Banks have been profiting from a rising tide of consumer borrowing. As increasing bank intermediation offers plenty of loan growth, a mismatch in assets and liabilities puts pressure on banks to come to the international capital markets and make use of more sophisticated funding. Florian Neuhof reports from Kiev.

Traditionally seen as great for service, but second best in investment performance, private banks have been polishing up their act, investing in research and third-party products to diversify portfolios and win back market share in asset management from other financial service providers. FTSE PriBIL’s Private Banking Indices show that high-net-worth individuals should be taking private banks’ portfolio management more seriously. Plus we profile three of the banks that outperformed it. Helen Avery reports.

Major errors of concept and execution in the Iraq war have weakened the US: a sharp lesson in the limits of what seemed like limitless power. Its allies have been discredited, its enemies strengthened. Its real or wannabe rivals, China and Russia, are new global power centres. Its sway in Latin America and Africa has been compromised. The new Asian regional powers must steer a careful course in a complex world.By Charles Dumas, Diana Choyleva and Gabriel Stein.

Roger James reports on why the market might finally be ready for takeoff.

Is the post-Goldilocks crash inevitable? Charles Dumas looks at an alternative scenario, where the bubble refuses to burst.

Investor doubt evaporates.

Another record year for financial institutions suggests no end to the boom in financial markets. But a correction in the global imbalances that have so far sustained the boom threatens economic growth and could have painful consequences for global capital markets. Are we on the cusp of a downturn?

Private banks have never had it so good. Every region in the world offers a growth opportunity. Clients want an ever-increasing array of products and services. This leads to intense competition, evident in Euromoney’s latest annual private banking survey. But is further consolidation inevitable? Helen Avery reports.

The looming pensions crisis means individuals will have to take more responsibility, work longer and begin to save. If the US goes from a nation of spenders to a nation of savers, as it must, what will the impact be for the global economy, asks Gabriel Stein.

The causes of unprecedented global financial imbalances are complex, and understanding them is key to predicting what happens next. But do global economic prospects, as Brian Reading suggests, boil down to a simple question: will Americans stop wanting to borrow and spend before Eurasians stop wanting to save and lend?

The best agency players make attractive acquisition targets.

Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch’s US dollar, low-risk portfolio caters to high-net-worth clients who want to preserve their money over the long term but are also looking for performance.

The Saudi banking sector is set for sustained growth on the back of GCC-wide economic development. Foreign banks are keen to join the bonanza.

Western investment banks are competing to acquire Russian investment houses, while the chief executive of VTB, the country’s second-largest bank, is prioritizing either the acquisition of a local investment bank or the establishment of a partnership with an international player. But can domestic banks successfully compete with their international rivals in the longer term? Kathryn Wells reports.

One market segment – banks – has been noticeably absent from the glut of Russian companies rushing to undertake IPOs in recent years. Is there now a danger that, after the long wait for exposure to Russia’s banking sector, investors will be overburdened with supply? Kathryn Wells reports.

Hundreds pushed out at Dresdner just ahead of bonus round.

Charles Dumas warns of a ‘reverse Robin Hood’ scenario.

"We’ve reduced equity market exposure by 10% – from Asia, Europe and the UK – but still view equities as the best asset class."

Unsuspecting staff at the Citigroup Centre in London passing by the fixed-income trading floor were shocked to see their head of high-yield sales and trading, Mickey Brennan, and their head of emerging markets sales, Marc Pagano, getting their heads shaved while fellow staff members cheered on.

The influence of investors in credit default swaps has conspicuously failed to match the growth of the market itself. But a recent restructuring could be the watershed moment that changes the credit markets for ever. Has the ground shifted beneath corporate issuers’ feet without them even noticing? Louise Bowman reports.

Chesapeake is first US energy issuer to target euro investors this decade.

Car parks that rival Monaco for the quality of the marques, apartment prices that rival those in New York, but a stock exchange capitalization of only $50 billion. That’s Almaty. Kazakhstan’s government hopes to develop its capital markets and create a financial centre there for all central Asia. The buildings are going up. Will there be enough tenants to fill them? Chloe Hayward reports from Almaty.

The southeast of the region could be the star performer in 2007.

It could be that the bank is simply too large, and only disposals can change the culture. But the recent changes are, to date at least, a missed opportunity.

Five years after the economic crisis, concerns emerge about overheating.

Big strategic acquisitions might be an exciting diversion for banks’ senior managers. But it is shareholders that pay for them.

Wealth managers are muscling in on the fund of hedge funds business.

Abuse of information prompts worries about integrity in credit markets.

Is it really likely that DK will now be able to persuade better-quality individuals to join the firm? It might be struggling to retain the ones that are left.

Corporates need to recognize that they need to care about their CDS investors and that the old attitude of concentrating on the requirements of bondholders alone will no longer wash.