EASDAQ, the European exchange that disappeared in the internet bust, will be resurrected in April 2007 under the name Equiduct, writes Chris Skinner. It will offer a pan-European pre- and post-trade reporting service, alongside best execution, and aims to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).

Capgemini, EFMA and ABN AMRO report on Sepa and the global payments industry, while the EIU asks: which way FDI?

Turkish banks withstood the financial market turbulence earlier this year with much greater ease than many observers expected. This suggests that the reforms put in place after the 2001 debacle have gone a long way towards preventing a recurrence.

Marcus Agius will be the next chairman of Barclays Capital. UK head of Lazard and former chairman of BAA, Mr Agius’s appointment has been commented by the media as a sign that the bank needs a particularly strong personality to manage some particularly big egos inhabiting the board. Mr Agius will take over the helm of Barclays when current chairman Matt Barrett retires next year.

IIF report highlights enormous GDP growth in the Gulf while Tower Group extols the virtues of dynamic pricing of services.

Hard on the heels of the UniCredit announcement of a second quarter net profit increase of 82.5% year-on-year has come its announcement of a realignment of its central and eastern European (CEE) holdings, in part to facilitate its accommodation with the forces of Polish nationalism.

By putting his foot down, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has made himself quite unpopular with the families of the governing council members. Mr Trichet managed to disrupt a few holiday plans by requesting that all members attend the August 3 meeting in person, breaking the Brussels tradition of allowing members to
participate while on their summer holidays.

Growing competition in South Korea, Asia’s third largest economy, is pushing banking consolidation, creating business opportunities and threatening the leader’s position.

The burden of excessive regulation tops the list for the second year running in London-based Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation’s annual report on the risks facing banks.

OTP Bank (aka the National Savings and Commercial Bank), Hungary’s leading bank and the only locally owned central European bank with a regional strategy, continues to look eastwards for expansion with a flurry of takeover activity.