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Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, has an important decision to make in the coming weeks: whether social spending should take precedence over debt repayments.

The current market is testing relations between managers and investors to the full, says Neil Wilson.

Armins Rusis is joining Markit’s executive team from Morgan Stanley as vice-president and global co-head of fixed income, alongside a founding partner at Markit, Kevin Gould. Rusis worked at Morgan Stanley for 17 years and was latterly head of US credit trading and global head of securitized and structured credit trading. Prior to that he worked in Europe, until May where he was head of credit trading. He was replaced by Patrick Lynch.

Like other global investment banks that are rushing to send their best talent to the Gulf, UBS is seeking to take advantage of the opportunities there.

The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, struck a new deal with countries in the Caribbean during the PetroCaribe summit last month. In order to adjust prices in line with rising oil prices, Chávez has proposed that member countries pay 40% of the cost of oil purchased from Venezuela. The rest will be paid over 25 years with 1% interest charged. If the price of oil rises above $200 a barrel, the members will pay only 30% within 90 days and the rest under new long-term conditions. Under a 2005 agreement, Venezuela provides countries in the Caribbean basin with oil at a preferential rate in order to "help the weakest countries".

Do you find aspects of the credit crunch confusing? Fear not, all will be explained by US law firm Patton Boggs. In a recent presentation in London hosted by the European Securitization Forum, US attorney Talcott J Franklin from the Washington DC-based law firm was charged with explaining the implications for European market participants of the explosion in US sub-prime litigation.

Fund managers in the region are finding demand for a wide range of products, even though many investors still have very local interests at heart.

Latin America and the Caribbean have 10% of the world’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals and 4% of high-net-worth individuals, according to the latest Merrill Lynch/Cap Gemini World wealth report.

Euromoney’s second annual Middle East Research poll was conducted online from Friday, May 2 until Wednesday, June 25 2008.

Raiffeisen International, the central and eastern European banking arm of Austria’s RZB Group, has announced plans to establish a greenfield operation in Kazakhstan.

Oil prices at $100 a barrel and more are not the only thing generating excitement about the prospects for the GCC economies. Non-oil GDP is also increasing and there’s a young population with increasingly sophisticated investment requirements. Chris Wright reports.

It’s not often you overhear comments about commercial banks on the upper deck of the number 26 bus heading for the London borough of Hackney. Situated on the City of London’s doorstep, Hackney is known for trendy pubs as well as street gangs, drug dealing and general villainy. Banter on the number 26 includes, but is not limited to, sincere discussions on the merits of mobile phone models, kebabs, gambling and stern child-rearing.