Iceland’s banks insist they have addressed concerns raised over low deposit ratios, a lack of communications and their use of capital markets. Silvia Pavoni reports.

Is the private equity boom a result of the Asian savings glut? The Chinese current account surplus was $250bn in 2006 and is heading for $375bn this year. Foreign reserves hit $1200bn in the first three months of this year. This provides “a base level of liquidity being pumped out into the world”, says Charles Dumas, director of UK-based Lombard Street Research.

A consortium including Goldman Sachs won the mandate for a strategic review and IPO execution for Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank. A tight schedule for US distribution and a political/religious row that spilled volatility into the Istanbul stock market failed to derail the sale. Edward Russell-Walling reports.

What makes a successful international financial centre? Michael Imeson reports on the imperfect art of ascertaining which world city is truly the greatest.

Africa is changing and it is not just $11.7bn of Chinese investment in recent years that is making a difference. Nigeria’s banks are bulking up as a result of central bank governor Charles Soludo’s new capital requirements, and are becoming bigger and stronger through multiple mergers and acquisitions.

Lower oil prices have not dried out the huge liquidity available to most Middle East banks, which have continued to produce booming profits and strong growth in the region, especially in the Gulf. As a result, the number of banks from the Middle East region in the 2007 Top 1000 has increased from 83 last year to 94.

Latin America is booming and so are its banks. The demand for commodities from a resource-hungry Asia and the consequent price boost is a gift to a continent that, bar a few countries, is not following the value-added model of economic development.

Bank of America has stolen the crown of Citigroup. The bank, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, motored ahead of the erstwhile number one bank in our list and is now the largest bank in North America and in the world, with Tier 1 capital of $91,065m.

The latest Top 25 Asian listing emphasises the growing dominance of the big state-controlled Chinese banks. Following their recent record initial public offerings (IPOs), the big three state banks, led by ICBC with a Tier 1 capital of $59.2bn, and followed by Bank of China ($52.5bn) and last year’s leader, China Construction Bank ($42.3bn), have moved far away from their nearest Asian competitor, National Australia Bank with $17.5bn.