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Despite a gloomy global economy and the events of September 11, syndicated lending remains the principal source of funding for the region's corporates. Joy Lee reports.

As banks are laying off staff rather than hiring them, it stands to reason that headhunters are struggling. But there are exceptions: China, Australia and regional fixed income teams are all doing well. By Matthew Montagu-Pollock

A strange thing has been happening at Barclays Capital: people have started to admire them. They've always been there, of course, with an admirable presence on the syndicated loan side at the very least; but they have been somewhat forgotten in the last few years of uncertainty, restructuring, regrouping and sales. But recently something bigger seems to have been growing. When several debt bankers told us they wouldn't mind working for Barclays, we thought we'd better go and see the chairman. Since September, that's been Robert Morrice (CEO and chairman for Asia), a young (39) and affably unaffected chap who took over from the ebullient Roger Davis. Morrice was previously global head of credit products at Barclays in London, where he joined from CSFB in 1996, and has worked closely with the bank's CEO, Bob Diamond, across a variety of institutions since 1987 (originally at Morgan Stanley, and subsequently CSFB). Some saw his appointment as evidence of a stronger voice being given to Asia – although, as he points out, you don't get many stronger voices than Roger Davis.

Globalization and the need to manage growing risks are pushing Asia towards shortening the settlement cycle in tandem with moves in the US. Pauline Loong looks at this expensive, but unavoidable, shift by the industry.

When NEC went to the domestic and international markets it was determined to avoid more debt on its balance sheet. That meant setting a number of firsts, including the best terms ever achieved by a Japanese issuer in the convertible bond market. Fiona Haddock reports.

Mark Qiu is a rare creature. The CFO of CNOOC, China's recently-listed oil company, likes talking to journalists – pretty much unheard of in a Chinese corporate CFO. Rarer still, he is in charge of the company's entire media strategy. Journalists being a cynical bunch, the question that immediately comes to mind is whether the company is gearing up to tap the capital markets again. That's the usual explanation when CFOs become friendly. But a look at the balance sheet shows CNOOC sitting on a pile of cash – some US$2.2 billion.

In a country where vast opportunities and potential returns have rarely outweighed the challenges for foreign institutions, retail broking has proven particularly tough. No surprise, then, that Merrill Lynch is wavering and Morgan Stanley has pulled out while the other bulge brackets appear content to operate from a safe distance. Fiona Haddock reports.

On the same day as RAMS Home Loans' record breaking Australian MBS came a deal from Members Equity Pty Ltd, the mortgage lender set up by trade union pension funds that has just become a bank. The A$500m issue, Superannuation Members Home Loans (SMHL) No 10, was a domestic offering, lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston.

Japan The re-launched Nomura Research Institute IPO is being offered at a price range of between ¥10,000 and ¥11,000, slightly below the ¥11,000-¥12,000 range expected before the deal was temporarily blown off course by the ill winds of September 11.

Nomura successfully sponsored its first Hong Kong IPO since 1997 this week, when privately owned Chinese company Zhejiang Glass on Wednesday priced its flotation. China's fifth largest float glass maker will sell 170m shares at HK$2.96 each, above the range announced when marketing began and at the top end of the revised price range.

The Republic of the Philippines returned to the euro bond market in fine style this week, doubling the size of its intended Eu250m bond to Eu500m on the back of robust demand. But while almost all market commentators praised the amount of demand for the 144A Reg S deal, many also criticised the actual levels that the Ba1/BB+ rated republic had to accept to manage its second issue in the euro currency.

Thailand's finance ministry (MoF) has ended a week of speculation by confirming that Salomon Smith Barney has been appointed as sole bookrunner and Daiwa SMBC as a joint lead manager on the kingdom's first international bond issue in over three years. The issue's size and structure have still not been officially determined. However, the originally requested structure was for three tranches in a beauty parade back in October and ¥35bn is the likely amount. The deal will be launched and priced on December 11, following a roadshow the previous day, according to officials familiar with the transaction.