John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor of the exchequer and member of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party, talks to Nick Kochan about his plans for the country’s banking sector, alongside tax and wage reforms. 

Despite strong GDP growth and increased market confidence, Romania still has economic improvements to make before it is in any shape to join the euro. Nick Kochan reports.

Mugur Isarescu, governor of the National Bank of Romania, talks to Nick Kochan about boosting exports and bringing down levels of non-performing loans.

As Kazakhstan continues its economic recovery efforts, its banks say the government and private sector need to work together to tackle the bad loans that are acting as a brake on growth. Nick Kochan reports.

UK fraud investigators have realised that banks are well placed to identify illicit financial activity and have set up a partnership with major European financial institutions to share information about money laundering and terrorist financing. But how motivated are the banks to participate?

An initial public offering by Clydesdale Bank in February will see the lender – currently owned by National Australia Bank – independently managed from its home market of Scotland. This will, say its senior staff, help it to focus on its positions of strength, such as SME funding and agriculture.

Accusations of money laundering levelled at Banca Privada d’Andorra by the US authorities threatened to destabilise the country's banking sector, so the government had to act quickly to contain the crisis. Now, Andorran authorities are keen to show that this was an isolated case and that the wider banking sector is both closely governed and performing successfully. 

International sanctions against Russia and uncertainty over commodity prices have had an impact on Kazakhstan and its banking sector. However, the country's central bank governor tells Nick Kochan of his plans to smarten up the country's financial landscape, starting with targeting unacceptably high NPL levels.

Islamic finance has not had a sizable impact on the UK banking industry, but sharia-compliant asset manager Gatehouse Bank believes that it has carved a small but important niche in the market.

The damage that a fraud investigation can wreak on a bank is already well documented, but what measures can banks take to protect themselves against such incidents and minimise the repercussions if a fraudster does slip through the net?