In the current market environment, not every bank chief executive feels relaxed talking to the press unless it is part of a public relations strategy to calm frayed nerves among investors. But Stan O’Neal, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch, was happy to talk to The Banker’s editor Brian Caplen about the volatility in the markets and the firm’s longer-term strategic positioning as well as social issues arising from globalisation, such as inequality.
Chalongphob Sussangkarn took over as Thailand’s minister of finance in March, following the resignation of his predecessor Pridiyathorn Devakula. A former president of independent economic think-tank the Thailand Development Research Institute, he is a key player in the interim government that was installed last year after a military coup. He spoke to Simon Montlake in Bangkok.
In the debate on whether German Landesbanken should consolidate further, Hannes Rehm is Siegfried Jaschinski’s ideological opponent. While he does not rule out further consolidation in the sector, Mr Rehm, who has a PhD in economics, sees no pressing need for it, arguing that the three-pillar system has adequately financed corporate Germany.