Venezuela’s president may shock with his ‘socialist’ pronouncements but the banking sector is not worried.

A new set of rules for documentary credits is expected to restore the reputation of this much-maligned method of trade finance. But will bankers be able to meet the July deadline? Michael Imeson writes.

Current account imbalances, household indebtedness, large leveraged transactions in the corporate sector as well as the growth in market complexity should all be sounding alarm bells, says Mario Draghi.

Dominican banks have been strong in the corporate sector but are still striving for the custom of a largely unbanked population, a vast number of microbusinesses and a share of the buzzing remittances market.John McCarthy reports.

Wendy Atkins in Bali reports on the expansion of Indonesia’s microcredit operations that have proved to be resilient depositories for the poor in times of economic crisis.

Critics of northern Italy’s rapidly consolidating co-operative bank networks decry the fact they can take over commercial rivals but not vice versa. David Lane explains.

The Code of Conduct for Clearing and Settlement is being hailed as an important step in pulling down the barriers to cost-effective, cross-border clearing and settlement in Europe.

Given that Europe’s exchanges are now run for profit – an ethos that may be compounded by prospective mergers with expansionist US exchanges – users complain that their needs have become secondary and are threatening to set up their own pan-continental multilateral trading facilities. Dan Barnes explains.

Following the launch of The Banker’s Top 100 Brands in banking league table last November, we asked a number of banks how they value their brands and define their brand strategies. Report by Michael Imeson.

Why is the record for innovation so bad among banks? Karina Robinson investigates.