The country’s financial system is still not easy to access; money has trickled rather than flooded into its stock exchange since January’s deal with the US to lift sanctions. Nevertheless, as the country emerges from years of isolation, important changes are taking place that could herald a new era for Iran’s capital markets.

Franz Kafka, who wrote about European bureaucratic labyrinths, would have found much inspiration in Cuba officialdom’s Soviet-inspired maze.

FSB chair Carney marks his own homework, awarding A* grades for the board's financial regulatory reforms – this is hogwash.

The sovereign borrower still struggles to convince the experts as the elections draw near.

Collapsing investment banking volumes have prompted global players to pull back from emerging Europe over the past two years. But Citi’s Jim Cowles, CEO for EMEA, has alternative sources of revenue to fall back on.

Banks’ sovereign coverage models in the spotlight; consistency is key, say market leaders.

Foreign funds expected to rush in; move coincides with privatisation drive.

Regional stakes join FMO and Norfund assets; indirect, lower ownership reduces liability.

Argentina’s banks are facing a difficult transition period as the government and the central bank (BCRA) attempt to lower inflation and the country’s base rates, as well as facing subdued credit demand thanks to the economic recession.

New regulation in the pipeline to cover fintech companies; large banks wary of cannibalisation of revenues.

The Central Bank of Yemen has avoided taking sides in the civil war – until September, when the president replaced the governor and moved the bank, infuriating political opponents and setting off alarm bells for some observers.

The world’s richest nations need to lead the way on transparency. The UK should be embarrassed that it hasn’t, especially when it comes to money laundering in eastern Europe.

Despite a substantial fall in trading volumes in Bahrain during the past three years and the ability of Saudi Arabia to defend its currency peg, increased electronic trading volumes suggest the Middle East FX market has scope for further development.

The decision to reassign Hungary’s investment grade will bring delight to Budapest, bringing the sovereign borrower correctly in line with Romania, but S&P needs to take note – Euromoney’s country risk survey is shining the spotlight on another country that is closely aligned.

Arundhati Bhattacharya is an SBI veteran: she joined in 1977.

Nazir Razak has a complicated bio: one of Malaysia’s most talented bankers, architect of CIMB’s expansion into Asean, and brother of besieged prime minister Najib Razak. Despite a clean image, he was dragged into the 1MDB scandal in March, suspended himself from the bank, and was cleared. Now back at work, he discusses the challenges facing his bank, his country and the region.

Cuba’s return to the international community will be long, complex and fraught with contradictions – not least in financial services. Reform remains a dirty word in a system where banking services for the masses are non-existent. The authorities talk a good game about attracting foreign investment – but how will they attract capital when the central bank won’t even discuss what reserves it holds?

Arundhati Bhattacharya already had one of the toughest jobs in India as chairman of State Bank of India. Not only is it the country’s largest financial institution, but it is also woven inextricably into India’s social fabric. She has made her job harder still by proposing a seven-sided bank merger. But as technological innovation increases and as asset quality plunges across public banks, bigger may not necessarily be better.

As judge Thomas Griesa wrote in his ruling: ‘Put simply, President Macri’s election changed everything.’

New deals show innovation; mounting concern about defaults.

Mongolia is living through interesting times. August alone featured, in this order: the revelation of a vast and unexpected deficit, the collapse of the currency, a 4.5 percentage point hike in interest rates in a single hit, a sovereign downgrade, and the subsequent downgrade of almost the entire national banking sector.

An extraordinary revolution is taking place in digital banking in India. Driven by the state, it is anchored on a billion-strong biometric database to finally bring financial inclusion to a country that needs it more than any other. Banks may face a binary outcome: be quick or be dead.

Technology is finally bringing banking services to the unbanked in both developing and developed markets. While technology companies are driving this transformational shift, it looks increasingly likely that traditional banks will ultimately be service providers. They have everything to gain if they can form partnerships and create a long-term strategy.

When microfinance banks in Africa speak of the rise of new technology, they usually focus on its potential and, perhaps disingenuously, play down the risks. They say the spread of mobile phones and internet access enables small loans to reach Africa’s rural poor more efficiently than ever before. But while international microfinancier Finca is aware of these opportunities, it knows from painful experience in Uganda that new technology opens up new vulnerabilities too.

From Aadhaar to iSPIRT – your guide to Indian biometrics.

Sluggish economy, declining profits, slower loan growth; political rift with Beijing dulls Asia expansion hopes.

When Banorte’s former CEO left Mexico’s top-tier domestic bank, few expected to see him return on a motorbike chasing gym owners for overdue loan payments. But in taking over challenger Banco Azteca, Alejandro Valenzuela has accepted a completely new professional and personal task – running a bank for the previously unbanked.

Since demutualization, Brazil’s stock exchange, the BM&F Bovespa, has become hugely profitable and powerful but the majority of its brokers are struggling for survival. Doubts remain as to whether their mutual interests can be realigned but there is little sympathy for the brokers.

Shaken by war on its border, a political crisis that has left it without an elected president for two years, and a collapse in the price of oil, Lebanon’s economy is facing challenges unseen since the country’s own civil war.

From Moldova to Mongolia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has earned a reputation for going where other institutions fear to tread. Now it is putting its balance sheet to work plugging holes in banks’ capital bases.