Philippe Maystadt, president of the European Investment Bank, tells Karina Robinson of the need to convince citizens that there’s no gain without pain.

Karina Robinson reviews the main candidates for the top job at the IMF and finds that the front-runner is Rodrigo Rato, Spain’s former finance minister.

Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz believes Malay banks are ready to face foreign competition, he tells Karina Robinson.
A grey-haired man wearing a grey shirt and grey trousers is not a promising subject. But Amirsham Aziz, the unassuming president and CEO of Maybank, Malaysia’s banking behemoth, turns out to be a fan of the Havana-based Tropicana nightclub. He goes on about “the trees, the music, the sound, the acoustics, the colours”. (My emphasis would have been on the three dozen gorgeous mulatas (mixed race girls) who form the chorus line of probably the oldest outdoor cabaret show in the world, but perhaps only women can say these things nowadays.)

Alfonso Prat-Gay, Argentina’s central bank governor, talks to Karina Robinson about his plans for recapitalising the ailing financial system.
In the run up to my meeting with 38-year-old Alfonso Prat-Gay, governor of the Central Bank of Argentina, I had met 16 top businessmen, bankers and economists who were uniformly charming and informative. So I feared for the famed trait of Argentine arrogance (the classic joke told to me by a host of locals is: How can you make a lot of money? Buy an Argentine for what you know he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth). It was with a sigh of relief, then, that I encountered Mr Prat-Gay, who has that famed trait in spades.

Karina Robinson interviews Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on developments in the region and in his homeland.

Spain’s two banking giants both suffered loss of market share after recent mergers. SCH’s Enrique García Candelas and BBVA’s Julio López talk to Karina Robinson about their new client-focused strategies, designed to gain lost ground.

Javier Valls, chairman of Banco Popular Espańol, tells Karina Robinson about the strategy he and his brother Luis are using to ensure the bank remains successful and efficient.

Social unrest and a government that turns a blind eye to problems means Argentina’s future looks bleak, reports Karina Robinson from Buenos Aires.

The dynamic Spain of today is a far cry from the backward country of
the Franco era more than 25 years ago. The economic and social
transformation has been remarkable and this month The Banker talks to
some of the key architects of the change. Rodrigo Rato, Spain’s finance
minister, explains the successes and the challenges ahead while
Francisco González, president of BBVA, and Javier Valls, chairman of
Banco Popular, give the banker’s perspective. And Karina Robinson
continues our Spanish foray, with a broad-ranging interview with Jaime
Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain and chairman of the Basel
Committee.

Spain’s finance minister, Rodrigo Rato, talks to Karina Robinson about the government’s continued efforts in transforming the country into a dynamic European front player.
‘‘If a few years ago someone had said that Iberia would perform better
than Swissair, I wouldn’t have believed it. Or that Banco Popular would
be admired by all. Or that while France and Germany perform worse than
others, Spain is doing well,’’ says Javier Valls, chairman of
Madrid-based Banco Popular. Europe no longer stops at the Pyrenees, as
that oft-used phrase had it a few decades ago. Not only is Iberia
posting profits while Swissair went bankrupt a couple of years ago, but
Spain also boasts world-class banks such as Banco Popular, BBVA and
Santander Central Hispano, world-class corporations like Telefónica and
oil company Repsol, while its adherence to fiscal rectitude – resulting
in an AAA rating – has produced stronger growth than many of its
northern neighbours.