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Meet Minsheng Bank: China's only privately-owned financial institution. If accession to WTO means Chinese entrepreneurs stand to benefit from new opportunities, then Minsheng is in a strong position to gain market share from the vastly bigger state-owned banks. By Pauline Loong

"If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs, then you're a man, my friend." That's how Deutsche sees its aggressive build-up in Asia under head of equities for Asia (ex-Japan) and Australia, Edouard Peter, who arrived in March. But the market is scratching its head at the awesome scale of Deutsche's ambitions. At a time when equities is a dirty word, Deutsche is building itself into a powerful Asian equities house. Peter has hired 58 staff this year, mostly top-flight salesmen and traders. He swears he'll build the fifth largest broker by market share in Asia ex-Japan within a year, up from, ahem, a 1.2% share last year.

Hutchison's group finance director Frank Sixt, it seems, is not the world's most popular CFO among analysts. When fund managers were recently polled in a follow-up to Asiamoney's annual stockbrokers' poll, allegations were made that he plays favourites with analysts. Bullying telephone calls, and threats to cut off business, were mentioned. Does the amiable and bluff Sixt play the game tougher and harder than one might think? Sixt takes the criticism in his stride, laying the blame squarely on the difficulties of covering Hutch. "We are not an easy group to cover," he says. "We are involved in five major business sectors in 35 different countries, so from an analytical point of view, understanding us is rather like correctly analysing five separate multinationals, and working out whether the sum is greater than the parts.

Salomon Smith Barney has spent big – symbolically big – on two established dealmakers in an attempt to push itself in to the top tier of China investment banking after two years in the wilderness. Do Francis Leung and Margaret Ren have what it takes to rebuild Salomon's bridges? By Chris Wright

On October 10, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced an easing of monetary policy. But will it soften the sudden and severe downturn in the Singapore economy – its worst recession since independence? And if not, will a bigger dose further down the line help? Opinion is divided. Pauline Loong talks to the key players.

Australian companies' capital management has come along in leaps and bounds. The humble bean counter is fading into the past, as more and more financial officers take their place on boards of directors. Fiona Haddock talks to two of the country's top financial chiefs to see just what fiscal management means to them and the companies they represent.

Korea is under the spotlight in Asia's asset-backed securities market. Last month saw a series of ground-breaking deals. But can the momentum be sustained? Fiona Haddock reports.

Entergy-Koch Trading plans this week to launch what it considers to be the first indices on wind power and will offer derivatives based on them to wind-power generators in Europe and the U.S. The indices will measure the deviation in wind strength from normal levels in parts of Europe and the U.S., including northern Germany, Denmark and Texas, according to David Pethick, senior quantitative analyst in London.

Auto credits are on the brain this week, with dealers saying one name has dropped and another has gotten a boost. Exide Technologies' bank debt has reportedly traded down to the high 60s from the mid-70s range. However, one dealer speculates that the credit has just been quoted down and has not actually traded. Amounts could not be determined. The company manufactures car batteries. Tenneco Automotive's debt traded up slightly to 74 on an announcement from the company this week of long-term strategies to minimize the hit to the auto sector.

Harris Nesbitt is ramping up its asset-based lending capabilities by extending its branch network with the opening of an office in Los Angeles and is eyeing offices in New York and Boston. Kevin Delaplane, senior v.p., and managing director, said the asset-based lending operation is a national business and Harris wants to put people on the ground, to supplement relationships. "This is a growth business for Harris, with 20-30% expansion in the last two years," Delaplane added, noting Harris expects to continue at this level of increase, though he could not provide figures for a balance sheet increase. There is no timeframe for the further roll out and no specific numbers for the amount of people targeted, he said. Offices have also been opened in Detroit and Atlanta, as part of the national rollout program.

UBS Warburg has set a bank meeting tentatively for Nov. 8, backing Investcorp's buyout of Schlumberger's water-meter business, and will be bringing $190 million of loans to the market, comprising a $30 million revolver and $160 million in term loans. A banker familiar with the situation said J.P. Morgan was also considered by Investcorp to lead the financing, but would not provide the loan on such favorable terms in the current tough market. UBS bankers declined to comment. Calls to a J.P. Morgan spokesman were not returned. Investcorp officials in New York referred questions to officials in the London office, who could not be reached.