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.
Meanwhile, as the EU expands to 25 countries, Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister, looks at EU accession and the huge task ahead. The quiet-spoken Philippe Maystadt discusses Europe and his powerhouse, the European Investment Bank. And continuing the European theme, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlines his strategy on Europe in an exclusive interview in The Banker’s supplement on Turkey.
In capital markets, Arrington Mixon talks about building Bank of America’s European franchise and we examine the new face of US equity markets. We also look closely at hedge funds’ use of credit derivatives, investigate the investor appetite for Dutch paper and our Team of the Month is Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein’s Frankfurt M&A team for its latest series of deals. We also include a special supplement on European inflation linked bonds focusing on the role of Agence France Trésor and the expanding investor base.
In FX trading, we look at the issues surrounding data latency and in Global Securities Services new systems are bringing greater transparency to securities lending.
Elsewhere, in Germany, we examine ING’s takeover of BHF, while in Poland we consider the possibilities in the privatisation of the country’s last big state-owned bank, PKO BP. Across the EU accession countries, we analyse the growth of debit cards and payment systems. In Asia, foreign banks in China are asserting their presence and extending their range of services. While in a special supplement on South Korea, we analyse the beginnings of economic recovery amid political turmoil.
In the Americas, we discuss economic prospects with key officials from Bolivia, Mexico and Nicaragua, while in Argentina, fund managers are finding it a hard slog. In Africa, the next wave of growth reforms in Uganda are being considered, while in the Gulf, Dubai and Bahrain compete for growth in financial services.
In retail, the UK’s Abbey outlines its new strategy and we contrast the cross-border approaches of four European banks. In technology, Capgemini’s Bertrand Lavayssičre expounds his architectural vision, we look at the complex process of marking to market bank loans and we profile Iraq’s extraordinary new payment system.
