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With its pockets empty, the Spanish government could find that subscribing to contingent capital in failed banks is better than becoming a long term equity investor in that least favoured of sectors.

Investors are hiding under their desks, issuers are scared to pull the trigger and a €100bn bail-out can barely raise a smile. Surely now is not the time to come to the bond market? For some Asian issuers, it just might be.

The Australian bank’s profits have been slipping in recent years amid volatile markets. Its funds businesses are doing well, but a return to the glory days of record profits will depend on an improvement in market conditions. Ben Power reports.

Nazir Razak wants the Malaysian bank to be the banking champion of Southeast Asia, and it looks well positioned after several recent acquisitions. But others share similar goals, and it’s far from certain the region will integrate as closely as he hopes. Alexander Lobov reports.

International banks are poised to get improved access to China’s onshore capital markets with a new rule change that gives them up to 49% ownership of onshore securities JVs. It may also herald greater competition in the mainland market, reports Anita Davis.

Analysts assess which Asian economies would be most affected were the euro were to fail?

Thailand’s prime minister is pushing ahead with ambitious government spending plans while attempting to maintain investor confidence in the country’s solid finances. She may succeed, but the risks in a volatile global economy are sizeable. Ben Davies reports.

—Randall Costa, managing director and coo of Citadel Investment Group, on the topic of whether futures commission merchants and execution desks at sellside firms could influence how buysiders choose where they clear over-the-counter derivatives.

Martin Wheatley, the ceo of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, held a farewell press conference which included setting out the challenges facing the region in over-the-counter derivatives reforms, while also criticizing U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who claimed that Asia wasn’t keeping a fast enough pace with the U.S. on reforms.

The UK bank was a clear winner in our inaugural offshore renminbi survey, topping all product categories. Both it and the runners up all consider the emergent international currency to have enormous potential in the months and years to come. Richard Morrow reports.

The European Financial Stability Facility may have sparked some quibbles over the timing of its latest benchmark, but in pricing a deal at all it has made an important point.