Chile's prudent fiscal policies have enabled it to weather the global recession well. The county's finance minister explains the thinking behind them. Writer Jason Mitchell

There is a meeting of minds around the world on how best to reform the financial system, but enforcing these principles in a consistent way will still be difficult.

Nowhere was hit as hard by the credit crisis as Iceland, but as the country rebuilds its economy and banking sector, it is determined to learn from this harshest of lessons.

Sir Winfried Bischoff, chairman of Lloyds Banking Group

The UK is positioned to play a key role in assisting the development of new and emerging financial centres.

Evidence suggests that infrastructural stimulus initiatives often detract from the economy in the long term.

Pravin Gordhan, South Africa's minister of finance

South Africa's finance minister talks about the steps taken to steer his country towards economic recovery.

Kofi Annan, chair of the Africa Progress Panel and former secretary-general of the UN

Without support from the international community, the economic crisis will cause Africa to fall further behind the developed world and plunge millions into poverty.

As banking leaders prepare to convene in Istanbul, we hear from key players entrenched in the effort to help the world's economy stay out of trouble.

The Bracken column is named after Brendan Bracken, the founding editor of The Banker in 1926 and chairman of the modern-day Financial Times from 1945 to 1958.

During the past two years, investors have faced one of the most challenging environments in living memory. When confidence in banks falters and markets crash, equity and debt investors are left asking: what will aid recovery and help prevent another crisis? We would argue that changes to financial disclosure and reporting are required. Specifically, investing in banks continues to be complicated by inconsistent accounting rules, fragmented regulation and less confidence in management to deliver.