chairman and CEO, wealth management and business banking, UBS
“Meteoric rise” would be an appropriate phrase to describe Marcel Rohner’s ascent to the group executive board of Swiss giant UBS. At 40, the demure Swiss economist appears the type of Swiss banker that people would not hesitate to entrust with the family fortune.

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.

Turkish government officials have said the EU’s decision to open membership talks with Turkey on condition that Ankara recognises the Greek Cypriot administration is unpalatable.
The EU, at its Brussels summit on December 17, said talks with Turkey could start on October 3 this year after Turkey recognises the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole government of the divided Mediterranean island Cyprus. The EU said Turkey must also accept possible permanent curbs on the free circulation of Turkish labour in the union.

Merger and acquisition activity in the German banking industry is picking up, after nearly four years of standstill. As 2004 ended, two major acquisitions were announced in private banking and wealth management – a business that generates plenty of money for banks in Germany.

Süreyya Serdengeçti, Governor, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey

When a company gets a bid approach, analysts are entitled to come to one of two conclusions: either the management was underperforming and a would-be owner can see hidden value that could be achieved by new management; or the management did a great job in making assets attractive for sale and getting a great price for shareholders. With London Stock Exchange (LSE) in play again, things are more complicated.

The decision by Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Greece’s credit rating has damaged the country’s image but will have little impact on the cost of borrowing, according to Athens-based analysts.

Turkey is likely to experience problems when it introduces a new currency next year, bankers and economists fear.
Turkey is due to introduce the currency, the new Turkish lira (YTL), on January 1. Six zeros will be knocked off the old currency in a move to ease accounting practices, reduce strains on payment systems and create psychological conditions to curb inflation forever.

Germany’s small and medium-sized enterprises are turning to structured finance products to provide the credit they sometimes struggle to find, says Jan F Wagner.
German bankers may not like to admit it, but for the first time in post-war German history, the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), known collectively as the Mittelstand, face a credit crunch.
According to a new survey by KfW, the government-owned development bank, nearly half the Mittelstand say that obtaining a bank loan – its main means of finance – has become “considerably more difficult”. KfW also found that three-quarters of the SMEs turned down for a loan would have paid a higher interest rate to get it.

DEUTSCHE KREDIT BÖRSE (DKB), a new exchange enabling banks and other financial institutions to trade single corporate loans so that they can better spread credit risk, has gone live in Germany.