Both Santiago and São Paulo are making significant strides towards becoming Latin America's foremost asset management hub. The Chilean capital has extensive experience, while the Brazilian metropolis already boasts the sixth largest asset management industry in the world. However, both are seeing their progress stunted by regulatory and taxation issues.

The small and medium-sized banks of Brazil have faced a series of challenges in recent years, from fraud scandals to adapting to international accounting standards. In light of this, the country's government has attempted to offer some sort of salvation in the shape of its Special Guaranteed Time Deposits, but is this a short-term solution to a long-term problem?

With the recent Libor scandal failing to shake asset managers' confidence in London, emerging centres will have to work hard if they are to overtake the UK capital as the world's leading asset management centre.

Former Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says the rapid growth of emerging economies such as Brazil is changing the global economic order, but this reality is yet to be acknowledged by the world's major economic institutions, where Europeans hold a disproportionate amount of power.

The post-crisis environment has seen central banks play an increasingly large role in the financial stability policies of many countries. Central bankers need to understand how price and financial stability policies must work together for the best best results.

Within the IMF, some members are more equal than others. Only when fast-growing development economies such as the BRICS nations are fairly represented in its decision-making processes can it be described as a truly multilateral organisation.

While The Banker's Top 1000 World Banks ranking published every July gives an insightful and unique snapshot of the state of the global banking market, our ranking of those banks featuring just below the ranking gives an excellent indication of the way in which the market is heading, and which countries and regions are on the rise.

Brazil produces 20% of the world’s ethanol, much of which goes towards fuelling the country’s cars. However, in recent years a combination of poor harvests, gasoline subsidies and the global financial crisis have seen investment in the industry grind to a halt. Will it be revived by the elimination of trade taxes on sugar cane ethanol in the US?

Emerging market growth is changing the strategy for the commodities business at the same time that tighter regulation is altering the relationship between banks, merchant traders and investment funds.