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.

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

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

%3CBODY%3E%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3EPeople%20moves%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20Ian%20Bell%20is%20the%20new%20head%20of%20structured%20finance%20at%20Standard%20%26%20Poor%27s%20following%20the%20departure%20of%20Kurt%20Sampson.%20Bell%20was%20previously%20the%20head%20of%20the%20legal%20team%20at%20S%26P%20across%20the%20EMEA%20region.%20Sampson%2C%20who%20was%20with%20S%26P%20for%2020%20years%2C%20has%20joined%20ABS%20Exchange%2C%20a%20structured%20finance%20analytics%20company%20set%20up%20last%20November%2C%20as%20CEO.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20%A0%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3ETime%20up%20for%20Italian%20government%20RFP%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20After%20sending%20out%20requests%20for%20proposal%20with%20a%20deadline%20of%20the%20end%20of%20August%2C%20the%20Italian%20government%20has%20received%20submissions%20from%20various%20consortiums%20for%20a%20securitization%20by%20Gestore%20della%20Rete%20Trasmissione%20Nazionale%20%28GRTN%29.%20The%20company%20runs%20electricity%20transmission%20in%20Italy%2C%20and%20could%20raise%20A1.5%20billion.%20The%20next%20government%20ABS%20from%20Italy%20will%20be%20SCIP%203.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20%A0%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3ECorrelation%20dealers%27%20exposure%20is%20key%20to%20CDO%20issuance%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20The%20correlation%20market%20is%20recovering%20some%20of%20its%20pre-crisis%20characteristics.%20At%20the%20end%20of%20July%2C%20the%20base%20correlation%20curve%20was%20heading%20back%20towards%20its%20early-May%20shape.%20By%20late%20August%20equity%20tranches%20had%20tightened.%20But%20it%20doesn%27t%20follow%20that%20issuance%20will%20recover%20to%20first-quarter%20levels.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20%22Absolute%20spreads%20in%20the%203%25%20to%207%25%20tranche%20went%20from%20202%20to%2071%2C%20and%20are%20now%20widening%20out%2C%20so%20value%20is%20moving%20back%20to%20the%20mezzanine%20part%20of%20the%20capital%20structure%2C%22%20Robert%20McAdie%2C%20Barclays%20Capital%27s%20global%20head%20of%20credit%20strategy%2C%20said%20in%20the%20firm%27s%20global%20credit%20perspective%20briefing%20last%20month.%20%22The%20issue%20is%20the%20size%20of%20exposure%2C%20especially%20of%20dealers%20who%20are%20short%20mezzanine.%20Hence%20the%20lack%20of%20substantial%20CDO%20issuance.%22%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20Issuance%20is%20focused%20at%20seven%20years%2C%20and%20further%20up%20the%20term%20structure%20at%20super-senior%20level%2C%20as%20a%20hedge%20against%20short%20mezzanine%20positions.%20In%20May%2C%20dealers%20were%20short%20by%20about%20%2430%20billion%20and%20could%20only%20use%20hedge%20funds%20to%20offset%20part%20of%20that%20risk.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%3C/BODY%3E%0D%0A

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

You did your first dollar bond since the default in July. What was the strategy behind that?

Emerging-market and convergence investors have long since stopped buying hard-currency debt from the new European countries after their spreads converged with EU government levels, but the region's local-currency debt is attracting ever more inflows. Kathryn Wells reports on where the best opportunities lie

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, wants to build his influence in Latin America through the creation of a regional debt market. But emerging-market analysts are unimpressed.

Argentina has rebounded impressively from the 2002 crisis, but it still faces enormous risks and challenges. Sudip Roy spoke to Argentina's top economic policy-makers, including the economy minister, finance secretary and central bank president, about how they plan to take their country forward.

Argentina has rebounded strongly from the 2002 crisis, but some analysts are getting worried about inflation and the low level of investment. How would you reassure the international financial community?

Legislation to guarantee the position of foreign investors is being followed up with a proposed comprehensive capital markets law.

Several leading private Saudi companies are preparing to go public by launching IPOs following the successful flotation of dairy company Al Marai in July.

The Qatar Financial Centre opened for business on May 1 2005, and is now accepting licence applications from institutions. Its first resident – private bank Ansbacher – is set to open in early September 2005. Stuart Pearce, QFC's chief executive, says that an asset-management company and two banks are in the final stages of applying for licences. Dismissing concerns that the creation of yet another regional financial hub might be seen as overkill, the QFC says it is not seeking to compete directly with Bahrain and Dubai. "There is no reason why all three centres can't operate together," says Pearce. "They are different, complementary markets." The QFC has its sights set on banks involved in project financing and private banking, as well as commercial banking, private equity and investment banking, IPOs, and structured finance. "The feeling is that more wealth is staying in the Middle East, and that wealth needs a home, so there are all kinds of opportunities for regional and international banks to participate in the development of that wealth," says Pearce.

It's difficult to make money in Russian private equity. Consequently, many of the world's biggest funds have steered clear. For those that have taken the plunge, the results are mixed. Some report returns far higher than those on equities. Others have had no luck and have packed up and left.

As restructuring rather than default becomes the norm for credit events in the emerging markets, it is time for those involved in the market to reappraise the effects of distressed situations on credit default swap prices, argue Manmohan Singh and Jochen Andritzky

International markets reacted to the death of Saudi Arabia's monarch King Fahd by raising oil prices sharply to more than $61 a barrel.

Companies from Egypt to India and from Turkey to South Africa are hoping that the opening of the Dubai International Financial Exchange, set for the end of September, will open the doors to a vast well of unemployed petrodollars.

Country risk index: Most countries have better access to capital than ever before and sovereign credit ratings have been on the rise for the past three years. But an increasingly tense geopolitical environment has led to marked decline in this year's country risk ratings. Research and analysis by Paul Pedzinski.

Peru's former finance minister has helped to turn his country's fortunes around.

Asia's banks have reinforced their position as the largest emerging-market financial institutions thanks to the region's economic growth. Meanwhile Brazilian banks are at a head of a dynamic period in Latin America. Analysts at Moody's Investors Service discuss the trends.

Well done to the estimable Rowan Staines of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's media relations team.

Euromoney does not seek to encourage improper behaviour but we have to share news of one of the hottest websites sweeping the City of London.

Deutsche Bank has set itself high standards when it comes to entertainment. In previous years, its annual credit derivatives conference, held in Barcelona every July, has featured veteran rocker Rod Stewart and pop princess Kylie Minogue, to name but two.

SocGen's move on big local player signals confidence in the run-up to Egypt's first open presidential election

"A bratwürst made from tofu? This I am not prepared to discuss!"

Mifid promises to shake up EU financial markets in a way that will make Big Bang look like a gentle nudge. To have any hope of meeting the implementation deadline of April 2007 investment banks might need to set aside as much as $12 million each in their 2006 budgets. Peter Koh examines the fallout

From quiet beginnings as one of the world's smallest states, Qatar has emerged as a regional player as a result of shrewd investment in natural gas and sound economic management. Although oil and gas revenues still account for about 60% of GDP, the non-oil sector grew by 10.8% last year, and the financial sector is performing particularly strongly.

Sabic's upcoming $267 million Shariah-compliant domestic bond should set the pattern for issuance in a Saudi market that has seen little corporate paper up to now.

As tensions mount between Iran and the west over the Islamic state's nuclear ambitions, Tehran seems to be adopting an Ostpolitik, looking to China and India for political and energy ties. Opec's second-largest oil producer, which also has the world's second-biggest gas reserves, is wooing Asia's fast-growing and energy-hungry economies.

Six-month paper will help investors diversify Shariah-compliant portfolios

%3CBODY%3E%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3EChina%20pushes%20into%20North%20America%20%u2013%20again%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20Not%20to%20be%20put%20off%20by%20Chinese%20oil%20major%20CNOOC%27s%20failure%20to%20seize%20control%20of%20US%20oil%20company%20Unocal%2C%20China%20National%20Petroleum%20Corporation%2C%20China%27s%20biggest%20state-owned%20oil%20company%2C%20paid%20%244.18%20billion%20to%20acquire%20Canadian%20oil%20company%20PetroKazakhstan%2C%20a%2020%25%20premium%20to%20where%20the%20stock%20was%20trading.%20The%20company%27s%20shares%20are%20traded%20in%20New%20York%20and%20its%20oil%20fields%20are%20in%20the%20north%20of%20Kazakhstan.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20The%20deal%20has%20to%20be%20approved%20by%20the%20Kazakh%20government%2C%20and%20could%20be%20scuppered%20by%20a%20counter-bid.%20However%2C%20if%20it%20is%20successfully%20completed%2C%20it%20will%20be%20the%20largest%20overseas%20acquisition%20to%20date%20by%20a%20Chinese%20company.%20CNOOC%20withdrew%20its%20%2418.5%20billion%20offer%20for%20Unocal%20at%20the%20beginning%20of%20August%20after%20strong%20opposition%20from%20the%20US%20government.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20%A0%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3ETakeover%20Panel%27s%20new%20director%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20Mark%20Warham%2C%20head%20of%20UK%20mergers%20and%20acquisitions%20at%20Morgan%20Stanley%2C%20has%20been%20chosen%20to%20be%20the%20next%20director%20of%20the%20Takeover%20Panel%2C%20the%20body%20that%20regulates%20M%26A%20activity%20in%20the%20UK.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20He%20will%20take%20a%20two-year%20secondment%20from%20Morgan%20Stanley%20to%20take%20up%20the%20new%20role%20at%20the%20end%20of%20November.%20He%20is%20the%20first%20Morgan%20Stanley%20banker%20to%20hold%20the%20post%2C%20replacing%20Richard%20Murley%20of%20Goldman%20Sachs.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20%A0%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cul%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3Cli%3E%0D%0A%09%09%09%3Cstrong%3EGMAC%20sells%2060%25%20of%20its%20mortgages%3C/strong%3E%0D%0A%09%09%3C/li%3E%0D%0A%09%3C/ul%3E%0D%0A%09%3Cp%3E%0D%0A%20%20GMAC%2C%20the%20finance%20subsidiary%20of%20General%20Motors%2C%20has%20announced%20that%20it%20will%20sell%2060%25%20of%20its%20commercial%20mortgage%20business%2C%20GMAC%20Commercial%20Holding%20Corporation%2C%20to%20private-equity%20groups%20KKR%2C%20Five%20Mile%20Capital%20Partners%20and%20Goldman%20Sachs%20Capital%20Partners.%20GMACCH%20wants%20an%20independent%20credit%20rating%2C%20superior%20to%20that%20of%20its%20parent%2C%20to%20give%20it%20access%20to%20cheaper%20funding.%0D%0A%3C/p%3E%0D%0A%3C/BODY%3E%0D%0A

Public-sector banks in Europe have hit on a new and potentially profitable idea. They're trying to turn themselves into localised versions of the universal banking model. Who are some of the successful early movers? And we look at how Europe's cooperative banks are teaming up in debt capital markets.

Iranian shipping company NITC is a rarity: it's one of the few non-oil and gas companies in the Islamic Republic seeking funds in the international markets.

The woman who has run the central bank since 2000 has overseen reform of the exchange rate, the capital markets and the banking industry. With her encouragement the country has also become a hub for Islamic finance.

THE PARIS CLUB has gone through fundamental change over the past year. First it agreed to an enormous debt reduction for Iraq, then it started to allow debtor nations to buy back their debts. Most recently, it came to a long-awaited and ground-breaking agreement with Nigeria that involved elements of both debt reduction and buyback.

The experience of the high-yield sector shows synthetic risk can boost an illiquid product

The suspension by the World Bank of a loan to Ecuador should concern the world's poorer countries

Flexibility is the watchword as the UK regulator clarifies its guidelines on capital ratios