Fox ends his term in December. Even if that goal is not met, president-elect Felipe Calderón is expected to follow a similar, pro-market economic policy and Mexico’s cat bond issuance is forecast to continue. “What’s important is to find innovative insurance schemes to protect our natural disaster fund and our public finances,” González Anaya says, adding that the bonds give the government immediate access to funds should disaster strike. He adds that Mexico went ahead with the earthquake bond first because although hurricanes are far more frequent than earthquakes, an earthquake’s intensity is easier to measure and easier to insure against. Heavy rains are even more complex disasters because risk levels must take into account the probability of mudslides and other rain-related disasters.

As credit research is increasingly geared towards short-term trading ideas rather than fundamentals, there could be a dangerous dearth of information when defaults begin to rise.

Grupo TMM, a Mexican transport and logistics company, is launching a $200 million securitization that will replace bonds that are relics of its troubled past. Juan Fernández, TMM’s CFO, tells Lawrence White how the firm stayed afloat and what he plans for the future.

The man behind Man Group is to step down from his role of CEO.

First Fiji, now the Seychelles. Suddenly, all those long hours that originators spend on planes en route to visit potential clients seem less tedious.

52,300,000,000 funds raised in IPOs in dollars in the Emea region so far this year. That’s 60% up on funds raised over the same period in 2005.

Italian regional authorities’ healthcare securitizations are under threat following the ratings of Lazio, Campania and Abruzzo being placed on negative watch by Standard & Poor’s. Threats to the accounting treatment given by Eurostat and also domestic authorities point to the regions’ healthcare securitizations being classed as debt. This gave S&P the jitters over how they would continue to fund their healthcare deficits.

Eurozone countries are continuing to boost productivity vis-à-vis that in the US; consequently European equities are outperforming American ones.

Qatari bank aims to become world’s largest Islamic player after IPO.

IMF: Singapore welcomes the right sort of people

Graduation day might be approaching for some of the larger companies listed on London’s AIM (Alternative Investment Market) but the sheer volume of competitors means some might not make the cut.

Arab Bank has bought a 50% stake in Turkey’s MNG Bank, as part of its expansion plans. MNG Bank was established in 1991, and offers retail banking and capital markets services through 11 branches across Turkey.