Over the past decade, the International Finance Corporation's short-term finance programme has facilitated billions of dollars of trade finance, and the programme's Americas head, Antonio Alves, is confident about its continued success.

Scotiabank intends to expand its domestic credit card business, despite record levels of household debt in Canada. It also wants to push retail operations in Latin America, a region where economic growth has been largely disappointing in recent years. Chief executive Brian Porter explains the rationale behind what may sound to some like a risky plan.

Recent years have seen private banks hit by heavy regulation, fines and spiralling compliance costs, all of which have taken their toll on profits and brand value. As banking groups redefine their exposure to wealth management across the world, will private banking become a game better played by local and specialised names?

While Colombian banks are gaining ground in central America, locally owned banks are still scoring well in this year's Top 100 ranking of central American banks. 

The tapering of the US Federal reserve's quantitative easing programme and a higher interest rates environment are mopping up liquidity from emerging markets, separating the top-in-class from the current-account-bingers. How does Latin America fare?