Fixing its banks and power shortages would go a long way towards setting Nigeria on a sustainable growth path. The government has recently taken two steps in the right direction.

Banks failed in the recent crisis because they lent money to the wrong people - sometimes done by way of complicated structures but bad credits all the same - and because they were undercapitalised.

Before the onset of the financial crisis, bank regulators left governance arrangements to the discretion of individual institutions. Very few jurisdictions had devised extensive bank-specific governance requirements. It did not matter how boards governed their banks, as long as they met substantive prudential requirements.

The G-20 played a key role in averting a global depression but the IMF has greater overall legitimacy.

The chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq, Hussein Al Uzri, reveals how things are looking up in Iraq, with banks seeing progress with letters of credit and discussions in place to help finance the projects earmarked for the country. Writer Courtney Fingar

The governor of Peru's Central Reserve Bank tells The Banker how the country has sustained growth in the face of global turmoil - and why it will be prepared for any further shockwaves in the shape of a European sovereign debt crisis. Writer Silvia Pavoni

Azerbaijan's finance minister tells The Banker about the country's strategy to diversify its economy away from a dependence on oil exports and addresses international questions about the government's fiscal transparency. Writer Michelle Price

Moving to a new, highly targeted direct marketing model has given a dramatic boost to the profitability of Ceská sporitelna's marketing campaigns, as the bank's deputy chief executive, Jirí Škorvaga, explains. Writer Michelle Price

Electronic trading is an obvious target for the regulators, but they are unlikely to succeed in reining in progress. By Chris Skinner