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The credit market in Eurobonds is becoming deep and varied. For the first time, corporates - including lower-rated borrowers - are driving the market. Securitization and hybrid debt are taking off as well. But which firms are best placed to sell these products to European investors? Marcus Walker reports.

Bank atlas 1999: The world's biggest banks

Bank atlas 1999: The world's biggest banks

This is a brief and highly selective history of the international financial markets over the past 30 years. Who were the heroes, who were the villains and who made a difference? It's the story of hopeful financial centres that flourished, showed promise but ultimately lost out to London, of banks and bankers with vaulting ambition who made it big, came a cropper or laid waste the markets around them. It's a story of creativity, excitement, success and spectacular failure. By David Shirreff.

Prompted by the ravages of Hurricane Mitch and the crisis in emerging markets, Central America is changing - fast. As the crisis in Brazil finally explodes the myth of monetary sovereignty, Central American capital markets and institutions are being restructured in line with global developments. Michael Peterson toured Central America's banking sector, stopping off in Costa Rica to interview the president.

Two months ago, Stephen Saali had plans. The bank of which he is president, Republic New York Corporation, had been through a rough six months. Republic, which is ultra-conservative in its approach and proud of it, had tarnished its image with a $200 million loss betting on Russian treasury GKOs during the Russian crisis, and reported a third-quarter loss as a result.

Thirty years ago, US withholding-tax regulations kick-started the Eurodollar market which Euromoney was founded to report on. And today, withholding-tax regulation is again a hot topic in the international bond markets. Although the European Central Bank (ECB) has refused to comment publicly on the recent furore over savings tax harmonization, saying it is purely a matter for the European Commission, it is understood that senior ECB figures are in favour of harmonizing withholding taxes throughout Europe. This would involve the introduction of a withholding tax to be enforced in London. The ECB's motivation to support such regulation could be said to be the same as that behind its determination to restrict the access of UK institutions to the European cross-border payment system, Target. The bank is believed to be extremely uncomfortable with the idea of having the principal money market for its new currency located outside the eurozone, fearing that this would compromise the ability of the ECB to conduct monetary policy.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez may have worried democrats with his moves to curb congressional powers but for debt underwriters and investors it promises to be good news. The reforms have made it easier for Venezuela to issue and the country is set to join other emerging-market sovereigns returning to the international capital markets this year.

Lebanese banks have lived well by investing in high-yielding treasury bonds. But with government debt issuance and interest rates set to fall, banks are looking for new ways to make money. Charles Olivier reports

Central America: A whole new way of thinking

Over the years Euromoney has reported on the events that shook the market, described the innovations that went on to become standard market features and profiled the most influential individuals and institutions in the world of finance. We also dropped a few clangers. Michael Peterson spent an afternoon trawling through the archives in the dusty vaults of Euromoney HQ and offers a selection of judgements and predictions, some wildly wrong, some amazingly prescient.