With Iran’s new president laying down the law on interest rates as well as hiring and firing the heads of many state banks, the sector is bracing itself for a stormy period. Gareth Smyth and Najmeh Bozorgmehr report from Tehran.

Two South African firms have launched successful high-yield debt issues. Edward Russell-Walling reports.
When South African corporates want to raise capital, the international bond market is not the first place they go looking. For most of them, it would quite literally be the last. But two groundbreaking South African high-yield issues may herald a change in attitude.

Ten years after volcanic ash forced an abandonment of the island’s capital, the Bank of Montserrat is opening a new headquarters. Hugh O’Shaughnessy reports.

...great things can come, as microfinance pioneer Banmujer shows. Hugh O’Shaughnessy reports from Caracas on how the tiny bank aimed at poor women is attracting international attention and emulation.

With profits healthy, private banks seem happy to play ball with their ideological nemesis, president Hugo Chávez. Jane Monahan reports from Caracas.

Henrique de Campos Meirelles, governor of Brazil’s central bank, has made the rebuilding of foreign currency reserves a priority. Interview by Brian Caplen.
Q Brazil is more stable than it has ever been before. How has this been achieved?
A Brazil is engaged in a very serious economic stabilisation programme involving an inflation-targeting monetary regime and a free-floating exchange rate.

Brazil’s banks are grappling with the new challenges of operating in a stable climate. Brian Caplen reports.

Stephen Timewell questions Liu Mingkang, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, on capitalisation, corporate governance and the role of foreign banks.

Sophie Roell in New York and Beijing explains the story of a seemingly mission impossible, the successful part-flotation of CCB, one of China’s huge state banks.