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The success of Kookmin Bank’s three year floater has left Asian banks and bankers asking themselves whether they should ditch their five year fixed rate plans and follow in the Korean lender’s footsteps. But while floating rate notes tick more than a few boxes for banks seeking funding in a volatile market, making the switch is not so simple.

The UK government's IPO of Royal Mail has drawn all kinds of ire for performing too well in the aftermarket since it was completed on Friday, and for allocating too tightly. But the alternatives could have been much worse.

The trend in European corporate finance is towards bonds as the main source of drawn debt. But don’t stress. Big firms in much of Europe have made the transition already, and they still like loans for liquidity purposes and acquisitions. Peripheral Europe is catching up, but syndicated loans are more widespread than ever. As for small firms, banks remain the answer.

Portugal could bolster its reputation and prove market access by printing at the long end of the curve. With the issuer fully funded for 2013, a private placement would be the ideal way to do it — as Italy has already proved this year.

Dimitrios Kavvathas, former co-head of Asia Pacific ex-Japan securities distribution and head of Asia Pacific structuring at Goldman Sachs, has come out of retirement to join VTB Capital.

Ex-Deutsche Bank interest rate staffers Paul Swaddling and David Martins da Silva have launched Prism Financial Products, a buyside brokerage. Christopher Rokos, the ex-co-founder of Brevan Howard, is also involved in the launch, according to a U.K. Companies House filing.

The World Bank's investment arm needs to get its mojo back – and help emerging countries develop their local capital markets

Russia has had a bad few months. There are signs that the economy is growing again – but not at a rate that will make everyone happy

Pakistan recently obtained yet another loan from the IMF. Will it fulfil hopes that this time it will make progress on reforms?

A bank of the world’s five biggest emerging markets is in the making; but is it more about leverage than real money?

How do you finance long-term projects in a short-term world?

This decade is likely to herald the coming of age of emerging market bonds as logical recipients of global capital