As corporate social responsibility increases in prominence within business models, new strategies for implementation are being tried and tested across the banking industry. In Brazil, corporate governance has progressed significantly in recent years, yet it still has a long way to go, as The Banker's round table revealed. The round table is sponsored by Bradesco but independently edited by The Banker.

The worsening global financial outlook combined with a troubled economic environment at home have shaken Argentina’s government, and stalling over its debt negotiations has isolated the country further from international markets. Writer John Rumsey.

A conservative fiscal approach has left Chilean banks well placed to ride out the global financial downturn. However, opinion is divided on just how tough things are likely to get in the immediate future. Writer Jason Mitchell in Santiago.

Short-term trade finance has come apart in Latin America but banks and governments are focusing on home markets to the detriment of a global solution. The effects are reverberating hard in emerging markets and a dependence on devalued commodities and over-aggressive hedging by exporters are exacerbating the situation. Writer John Rumsey.

The Andean Development Corporation (CAF), set up by various Latin American governments, is proof of the benefits of partnership between developing nations. Enrique García, the bank’s president, discusses the reasons behind its success. Writer Hugh O’Shaughnessy.

The president of the Inter-American Development Bank explains how it will be working to help Latin American and Caribbean countries to help themselves in 2009.

The former UBS banker talks about his solo venture to create BTG, a Brazilian trading house-cum-merchant bank based in São Paulo. Writer John Rumsey.

Mexico’s equity markets have succumbed to global malaise and recovery will depend less on commodity prices, as is the case for most of Latin America, and more on improved debt markets and a US recovery. Writer John Rumsey.

In the US’s multi-layered banking sector, the credit crisis is being felt on all levels. But as the Treasury launches wave after wave of initiatives to protect the larger banks, and the smaller community banks stand firm due to their low exposure to subprime, it is the medium-sized banks that face the greatest threat. Writer Jane Monahan in Washington, DC.

Will Trinidad and Tobago become the Caribbean’s next international financial centre? And how will the islands’ economy survive lower energy prices?