Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen defends his consensus-style of leadership to Karina Robinson.

Charlie McCreevy, EU commissioner for the internal market and services, tells Karina Robinson of his fight against growing protectionism.
“Oh God, she definitely wants to get me sacked!” exclaims the European Union commissioner for the internal market and services, covering his blushing face with his hands, on being asked whether the EU would be better off without France.

Karina Robinson assesses the correlation between the corporate branding of individual banks with the works of art they have acquired over the years.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet and a host of other branded businesses, is a man obsessed, as Karina Robinson discovered.

Karina Robinson reports from Hong Kong on the incorporated banks’ mainland China strategies.
In July, Citigroup’s Hong Kong business incorporated itself as a Hong Kong bank so that it could do business in China.

Former Abbey CEO Luqman Arnold tells Karina Robinson about his future plans and why it is important to take time out occasionally.

Barclays CEO John Varley talks to Karina Robinson about his strategy to maintain the bank’s position as one of the most competitive in the world.

While political drama grabs the headlines, Philippine reform efforts are paying off in the form of economic gains, and intentions for further improvements remain intact. Karina Robinson reports from Manila.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gives Karina Robinson a glimpse of the tenacity that is now keeping her in power.
“She has a PhD in politics,” says a top official about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, when discussing whether the youthful 58-year-old with a 1985 doctorate in public finance is a technocrat or a politician.

Political life is seldom dull in the Philippines. Two past presidents – Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada – have been brought down by popular demonstrations. Now President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is fighting to stay in office and carry out essential reforms. “I must do what has to be done and damn the torpedoes for a while,” she told The Banker’s senior editor, Karina Robinson. For an understanding of the various contradictory forces that make reform such a challenge in this troubled country, see this month’s Karina’s Kolumn and the article on the Philippines that follows.