As Xi Jinping heralded the dawn of a new era of Chinese politics and power at the Communist party congress in Beijing in October, a forgotten but important anniversary was about to be passed.

In the 10 years since ICBC’s $5.5 billion acquisition of a 20% stake in South Africa’s Standard Bank Group, there has still been no bigger single China-Africa investment. Looking back now, the deal was remarkable for the speed and relative ease with which it came together. But has it worked?

It is loved by analysts and fund managers, with impeccable ratios and a market cap that sometimes trumps DBS as the largest in Asean, yet it is determinedly domestic and focused on its native Indonesia – meet Bank Central Asia.

Debt-for-equity swaps are all the rage among China’s state-owned enterprises, but it may be that households, rather than banks or insurance companies, are going to be the ones footing the bill.

A change in the interest rate environment will require a fundamental shift in mind-set from the clients of Brazil’s private banks – are they ready for it and where should they look for returns?

Central bank governor Patrick Njoroge talks to Euromoney about the challenges of a turbulent year in Kenya and about his strategy to tackle them.

Acquisition of Interacciones would lead to high concentration in state lending; management’s rationale and forecasts seen as optimistic.

It’s obvious that Brazil’s government needs to reform pensions and get hold of social spending – easy to say, not so easy to do.

It is almost a year since the forced nationalization of Ukraine’s biggest bank, whose collapse could have wreaked havoc with the country’s economy. It has cost the country $6 billion and sparked a wave of recriminations and lawsuits. As policymakers try to turn PrivatBank into a viable lender, here’s the inside story of a high-stakes national psychodrama.

Back in June, holders of Eurobonds bailed in during the state takeover of Ukraine’s PrivatBank last year hired a clutch of upmarket American PRs to make the case to western journalists that the nationalization was illegitimate.

There are not many firms in a similar position in Vietnam, and its circumstances mean its capital raising may not be replicable by other issuers. But it is still good news for the market.

GDP and credit growth should offset lower NII; greater efficiencies also sought to preserve strong results.

Markets buoyed by win that eases path for further reforms; all eyes on investment boost needed for gradual fiscal adjustment.

Bank says rationalization of retail branch networks will boost growth; head of its digital platform hints at wider retail banking services.

Sanctions and regulatory scrutiny stymie sales; western subsidiaries surge back to profit.

Why being positive on Chinese macro and the big four banks, but bearish on the rest of the financial sector, is not a contradiction in terms.

In true clickbait style, Euromoney offers some highlights from this year’s IMF/World Bank meetings.

Arunma Oteh has helped develop new financial tools to address the world’s most pressing issues – in an exclusive interview, she talks about the difference the capital markets can make and her previous career fighting corruption in Nigeria.

Cautious Halyk Bank has been largely immune from the upheavals that have shaken the Kazakh banking sector; will buying troubled market leader KKB bring an end to the group’s bull run or create a new regional player?

Komercijalna Banka was in urgent need of modernization ahead of a planned privatization – enter Alexander Picker, an Austrian who has made a career of bringing socialist-era lenders into the 21st century.

It seems counterintuitive, but the endless cycle of political turmoil in Brazil might be insulating the country from a crisis that is warranted by its perilous fiscal situation.

Hopes for full privatization dashed; investors might still see growth opportunity.

Asia’s disparate markets and economies have found common ground in the widespread adoption of digital technology. Starting with consumer clients, expectations are rising up the banking chain and banks need to keep pace.

China is leveraging its middle class to clean up its banks – an approach rife with moral hazard.

Its mixed ownership reform cannot be applied to other SOEs.

One large bank bailout may be seen as a misfortune; two certainly raise some questions.

Lots of people seem to be worrying about emerging markets (EMs) – and no wonder.

Between 1997 and 2004, Peter Nicholl was governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina; he succeeded in establishing economic stability in a country ravaged by war, but how did a New Zealand central banker get the job in the first place?

On the cover | Editor's letter | Also in this issue

State Bank of Mauritius aims to start a pan-African bank from scratch, as its home country turns its economy towards the continent. Little has been achieved to date, but SBM’s chairman is focused and confident.