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Banking crises, political fisticuffs, September 11, Argentine flu, IMF rescue packages and the global war on terrorism. This potent cocktail of factors has meant that B1/B-/B rated Turkey has provided investors with more than its fair share of thrills and spills over the course of the last year.

As Poland grapples with a nasty economic downturn and a budget deficit that has jumped up to over 5% of GDP, the government is looking ever more widely to develop interest in what is the biggest first wave EU accession country by far. Domestically, Poland can rely on a pension fund fan club. Internationally, with the euros market already exhausted, dollars, yen and more complex options beckon. Laurence Knight reports on the many stones that Poland has until now left unturned.

With the ghost of Argentina's default finally exorcised, 2002 is turning out to be a far more bouyant year for emerging markets than many had dared to predict. No region is benefiting more than EMEA - Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In the minds of many Kazakhs, the biggest challenge their country faces today is transparency. Unusually for the central Asian region, Kazakhstan boasts a decade of political stability, a developed and efficient financial sector, and a massive mineral wealth waiting to be exploited.

Over the past 10 years Turkish loans have been the staple diet of many banks in the Euroloan market. Regular refinancings, solid bank groups and ambitious borrowing plans have helped make the sector one of the permanent features of the market. However, the two financial crises of November 2000 and February 2001 severely curtailed lending activities and, as Colette Campbell reports, confidence is only now returning.

Approximately $15 million of Adelphia Communication's Century Cable bank debt traded in small pieces in the 91-92 range as the sunken levels reflect investors concerns that the company will be delisted from the Nasdaq exchange following its hearing on Thursday May 16. If the company's stock is delisted from the exchange, Adelphia may have to deal with $1.4 billion in convertible bonds that can be put to the company, traders said. Market players question whether the company has the liquidity to handle such an action.

State Street global Advisors, which manages roughly USD35.5 billion in fixed-income assets, is considering entering the collateralized debt obligation market. "We're certainly looking at [CDOs], because of the fee potential," said Joe Marvin, head of U.S. bonds in Boston. Any deal is on ice for the time being, he added, because SSgA is waiting for the Financial Accounting Standards Board's clarification of consolidation criteria. By consolidation, he is referring to FASB's proposal to raise the minimum equity level held by third-party investors in CDOs to 10% from 3% (BW, 3/4).

ABN AMRO is predicting the Korean equity derivatives market is going to take off and plans to hire additional marketers to cope with the demand. "We're looking to increase our resources," said Frank McKirgan, head of Asian equity derivatives in Hong Kong.

Asset management (or managed) synthetic CDOs effectively securitize investment-grade corporate credit risk. A managed synthetic CDO combines the structure of a traditional asset management cash flow CDO with the cost-effective risk transfer of a static synthetic CDO. The result is a portfolio credit product that provides investors with an efficient investment strategy in an actively managed, diversified pool of investment-grade corporate credit. The advantage of managed synthetic CDOs for investors is the same as it is for other actively managed CDO products: a tailored exposure to an expert manager's performance in the selected asset class. Although the market has not yet converged on a standard managed synthetic CDO structure, the broad characteristics have been established.

Advance Auto Parts, an auto parts dealer in Roanoke, Va., is considering using interest-rate swaps to even the ratio of fixed-to-floating rate debt on its balance sheet, according to Sheila Stuewe, director of investor relations "Looking at possible swaps has become part of our constant review of our financing. We haven't decided on a schedule, but it is something we are looking at closely," Stuewe said.