They also point out that the country has enough foreign-exchange reserves and cash in hand to survive until after the election, unless there is a wholesale collapse of confidence among Brazilians, leading to large-scale capital flight.

ECONOMIST: Latin American markets

On the other hand, some of Bank Austria's returns have come from such volatile areas as investments in hedge funds and trading cash, foreign exchange and derivatives for the bank's own account.

ECONOMIST: Bank Austria and Hypovereinsbank: Running repairs | The

This covers a host of businesses that provide steady income and are not too capital-intensive, such as corporate cash management, foreign exchange, trade finance, global custody and hedge-fund administration.

ECONOMIST: Why the industry��s best days may be behind it

One reason China is setting up its sovereign wealth fund now is that huge trade surpluses and a vast reserve of foreign exchange mean it simply has too much cash to absorb into its own economy, and capital controls keep it from investing in liquid assets like American T-bills.

FORBES: Tracking The Sovereign Funds

They lack the more sophisticated and lucrative cash-management, foreign-exchange and other services of Western peers.

ECONOMIST: Japanese banks in Asia

Typically, governments hold cash reserves in their central bank as foreign exchange reserves for the purpose of stabilizing currency and management of liquidity.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The danger of sovereign wealth funds

There are also those in the wings with another product to flog: a foreign-exchange derivative which, because it is a bet settled for cash, also reduces Herstatt risk.

ECONOMIST: Foreign exchange

Typically, one series of cash flows would be considered the fixed leg of the agreement while the other would be less predictable, such as cash flows based on an interest rate benchmark or a foreign exchange rate, usually referred to as the floating leg.

FORBES: Demystifying The Swap Market

Once South Africa abandons its residual exchange controls, which limit local companies' foreign investments, unbundling will become more attractive because the cash raised can then be spent abroad.

ECONOMIST: South Africa��s insurers