The drive for achieving ever-faster trade execution speeds in capital markets means that any glitch, gremlin or gulp will lead to serious consequences in terms of lost business and margin erosion. This makes the technologist’s role ever more vital. By Chris Skinner.

JPMorgan’s CMBS business is booming, helped by a $960m property loan for Colony Capital’s casino assets. The team tell Kathryn Tully how they pulled off the biggest CMBS deal in the gaming industry.

The current Zambian case not withstanding, most distressed debt traders form a valuable part of the financial system.

The establishment of a set of voluntary guidelines for project finance has handed pressure groups a stick with which to beat banks.

Venezuela’s president may shock with his ‘socialist’ pronouncements but the banking sector is not worried.

Current account imbalances, household indebtedness, large leveraged transactions in the corporate sector as well as the growth in market complexity should all be sounding alarm bells, says Mario Draghi.

Dan Barnes canvasses the views of senior technologists within the banking industry on the innovation challenges they are preparing for during the remainder of this year.

On the back of a series of negative press and analyst comments, The Banker catches up with Douglas Flint, group finance director of HSBC, to hear the bank’s explanation.

Karina Robinson finds that John Stuttard, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, must travel extensively to fulfil his remit as the financial district’s champion.

According to a report by the Pelorus Group, payment volumes for contactless, mobile and biometric payments will rise to $400bn by 2011 from today’s measly $27bn. This misses the real point, which is that traditional payment mechanisms are rapidly becoming obsolete.