Philippe Maystadt, president of the European Investment Bank, tells Karina Robinson of the need to convince citizens that there’s no gain without pain.

Agence France Trésor has been a pioneer of European inflation-linked bonds. Natasha de Teran interviews chief executive Bertrand de Mazičres about the development of these debt instruments.

Steering a mighty ship when the captain is partly absent can have its problems. This month we look at the challenges facing the giant Deutsche Bank and assess its progress while chief executive Josef Ackermann continues to be consumed by a distracting court case in Düsseldorf. Deutsche needs its captain.

With an already fragmented banking sector and state-owned banks reluctant to change, Germany will remain behind its European peers.

The EU’s candidate for IMF managing director, Rodrigo Rato, believes that it will be impossible to do the job well.

The big four accounting firms face the increasing threat of litigation over multinational audits and the main ratings agencies are in danger too.

The signs for optimism in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are under threat from a cooling of the Chinese economy and a probable rise in US interest rates.

Ernesto Zedillo discusses the private sector as a weapon against poverty and why it needs to operate within a proper legal framework.

Consolidation among Russia’s biggest banking institutions is starting to take place as bankers realise that organic expansion will not provide fast enough growth, particularly in the retail sector.

US banks reported strong first quarter results on the back of a solidifying economic recovery, demand for banking products and improved asset quality. Here are the highlights of some of the top banks: