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Battered by the continuing deterioration in the business environment and spooked anew by the Bali terrorist attacks, corporate treasurers and CFOs in the region are becoming more conscious of risk. Hutchison Whampoa is among the companies looking to mitigate it. Pauline Loong reports.

At the end of September, Sitthiporn Ratanopas, one of Thailand's most respected energy technocrats, was appointed governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). But he faces a formidable array of challenges ranging from privatization of the huge state utility to liberalization of the power sector. Has he got what it takes to transform Egat into a freewheeling private enterprise? In his first press interview following his appointment, he spoke to Ben Davies.

A dearth of deals is pitting the region's lawyers against one another – especially in Korea and China, where the bulk of new deals are arising. In the tug-of-war for business are standards slipping? Fiona Haddock reports.

Merrill Lynch put its balance sheet on the line for 15 hours to execute a gutsy block trade of TCNZ shares for Verizon. The result? Australasia's largest ever secondary placement. By Mark B Johnson.

The brokerage industry is under seige. Its ethics and independence are being scrutinized, the revenues that support it are plummeting and analysts face pressure from companies to be positive. Where is this leading? Not necessarily to a structure that would benefit anybody, writes Ben Davies.

When Ric Smith, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, regretfully told Jakarta-based Australians at the end of September that he was leaving his post early to take up a new position at home, the envoy could only find a couple of minor irritants to point to in his farewell speech. Some Indonesians were worried that a plan by Australia to use Christmas Island – an isolated spot close to Java – as a launch pad for commercial satellites could result in rockets or other space junk falling on their country. No chance of that, he said. Other Indonesians had claimed that international lobbying by Australia to reduce unfair agricultural subsidies was aimed at Indonesian rice farmers. Not at all, Smith said. Europe, the US and Japan were the guilty parties.

China's domestic institutions have five years to prepare for the opening of the country's financial markets to foreign competition. It's a daunting task, and a large part of it will be shouldered by Wu Xiaoling – the assistant governor at China's central bank and a leading advocate of financial reform. She spoke to Asiamoney's Pauline Loong.

A dearth of deals is pitting the region's lawyers against one another – especially in Korea and China, where the bulk of new deals are arising. In the tug-of-war for business are standards slipping? Fiona Haddock reports.

Korea Development Bank is preparing to bring a $750m two tranche issue into the market, which will include the first senior 10 year bonds from a Korean state borrower since 1998. The bank's issue could be followed by a spate of subordinated deals from other financial institutions. KDB mandated Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and JP Morgan as joint lead managers on the 144A Reg S transaction last Friday.

In a surprise move, China Telecom yesterday (Thursday) delayed setting the price for its 16.8bn share IPO sale until next week. The news has prompted speculation that either the size of the deal will be reduced or that it will be postponed for some months. However, the company said that it has a feasible transaction structure, but that it needs regulatory clearance for the new transaction from Hong Kong, Beijing and the US SEC. It hopes to re-launch the deal in the next few days.

Merrill Lynch and Nomura on Monday priced the sale of ¥58.5bn of Dentsu shares disposed of by five core shareholders. The deal was priced at a slim 2% discount amid uncertain market conditions in Japan and for advertising and media companies worldwide. Japan's largest advertising company spent two weeks on a roadshow to help the sale of 145,000 shares by Kyodo News, Jiji Press, Mitsubishi Trust & Banking, UFJ Bank/UJF Trust Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Australia The fate of the Australian government bond market is in the balance. At the launch of a paper about the future of the bond market, treasurer Peter Costello said the decision on whether to shut it down will be made early in 2003. At the same time he reiterated his opinion that the government should pay all of its outstanding debt if it is able to do so.