Several banks are benefiting from the slew of former DLJ bankers who have decided that their new owners, CSFB, are not for them. Lehman and Salomon Smith Barney have done particularly well in the US, and UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank are not far behind. But in Europe another name has joined the list, and it may be a surprise to some: Bank of America.

Much as some might like to, banks can’t uninvent the internet. Nor is there any clear sign that they know what to do with it. For a variety of motives, both obvious and obscure, they have begun entering into platform consortia with rivals. That’s problem enough and costly. Worse, though, is when a platform seems to be biting the hands that feed it. Antony Currie reports

A three-way merger has created Mizuho, Japan’s and the world’s biggest bank by assets. If the deal works – and legal issues will postpone full integration for some time – the new leviathan may be a powerhouse. But is management up to the task? And will Japan’s notoriously difficult market let them do what they want?

TradeWeb has proven itself to be the bellwether for institutional bond trading. But internal tensions are mounting as participating banks join competing foreign exchange platforms.

Vice president, operations, Atlas Ventures

In May 1999 Euromoney tipped El Salvador to become the first Latin American country since Panama in 1903 to give up its own currency and adopt the dollar. In fact, the central American republic was pipped at the post by crisis-torn Ecuador, which formally dollarized its economy this year.

Issuer: Government of Malaysia Amount: €650m Type of issue: Eurobond Date of issue: November 16

Vice-chairman, Barclays Capital

Medium-size, family-owned companies may be the mainstay of the German economy, but they have been ignored by equity investors seduced either by smaller, riskier high-growth stocks or restructuring corporate giants. Now Mittelstand companies cannot even rely on their traditional banks for funding. And those that finally accept the need to go public often meet a frosty reception. Nigel Dudley reports

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