The proposals by former Fed chairman Paul Volcker came in for their first real scrutiny last week when the US Senate Banking Committee questioned the architect of the plans. Although there is some support for the principles behind the moves, it is already clear that lawmakers are likely to make severe changes to the rules before they are enacted. Christian Murray reports.

Despite global economic turmoil, late last week Kraft Foods and Berkshire Hathaway were able to price the two largest acquisition financings of the year. In an investment-grade bond market that has been dominated by refinancing, the successful multi-billion dollar acquisition trades bode well for the capital markets and the economy as a whole. Timothy Sifert reports.

Conventional wisdom has had it that the €1.1trn-plus of retained European structured finance deals would have to be significantly restructured before they could be sold to investors. The selldown last week of an RMBS deal from SNS Bank challenges this view and suggests that turning structured deals into saleable paper will be easier than had been expected. William Thornhill reports.

Strategic derivatives transactions enjoyed a bumper year in 2009 as investors took advantage of low asset prices for opportunistic stake-building. Despite a rise in stock prices, increased volatility and an M&A; surge should keep such transactions buoyant through 2010. Helen Bartholomew reports.

Regulators in Europe and the US want to ensure that banks, following the near-death experience of the financial markets at the end of 2008, are prevented from threatening the wider economy and are encouraged to support businesses as providers of liquidity. It is a laudable aim that could have a number of unintended consequences for the syndicated loan market. Michelle Sierra Laffitte and Ouida Taaffe report.

Central and Eastern Europe became the hot hunting ground for private equity after the onset of the downturn, as many Western-focused funds turned their strategies further eastwards to target leverage and growth opportunities. Now, with top of the market LBO deals such as BorsodChem, Bite and Vivacom translating into restructuring mandates, will it become the next big thing for debt advisers? Sandrine Bradley reports.

US fund managers lapped up the latest 144a US dollar issuance from a European sovereign as Lithuania raised a whopping US$2bn from last Thursday's 10-year deal. More and more European governments are expected to follow suit and tap the huge American demand as they struggle to fill their gaping fiscal holes. John Weavers reports.

This year was quickly dubbed the year of the IPO as a frantic 2009 Q4 saw pipelines bulging with planned offerings. But the end of exuberance that prompted a stellar run in stock markets last year because of macroeconomic issues has seen IPOs cancelled in every region. The problem is that ECM bankers are mere observers of macro trends that could savage issuance plans, IFR reporters write.

A debut issue from pipe maker TMK has illustrated the challenge of getting pricing right for Russian CBs, especially when the market is falling. Bonds that were quickly valued at 110 on final terms by analysts traded only a little above par before breaking lower as the underlying stock fell, showing that pre-marketing can be crucial. Owen Wild reports.