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General Re-New England Asset Management is poised to sell off a portfolio of approximately $300-340 million in loans.

The global consortium of dealers that launched the iBoxx credit derivatives indices in Europe and the U.S. has set its sights on launching an Asian credit-default swap index this year.

The top Asian derivatives positions at CALYON, the entity created out of the Crédit Lyonnais and Crédit Agricole Indosuez merger, have been dished out with a Lyonnais pro taking interest rates and an Agricole alumnus getting the top equity role.

Thailand’s third securitization deal since the 1997/8 financial crisis was launched in mid January, when arranger Standard Chartered announced the Eternal Special Purpose Vehicle Company Limited (Eternal) hire purchase receivables transaction. The deal was slated to price early February.

In the last couple of months, ABN Amro has managed to lure several new senior members to its team in Asia. In December, it signed up James Pearson to lead its corporate finance team in Asia. Reporting to Jeroen Drost, global head of corporate finance advisory, Pearson will try to strengthen the bank's business in the region. Pearson is not new to ABN Amro; he left the bank in 2000 and joined Morgan Stanley. John Moore, the former head of equity capital markets in New Zealand, has moved back to Hong Kong to join the corporate finance team. Moore is now overseeing M&A activities within corporate finance.

The merits of a diversified portfolio have become increasingly evident in recent years. Besides tactical asset allocation, there are other ways to control volatility and spread risk, writes Long Peiling.

League Tables

BP shareholders must have rubbed their hands with glee when the UK-based oil giant sold its 2% stake in PetroChina recently. The sale raised almost US$1.7 billion and rang up a neat US$1.1billion gain on the shares that BP bought when the Chinese oil major listed in Hong Kong and New York in April 2000. Including about US$200 million of dividends since listing, BP’s headline return was more than 225% in less than four years.

Law Firm Poll

In January, Rakesh Garg joined Barclays as director of investment banking. Before joining the firm, Garg was head of debt capital markets and risk advisory at HSBC India.

With bulge-bracket banks dominating the markets in Asia, Australia's top banks are finding new and innovative ways to move into the region and are enjoying their own brand of success. Keri Geiger reports.

Dividing up the assets after a death can lead to family division. It can also prove unnecessarily costly. Steve Gollop explains estate planning for multi-jurisdictions – and for those with difficult relatives.