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Japanese pharmaceutical companies have started merging in order to fend off the advances of international firms seeking a larger slice of the domestic market. Fujisawa and Yamanouchi are the first, forming the expansionary Astellas. But as Richard Morrow reports, the creation of Astellas may have merely been a placebo. Rather than doing away with the merger risks it may have made the companies even more vulnerable to foreign acquisition.

San Miguel completes an M&A coup in Australia thanks to a savvy bidding strategy.

Away from the headline grabbing CICC, China's other investment banks are having a difficult time building sustainable and profitable businesses. Their major problem is pay. And as the saying goes, if you pay peanuts you get... Any banker that shows an inkling of talent is quickly targeted by the bulge brackets and lured away by the promises of bigger pay cheques and larger bonuses.

As the latest high-profile inheritance drama plays itself out in the Hong Kong courts, Asia's wealthy are increasingly turning to the financial industry to help them prepare for the future, writes Simon Parry.

Asia is minting new millionaires by the day, faster than Europe and almost as quickly as the United States. And following on the heels of the new rich is a phalanx of private bankers vying for the right to manage their private wealth. Surely, with so much competition amongst private banks, it has never been easier for Asia's rich to build fortunes? For the first time, Asiamoney has polled the private banks' clients to find out just what they think of the services on offer and what they think of the banks offering them. In part one of the poll, high net worth individuals say just what they believe are the most important aspects for them when it comes to choosing a private bank and their private banker. Chris Cockerill reports.

Macquarie Bank is in talks with Margaret Ren, the former star China banker who was unceremoniously dumped by Citigroup last June, about hiring her for a senior role in the Australian investment bank's year-old Asian equities operation. Ren would be an audacious hire for Macquarie Bank as she has the potential to put its low profile cash equities business, bought from ING almost one year ago, very quickly on the radar screen.

The Australian corporate bond market came of age last year. With more than A$40 billion (US$31 billion) issued, it was more than double that of the previous year. And with markets outstanding now in excess of A$115 billion, Australia ranks as one of the largest corporate bond markets globally. There are, however, challenges ahead. With A$60 billion of corporate issuance going offshore, more needs to be done by the domestic market to attract a greater share of this Australian corporate bond issuance. Three investors, three issuers and two bankers sit down with Asiamoney to discuss what needs to be done and how they will go about it.

The region's travelers have voted once again in Asiamoney's thirteenth travel poll to decide which hotels, airports and airlines are Asia's best.

Rising interest rates in the US are having knock-on effects across the region, while Australia's Reserve Bank, in particular, will be seeking to shore up growth and keep inflation in check.

Citigroup shares its views on what high net worth individuals need to be looking out for in the year ahead when it comes to investing their money.

At a time when the private equity sector in India is booming, venture capital (VC) is almost dead. Almost all the Indian-owned venture capital funds have now changed focus to PE, as have several foreign funds.

Robert Burns, famed hotelier, has excelled himself with his hotel Grand Hotel A Villa Feltrinelli.