Editor's letter: Test of metal

Feature
First person: All quiet on the Eastern Front?
Those of us who read the Western press, especially the stories on those pink pages in which we all have such touching faith, could be forgiven for thinking that the Cold War was still on.

Feature
Global commodities review
This time last year, the only way was up. Since then, prices in most commodity sectors have crashed, before recovering. Trade & Forfaiting Review has talked to a range of top professionals in the market to find out what is going on.

Regular
Market view: Due credit
Irena Asmundson, Economist at the International Monetary Fund, surveys the availability of trade finance.

Regular
The art of forfaiting: A little light reading
With summer already here, Richard Willsher examines the key reading that will help forfaiters make the most of their holidays.

Regular
60-second interview: Kimberly Wiehl
Kimberly Wiehl discusses the responses of Berne Union members to the credit crunch and recession.

Regular
Letter from...
Duane Wright looks at how the global recession has affected commodities in Jamaica and across the Caribbean.

Regular
Omni Bridgway: Emerging market debt pricing
Emerging market debt pricing figures for June 2009 from Omni Bridgway.

News
Deal news: Noble closes $800m revolving LC and guarantee facility
Commodities trader Noble Group has secured a two-year $800m standby borrowing base facility, replacing an existing $700m revolving letter of credit and guarantee facility.

News
People & places: Toshio Ishizuka takes over at SMBC as Orita exits for industry
Toshio Ishizuka has taken over as Global Head of Trade Finance at SMBC in London, following the departure of Toshihide Orita. Ishizuka had been head of SMBC’s global securities business since 2007 and, before that, was head of marketing for SMBC in Thailand.

News
TFR Awards 2009: The winners
The votes have been counted, checked and double-checked, and now the results are in.

Feature
Feature: Soft commodities
Dominic Tonner examines soft commodities and asks whether prices are finally firming up after a rollercoaster year for producers.

Feature
Legal review: Half time
Geoffrey Wynne surveys the events of the past year and argues that events have proven the need for robust structures in trade finance.

Regular
Marsh: Credit Risk Appetite for Emerging Markets – June 2009
Analysis from the Political Risk & Structured Credit Practice of Marsh Ltd, by James Cunningham.

News
People & places: China Construction Bank opens for trade in London and New York
China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) has launched a wholly owned subsidiary in the City of London in the same month that it officially opened its first US branch in New York.

Feature
Omni Bridgeway: Can’t pay or won’t pay?
Ecuador is in trouble again with its creditors. Arjen Thiescheffer examines the country’s payment history and looks at the prospects of avoiding another sovereign debt crisis.

News
Deal news: Esperanza secures $1bn copper project
The Esperanza copper mining development, backed 70/30 by London-based mining company Antofagasta and Marubeni Corporation, has secured $1.05bn in project financing.

News
People & places: IFA set for Rome annual conference
The 10th Annual Conference of the International Forfaiting Association (IFA) is to take place from 2nd to 4th September at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, St Peter’s in Rome.

News
Deal news: China Development Bank finalises Russian deals
China Development Bank has secured a series of deals in Russia intended to underpin the exports of major Chinese corporates.