Ben Aris in Moscow
Tue, 21st Oct -- The world's investment banks are in meltdown, but Alexey Yakovitsky, managing director of the recently created VTB Capital, tells bne that this is good time to be launching a new state-owned investment bank on the Russian market.

Ben Aris in Moscow
Tue, 21st Oct -- "Amazing" was probably the most often employed word in September to describe the events on Russia's financial markets. Those that saw 75% of the value of their investments evaporate used it in lieu of a better description for the pain they were feeling: surprises are not always pleasant.

Richard Hainsworth of Global Rating
Tue, 21st Oct -- The current crisis has demonstrated that Russia's banking system is a good deal stronger than foreign critics said. It is demonstrably stronger than the banking systems of the largest countries in Europe and the US. Barring a sudden loss of confidence by the Russian public, it will survive and very few, if any, more Russian banks will fail.

Nicholas Watson in Prague
Tue, 21st Oct -- While the financial crisis has certainly cast a pall over the securitised issuance market in Russia and the rest of the CIS, delinquency levels of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and auto-related asset-backed securities (ABS) remain blissfully low - at least for now.

Clare Nuttall in Almaty
Thu, 23rd Oct -- Russian banks continue to fuel the growth of the country's mortgage market even after real estate has fallen out of favour internationally. A report from Alfa Bank warns that this rapid growth is unsustainable and forecasts a slowdown in 2009.