Massimo Arrighetti, head of retail at Italy’s Banca Intesa, talks to Stephen Timewell about the earthquake in his bank’s retail sector that has led not only to a radical rethink, but also to a step change in processes.
When Banco Ambrosiano Veneto, Cariplo and Banca Commerciale Italiana joined forces in late 2002 to form the largest bank in Italy, Banca Intesa, they also formed a bank with a staggering 1,500 different retail products.

The Banker’s listing of Foreign-owned Banks in London, shows the UK capital still has pulling power.

Demand for covered bonds is rocketing, as the Bank of Ireland recently discovered.

The merger of Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais is proving more successful than some imagined. Chief executive Jean Laurent tells Brian Caplen how the two companies managed such a seamless integration.

Gerrit Zalm is the Dutch finance minister who still believes in the Stability and Growth Pact, he tells Karina Robinson.

Asset-backed securities from the Iberian Peninsula have proved popular with European investors. A recent transaction, the first to be backed by auto leases and loans, and to combine a securitisation framework from Portugal and Spain, indicates that the market is still developing.

The good times may be rolling for Turkey’s economy but for some members of the country’s broking community, the situation is bleak.

Investors are being tempted into the Turkish government bond market by transparency and accessible information about state borrowing, and by bond sellers confidence in the economy, says Nick Kochan.

Turkish borrowers have been enjoying improved conditions this year, as economic growth moves the country beyond the effects of the deep recession and currency crisis that struck in 2000 and prepares it for EU entry, reports Michael Marray.

Turkey’s economic health is improving faster than many expected and the positive outlook is spreading to the ratings agencies. Nick Kochan reports from Istanbul on the factors that have stimulated this accelerated progress.