In theory, enlargement to 25 countries will give the European Union the critical mass necessary to challenge US economic supremacy. In practice, the EU has found decision-making increasingly difficult with just 15 members.

As overcapacity in the banking sector heats up competition even further, banks are seeking new strategies to keep them afloat. Melvyn Westlake looks at some of the models being considered.

Latest developments in the progress of the Basel II Capital Accord have raised concerns by both US and European parties that its complexity will lead to unequal treatment. 

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.