Egypt’s banks faced the most trying of conditions early this year with the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak and the subsequent economic collapse. But Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, head of the Commercial International Bank says that businesses should thrive in a more open political system.

The Gulf's Islamic finance industry is on an upward growth trajectory as the sukuk market rebounds and new lines of business emerge. But there are growing calls for greater regulatory oversight to ensure the industry remains true to its values and improves transparency going forward.

Will China's cash-rich banks want to enter the West's stagnant, mature market when there are so many growth opportunities domestically and within Asia as a whole?

UniCredit's new management team faces a sizeable task particularly as the eurozone crisis threatens to suck in Italy and the bank's shareprice is sliding. However, the new CEO of the corporate and investment bank, Jean Pierre Mustier, is confident that UniCredit can do it. 

UniCredit, Erste and Raiffeisen between them own significant market share across central and eastern Europe, but their approaches to turning local presence into international investment banking have varied.

Although Pakistan tops The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks profit rankings, the country’s banking sector faces a number of difficulties as it copes with a challenging economic environment.

A successful sovereign bond issue in June 2011 indicated that Iceland is gradually returning to financial normality after the collapse of its banking sector in 2008. But the three large banks that defaulted are still mired in controversy.

Mozambique’s economy is booming and unlikely to slow down anytime soon. But the majority of the growth is down to its abundant natural resources, which has not trickled down to the bulk of the population. The government is now focusing on boosting the rest of the economy.