Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond wants to shake-up African banking and his investment vehicle Atlas Mara has already bought three banks. Brian Caplen assesses his efforts so far based on an interview at the recent FT Banking Summit in London.

Peru's stellar economic performance over the past decade hit a bump in 2013 as a result of the US quantitative easing programme. However, the country's central bank governor sees this as a temporary setback, and reports that the Peruvian economy is back on the track towards long-term growth.

This year’s Top 200 Latin American banks ranking sees Brazil’s behemoth banks reducing in size, while Argentine and Venezuelan lenders continue to show jaw-dropping profitability ratios.

Colombia stands on the brink of a peace deal with the FARC rebels, while its economy, buoyed by cycles of strong foreign investment levels and rising GDP growth, looks set to only get stronger. President Juan Manuel Santos tells Silvia Pavoni why the country's future looks brighter than ever.

Trade finance is emerging as a key part of the Latin American banking business model and is bound to be a hot topic on the agenda at this year's Felaban annual meeting being held in Colombia in November. Ahead of this, The Banker speaks to experts about the challenges and opportunities that this growing business line is creating in the Latin American market.

Having revelled in the economic growth that characterised the past few years, Brazil's banks are now struggling to adapt to a less favourable environment. In response to stalling gross domestic product and disposable income growth, many lenders are curbing their lending, leaving gaps, particularly in the small and medium-sized enterprise segment, for other players to step in.

The financial sector may be moving down the list of global risks, but this does not come as much of a relief to the banks themselves, writes Philip Alexander from the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC.