Commodity companies are big and getting bigger, a fact that has not gone unnoticed within global capital markets. David Wigan assesses how the financial needs of these global behemoths are being met.

After being decimated in the recession, speciality alumina producer Almatis has successfully restructured its debt thanks to the work of Versatus Advisers.

Sovereign debt is no longer the easily defined sector that it used to be. As investors run scared of many developed governments' debt and turn instead to the 'true' sovereigns of emerging markets, uncertainty and volatility reign in an area that was once so simple. Joanne Hart reports.

With developed world governments strapped for cash, many hope the sub-sovereign or municipal bond markets can take on more of the local funding load. It may not work out that way. In Europe, sub-sovereign issuance has grown but it remains a fragmented and loan-driven market. In the US, the municipal market is huge but issuers are under increasing strain. Geraldine Lambe reports.

After several false starts dating back to the dot-com boom and bust of 2000, high-yield underwriters are hopeful that the European market is now set for a prolonged period of steady growth, writes Michael Marray.

The launch of a €2bn, 10-year bond in late summer has stirred international interest in the Czech Republic. Writer Joanne Hart

With the two-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers' demise just passed, investment banks still face a difficult environment. If the crisis is over, long-term challenges have intensified.

The banking landscape in Latin America has changed considerably in recent years as local banks have strengthened while some foreign groups have been in retreat. Silvia Pavoni reports.

The Evolution Group has built a solid business based on a traditional focus on the client and judicious acquisitions of personnel and complementary firms, explains its CEO, Alex Snow.