Crashing markets and a stalled economic recovery are starting to hit banks, causing problems which will make them vulnerable to acquisition.

Melvyn Westlake says the legal row between Nomura and CSFB could result in more transparency in the world of credit derivatives.

Regulators are determined to avoid a repeat of Enron and other scandals. But will the corporate governance measures now being considered make things better or worse? Melvyn Westlake reports on the great corporate clean-up.

The Enron scandal has put the spotlight back on ethics. Banks can no longer ignore the issue of social responsibility and those which do may not survive.

JP Morgan Chase thought it had its Enron risks insured. Now it is fighting a legal battle to reclaim the money. The case raises wider questions about the effectiveness of credit insurance and the much-heralded convergence between banking and insurance.

Since September 11, the finance sector has come under the spotlight for its role as a conduit for terrorist funds. Politicians are making great speeches and blaming the banks. But to stop the abuses would require no less than a politically unacceptable clampdown on minorities, the curtailing of civil liberties and the halting of world trade.

Henry Harington looks at the effect of September 11 on foreign banks in London, and finds many questioning their policy of maintaining all their operations under one roof.

The big five global accountancy firms are making substantial inroads into the corporate finance advice market.

The concept of the brand channel is emerging as the new interactive technology that will ease the customer frustration that has come from telephone and internet banking, says Mark Cullen.