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Japan has both an abundance of public property and a mounting debt burden. Privatisation seems a sensible solution, yet there is huge political opposition to the sale of government assets. Peter McGill reports.

The tropical island of Mauritius has big ambitions. It wants to combine its historical importance as a source of foreign investment into India with a similar role as an investment and services hub for the African continent. The opportunities are large, but with rising competition it cannot afford to be complacent. Richard Morrow reports.

Market strategist discuss which Asian bond markets offer the best investment case and which ones should be avoided.

Despite lingering cultural hurdles and negative perceptions of their ability to manage Western-minded securities houses, Chinese banks are testing the waters for broader cross-border domination. But the question remains whether they have what it takes to make it work. Anita Davis reports.

Lack of progress in the country’s political and structural reforms is drying up available funding for infrastructure projects, particularly in the power sector. The best answer would be a revamp of the bond market to narrow the widening infrastructure deficit. Frances Yoon reports.

The percentage of those bullish on global emerging markets, especially for the short term, has jumped in a survey by Societe Generale

Asiamoney PLUS highlights the latest job changes from across the fixed income and financial markets.

The European Investment Bank showed peers an example of pragmatic dealmaking on Tuesday, selling a rare 10 year euro with a well oversubscribed book. The deal was a lesson in how to price long-dated trades in an ultra rich market environment.

Periphery eurozone banks are back in the public bond mix as investors start to look down the credit curve. With private placement investors beginning to follow suit, issuers should consider the advantages of going private.

Having the European Central Bank as the single supervisor for the continent’s financial institutions will make little real difference to the way banks are scrutinised. But plans for banking union are still a good thing.

Asian bond issuers are in the perfect position at the moment: price-setters to a captive investor base, inundated with demand, and able to ignore the risk of competing supply. But they should be careful not to push their luck too far.

Bankers are rushing to bring high yield names to a buoyed market of yield-hungry bond investors, but market participants are divided over whether such a turnaround will be sustainable in the long term.