general manager, international activities, National Bank of Greece
As the youngest general manager at National Bank of Greece (NBG) – the country’s biggest banking group – Agis Leopoulos, head of international activities, had to prove he deserved a place on the team.

board member and managing director, Akbank

Suzan Sabanci Dinçer is due to take over from her father, banking legend Erol Sabanci, as the current chairman of Akbank. Winner of The Banker’s 2004 Bank of the Year award for Turkey, Akbank is the second largest bank in Turkey, 40% owned by the Sabanci group – the largest financial-industrial conglomerate in the country, and has the highest return on assets.

governor, China Merchants Bank
Chinese bankers are often low-key state-employed bureaucrats whose names are rarely known outside the industry. One exception is Ma Weihua, president of the small but highly regarded China Merchants Bank (CMB).

general manager and head of corporate lending, Bank of East Asia
If Adrian Li, 31, succeeds his father David Li as head of the Bank of East Asia, as widely expected, it would be another milestone for the Li family, which founded the bank in 1918 in Hong Kong.

executive director, ICICI Bank
When Chanda Kochhar was picked four years ago to spearhead the thrust into retail banking at ICICI Bank – India’s second largest bank – sceptics doubted her ability to play hardball in a tough business. Ms Kochhar, 43, proved them wrong.

board member, PKO BP
If Piotr Kaminski’s previous stints at Poland’s securities watchdog (KPWiG) and the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) are anything to go by, the 36-year-old board member of Poland’s mammoth savings bank, PKO BP, is a clear favourite to succeed close colleague Andrzej Podsiadlo as the bank’s next chief executive.

board member, Commerzbank
If ever someone was destined to become chief executive of one of Germany’s top banks, arguably it would be Martin Blessing, board member at Commerzbank.His grandfather Karl was president of the legendary Bundesbank between 1958 and 1969, and his father Werner was a board member at Deutsche Bank.

vice-president of technology, Bradesco
In a country whose banking system has become among the most automated in the world, Laércio Albino Cezar – vice-president of technology for Bradesco, Brazil’s number one private bank – has become for many the face of that innovation.

President George W Bush is expected to focus on economic policies during his second term – inaugurated on January 20 – compared with his first administration, in order to achieve his government’s ambitious Social Security and US tax reform plans. To this end, Mr Bush also needs to fill several top-level, economic policymaking positions.