Oliver Wyman highlights opportunities created by climate change while Celent assesses Chinese and Indian ATM markets.

The six major Japanese bank groups posted a total profit of ¥1513.9bn ($13.2bn) before tax and minority interests for the half year to September 30, 2007, down 33.5% from ¥2274.8bn in the same period in fiscal 2006.

Seven Latin American presidents have inaugurated the Bank of the South, which starts operations this month. The regional bank was created amid a widespread perception in South America that adjustment policies imposed by multinational agencies have failed.

IIF predicts record investment in emerging markets, while Standard Chartered warns over clashes with sovereign funds.

The announcement, as The Banker went to press, that Sweden’s SEB Group had signed an agreement to acquire 97.25% of Factorial Bank in Ukraine was the latest in a line of such acquisitions by European banks from outside the country.

John Thain, chief executive of NYSE Euronext, is to be the new chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch, as Stan O’Neil leaves the bank following heavy losses in the subprime mortgage meltdown.

As British banks look forward to next February’s reporting season, analysts have one request. They want the banks to ‘come clean’ as quickly as possible about the black holes that many fear lurk in their trading books.

Celent study looks at mobile banking vendors while IFAD & IADB examines the burgeoning remittance market.

Just as The Banker was going to press it was announced that BNP Paribas had taken a 19% stake in Libya’s Sahara Bank and with that stake acquired management control.