One bank in the US has come up with a failsafe way to increase footfall in its branches – place Pokémon Go characters there. Florida-based CenterState Bank decided to cash in on the popularity of the augmented reality game last month by placing lures in two of its branches in Lakeland and Jacksonville.

Does life imitate art, or art life? This is one of the deeper questions to arise from the ever-expanding 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, where in late July the US Department of Justice moved to seize $1 billion in assets as part of its anti-money laundering investigation into the sovereign fund.

HSBC isn’t the first bank to have found itself getting headlines for the wrong reasons. John Anderson has dealt with a few.

Francisco González, executive chairman of BBVA

Both tasks suggested by this banker seem equally impossible at this stage, to be honest

The failed coup in Turkey shows that we are in one of those periods in history when politics matter as much or more than economics for financial markets.

All eyes are on the expected appointment of a new Reserve Bank of India governor, but nobody is quite clear why there needs to be a new one.

As the Shanghai Gold Exchange introduces a new benchmark, the country now leads in gold production, consumption and imports.

Overall results

Could Lisbon make its two biggest problems one by nationalizing Novo Banco and merging it with CGD?

Italy’s banks cannot deal with their NPLs unless they have capital, but they are not being allowed to recapitalize until they have dealt with their NPLs.

So far bankers have considered platform as a service (PaaS) mainly as a way to free their own software developers from the constraints of relying on scarce in-house IT resources.

Established on large deal roster; big banks suffer brain drain.

The case against two HSBC employees for front-running a foreign exchange order from a client could hasten the death of the principal model for FICC trading by banks. A shift to an advisory-based approach is possible, but banks will struggle to make up lost revenue.

Posts 9.02% loss for 2015-16; sovereign fund reshapes portfolio.

Central bank’s first post-2008 intervention; Claims Nigeria’s banks remain healthy.

US investors shun Russian privatization; global banks not required, say locals.

When HSBC’s former head of global FX cash trading Mark Johnson learned that he had a window of just over 30 minutes to move the sterling exchange rate and profit from an approaching client trade, he said: “Ohhh f***ing Christmas,” according to US prosecutors.

Sitting in his office in central Madrid, Marco Bressan, the chief data scientist at BBVA, gives a small chuckle when asked about the topic of artificial intelligence. He notices that as soon as a new article is written in Wired or the Harvard Business Review, his phone starts ringing.

Best global performers so far this year; Rally technical; fundamentals remain poor.

Regulatory-driven tier-2 deal trades up; Brazil banks still prefer local funding.

Two years into what he says will be the last job of his career, ABK’s chief executive Michel Accad has already taken the bank from a domestic to a regional player and begun much-needed modernization.

S&P at record highs, while IPOs are 60% down year on year; disconnect between stock market and new issues.

China and India dominate market; US corporates begin to take note.

The downturn in Brazil does not faze Ricardo Lacerda, founding partner of local investment bank BR Partners. Advisory remains the bedrock of his business, but political instability makes him think the next five years could undermine the last 20.

Tomas Spurny has headed some of the biggest banks in emerging Europe. Now he has the task of transforming Czech consumer lender Moneta Money Bank into a digital leader. He talks about technology, regional risk and the joys of returning to Prague.

CEO Byron Haynes is steering Bawag PSK away from its past in trade unionism and postal savings. The bank’s future, it seems, is not in the east, but as a consolidator in the rapidly changing markets of the west.

The earnings of the independent investment banks may be far more exposed to any sharp slowdown in M&A activity than rivals with big balance sheets. Even so, the independent business model now looks battle proven, says Lazard’s Kenneth Jacobs.

Non-DCM FIG revenues have fallen sharply this year as clients remain focused on balance sheet housekeeping, and many rights issues have proven to be a tough sell. Is FIG turning into the preserve of the bond market bookrunners?

Yes Bank, started just 12 years ago, is one of India’s fastest growing lenders – and the most interesting by far. Its founder and CEO sits down with Euromoney to discuss risk management, cost cutting, divine intervention and why he doesn’t do the ‘wow’ factor.