Leumi Bank now leads Israel’s booming banking sector, despite the government’s protracted struggle to sell its controlling stake. David Lipkin reports from Tel Aviv.

Jane Monahan talks to Barney Frank, chairman of the US Financial Services Committee, about its plans.

Bolivia’s finance minister Luis Alberto Arce outlines a programme of state loans to small enterprises and attacks the country’s domestic banks for acting like a syndicate, stifling competition.

The three-way acquisition of ABN AMRO by RBS, Santander and Fortis proved a remarkable collaborative effort, as Fortis CEO Jean-Paul Votron tells Geraldine Lambe.

After Barclays failed to gain control of ABN AMRO, president Bob Diamond focuses on the positive elements of the bank’s position. Interview by Brian Caplen.

Credit Suisse fared well during the subprime crisis. Brian Caplen asks CEO Brady Dougan what underlies the bank’s new stability and what it is planning for the year ahead.

Bill Rhodes, chairman of Citibank and winner of The Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award talks to Stephen Timewell about his 50-year career, offering insights on the Latin American debt crises of the 1980s through the end of communism and expansion eastwards, to the present day rise of protectionism.

Peer Steinbrück, Germany’s finance minister, defends his country’s positions – and cannot resist a dig at the UK leadership. Interview by Karina Robinson.

Emerging markets used to suffer from Western crises. Now they help to solve them by pouring capital into the system.

The unprecedented action by five central banks in response to the credit crunch is only a short-term solution to the problem.