There is growing concern that Venezuela’s banks are ignoring their
private credit portfolios and relying instead on government paper, says
Mike Ceaser.
What happens when a nation’s banking system loses all of its customers
except one? When that nation is Venezuela, and the customer is the
government, the banks thrive. But the morals of this tactic and its
effect on the nation’s economy are being questioned.“Not having access to international markets, which had a very high cost, the state turned to the internal market”

The lowering of the rand/dollar exchange rate and an increase in assets keeps the country at the top of the pile.

Iran is set on a privatisation course to revive the economy and improve efficiency in its financial institutions. By Stephen Timewell and Mohsen Asgari in Tehran.

In a region of political upheaval, Iran has worked hard to maintain its
stability. Strong oil revenues and healthy trade with the EU have
supported expansion and the outlook is positive.

Stephen Timewell reports on the slow but sure growth of Iran’s private banks.

Legal reforms have opened the doors of the Tehran Stock Exchange to foreign investors, reports Mohsen Asgari.

While Iranian banks are deregulating and expanding abroad, foreign players are still constrained by regulation, as Stephen Timewell reports from Tehran.

Hungary’s OTP Bank is finally celebrating its profitable privatisation,
with a growing client base that enjoys a variety of sophisticated
access channels. Parveen Bansal talks to deputy CEO Csaba Lantos about the bank’s plans to be a major player in the region.

Jaime Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain, demonstrates his mastery of the detail of Basel II and the Stability Pact to Karina Robinson.
I have been in this business too long. Two hours flew by as I questioned Jaime Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain and chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, on the intricacies of the
new capital accord, the detail of Spain’s economic miracle and the level of the euro.