A series of mergers have given UralSib a highly diversified profile and turned it into Russia’s largest privately owned commercial bank. Ben Aris reports from Moscow.

Based in western Siberia, Sibacadembank has been expanding virtually unopposed, attracting international suitors and making plans to float. Chairman Igor Kim talks to Ben Aris.

Jan Cienski reports from Warsaw on the adrenaline-fuelled journey from commercial diver to billionaire banking mogul of Getin Holding founder Leszek Czarnecki.

As long as rich people want small banks that can offer a personalised service, institutions like Hoare & Co will thrive. CEO Alexander Hoare talks to The Banker.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is determined to get his country into the EU despite nay-sayers on all sides. He talks to Karina Robinson.

Q: Do you expect Temasek to take you over?
A: No I don’t. We have known and dealt with Temasek for a long time. It has made itvery clear that it is very supportive of the strategy and very supportive of management and it sees value.

Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, tells Karina Robinson that the city state’s continued success depends on self-betterment of the unskilled.

Minister of finance Michalis Sarris insists economic indicators prove Cyprus is on track for euro adoption.

As Barclays CEO John Varley takes the homelessness baton from HSBC co-head of CIBM John Studzinski, they talk to Karina Robinson about charity work and corporate social responsibility.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet and a host of other branded businesses, is a man obsessed, as Karina Robinson discovered.