Some western European banks have pulled out of Ukraine in recent years, but Russian players are among the most exposed to the country’s troubles.

The Banker's top banks in Kuwait ranking shows that NBK is the largest bank in the country by Tier 1 capital.

Figures from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BIS show that bond issuance in Latin America increased exponentially in the years following the launch of the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme.

The Brazilian metropolis of São Paulo attracted the most FDI into its financial sector in Latin American and Caribbean cities in 2013, while Caracas in Venezuela was the surprise leader in the outflows table.

Current profitability for the largest banks in the eurozone may be low compared with the US, but considering their position over the longer term, they have actually outperformed since the crisis.

Global proceeds from initial public offerings are on the rise as bourses around the world see impressive year-on-year hikes in the volumes raised. 

Russian bank profitability is healthy, but there are fears around asset quality in consumer banking, and the regulator is taking a tougher line on money laundering and liquidity problems.

The Basel Committee has decided that banks can net certain transactions when calculating the leverage ratio. This will bring the regulatory requirement closer to US rather than to European accounting standards.