Oil tycoon T Boone Pickens is investing billions in building the world’s largest wind farm in Texas, which in turn will free up natural gas for transportation and reduce US reliance on oil. Interview by Karen E Thuermer.

The heads of major international banks spoke to The Banker about the effects of the crisis, covering areas such as pay and incentives, strategies for funding, the implications for the free market orthodoxy and what opportunities for growth, if any, 2009 might bring.

It has been an unprecedented year for the world’s banking industry. Once seen as the drivers of economic growth and prosperity, bankers are regarded by many as pariahs. This image is unfair. The collapse of confidence in the credit markets was driven by the recklessness of a few, but the impact of their actions has sent shock waves across the industry. Cash has become king and, increasingly, banks are looking towards their transaction services teams to drive revenue in 2009. Paul Camp, head of cash management for financial institutions at Deutsche Bank, talks about cash management’s evolution in 2009.

Winner of The Banker’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Ibrahim Dabdoub has steered National Bank of Kuwait successfully through many crises, maintaining a balanced operating style and stressing the importance of trust and relationships. Writer Stephen Timewell.

The European payments landscape is undergoing a period of dramatic transformation as regulatory, infrastructural and commercial pressures force Europe’s payment providers to invest colossal amounts of human and financial resources in new technological and compliance projects.Faced with SEPA, the PSD and UK Faster Payments, the transaction banking business has rarely been busier or more inflamed by competitive pressure.

Institutional investors are up in arms again; this time at Deutsche Bank’s decision not to call its 2009-14 subordinated bond. “We are disappointed and concerned at this action taken by Deutsche Bank, a leading global capital markets operator with no capital or liquidity issues,” fulminates the Association of British Insurers.

While the credit crunch was ‘made in America’, it may be China and the ‘made in China’ economic model that becomes the biggest casualty of the crisis.

The global financial crisis is a time of opportunity as well as challenge, to be grasped with both hands.

Incoming US presidents often face significant financial headwinds. Barack Obama is facing a force-five hurricane. The world economy has swiftly transitioned from a position of reckless financial risk-taking to a situation that may be even worse – no financial risk-taking. To add to these difficulties, the emerging challenge is deflation. By David Smick.

Orange Mobile’s boss Olaf Swantee explains how mobile banking solutions pioneered in Africa may be relaunched in mature markets. Interview by Lara Williams.