Commonwealth Bank of Australia's €1.5bn five-year issue was the third and comfortably the most successful Australian transaction since the country passed supportive legislation for covered bonds in late 2011. Joint bookrunner on the deal, BNP Paribas, put its success down to timing and the choice of currency.

Itaú BBA International has outlined a new strategy that leverages both its global presence and its Latin American expertise. Its head of corporate banking for North America, Europe and Asia, Renato Lulia-Jacob, explains why in an increasingly globalised and competitive market, the bank has chosen to position itself in this way.

BBVA’s CIO explains how the bank is making the switch to cloud-based enterprise software and services, and why industry concerns over security are not worrying him.

When China's biggest bank, ICBC, launched its first dollar bond issue, it offered investors a rare opportunity of direct exposure to the mainland banking system. There was no shortage of interest. Along with UBS and ICBC's own investment arm, Barclays Capital landed the role of global co-ordinator, helping BarCap cement its Asian standing.

Mark Harris, head of compliance with Renaissance Group, tells The Banker  how he boosted the group's compliance capability, and installed a new trading surveillance system in its investment banking operations.

When the Macquarie and Eiffage consortium, Eiffarie, won a controlling stake in APRR, the highly leveraged French motorway company, Eiffarie knew it needed to gain quick access to the market to refinance APRR's loans. Eiffarie's team established a €6bn euro medium term note programme, and then in mid-November 2011 decided to return to the market with a €500m four-year deal to help repay its outstanding acquisition loan. The result defied even the most optimistic expectations.

Issuing in Europe in 2011 has been a hazardous task, but Com Hem's highly leveraged buyout bridge underwritten by joint mandated lead arranger Goldman Sachs managed to defy the odds, thanks in no small part to the diverse elements of the deal.