From electronic trading platforms to credit event fixings, inter-dealer broker Creditex regularly sets the pace in the electronic credit derivatives trading. But the market didn't know quite how to take spin-off of its post-trade processing platform T-Zero.

The imminent liberalization of Gazprom share ownership rules will introduce the world's biggest energy company to the world's biggest investors. But is Gazprom ready for the world, or the world for Gazprom?

The price of oil might be heading towards $100 per barrel but that doesn't seem to be blunting some bankers' appetites for fuel-guzzling vehicles. Nor is their ability to make money necessarily linked to good taste when spending it, as evidenced by the recent purchase of a stretch Hummer by London-based Citigroup managing director Valentin Ehmer.

The investment market is becoming ever more competitive as structural change brings higher allocations to real estate, writes Laurence Neville

We don't like to blow our own trumpet but... Euromoney trashed the competition and emerged as undefeated champions in the viciously fought mixed netball tournament hosted by Associated Newspapers, the sister company of Euromoney Institutional Investor within the DMGT publishing group.

Two landmark bank loans will reinforce the dominance in Russia's oil and gas sector of two of the largest state-controlled companies – fuelling rivalry between them.

Wells Fargo leaves US equities stategy business

Qatar has become a centre of project finance expertise as the government pursues big industrial and infrastructure projects. Skills have spread from foreign banks to local institutions and are being used in the whole region.

Movers and shakers

Central and eastern Europe's leading institutions have been quick to praise UniCredit's acquisition of HVB, which creates the region's biggest bank. But, they warn, it had better stay on its toes, as rivals will look to profit from any loss of focus that the alliance brings.

The growth of Iceland's banks – now centred on three main groups, profiled on the following pages – is one of the success stories of the past decade. The pace of development has led to concerns that such growth might be problematic and unsustainable. But the banks themselves are confident they are well placed for the future.

"I'm not interested in being prime minister. That'd be a demotion. I'm Tony Blair and the Queen in one!"

Recent Real estate industry award results

Riad Salameh has been governor of Lebanon's central bank, Banque du Liban, since 1993. He talks to Kate Luxford about bank consolidation and the need for capital market growth

As Lebanese banks flush with liquidity devise regional expansion strategies, four of them have won licences to open affiliates in Syria's nascent privately owned banking sector.

News of an election is already perking up the Germany economy. If a centre-right coalition wins, as seems likely, expect yet more improvement

Iraq's Paris Club deal was exceptional on many levels – not least that it was mainly worked out in capitals far away from Paris. The deal arrived in November 2004 – more than a month ahead of schedule – thanks to some fortuitous timing. Iraq's Paris Club meeting happened to coincide with both a G20 meeting in Berlin and an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Santiago, which gave the mid-level finance ministry functionaries in Paris the ability to easily escalate negotiations to the finance-minister or even head-of-state level.

Dragos Neacsu, a former civil engineer and latterly investment banker, has taken on the challenge of overcoming the many shortcomings of Romania's debt strategy from the foundations up.

Grigorii Marchenko, chief executive of Halyk Bank and former governor of Kazakhstan's central bank, talks to Euromoney about bank capitalization, the development of consumer banking products, Kazakhstan's economic policy and the country's regional role.

Eastern European equity had a summer of love, as stockmarkets from Budapest to Istanbul hit all-time highs. Russia, last year's chronic underachiever, has been the best performer of all.

Despite previously criticizing ABS, the new regime can't ignore benefits

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Greater transparency is essential for ABS to be used as repo collateral

In your latest quarterly inflation report you suggested that you'd overshoot the target. Is that correct?

Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko has had a roller-coaster 12 months. He was poisoned, faced rigged election results and was then swept to power on the back of a peaceful revolution that split Ukrainian opinion in two. Now the time has come to show whether he can deliver on his pledges. Euromoney quizzed Yushchenko on how he intends to do this

Real estate has traditionally been a localized business. Now developers are considering the costs and benefits of moving out of the comfort zone and going international, as Helena Keers reports.

The ability to lend is closely tied to capital markets business, writes Laurence Neville

As real estate establishes itself as an asset class of choice for investors large and small, advisers are reaping the benefits. The next product in the production line could be property derivatives.

Malaysia's local electricity supplier is just one of the government-linked companies on Khazanah's books. And, like most of them, it has plenty of problems to deal with.

Exactly four years on from the September 11 attacks, there's been little construction activity to encourage banks to move back into Lower Manhattan. Goldman Sachs's decision to build a new headquarters on the site might be crucial