One way to diversify your reserves: Buy Argentina!

Venezuela apparently is going to invest in Argentina’s restructured debt. Not quite your classic reserve asset.

On the other hand, Malaysia lent Lebanon some money to bolster its reserve during Lebanon’s 2002 crisis (the IMF was not willing to lend to Lebanon at the time). And China paid Rosneft in advance for some future gas shipments, supposedly helping Rosneft finance the purchase of Yugansk from Yukos.

Big pots of money can be put to interesting uses --

Venezuela doesn’t have the financial capacity to rival other major sources of emergency financing.

But emerging Asia collectively -- or China acting alone -- could easily organize a bigger rescue package for a troubled emerging economy than the IMF if it ever decided to do so. That truly would shake up the international financial architecture.

Or, perhaps more likely, emerging Asia will just continue to use its growing financial clout to try to secure access to the energy it needs. China, at least, seems to think that access to oil is one of those things that it too important to be left entirely to the market.