A new book explores how the Florentine dynasty lent money and still went to heaven. Mark Johnson looks at the ways in which Italy's fifteenth-century bankers circumnavigated religious prohibitions to make their margins

People moves:

When all around its rivals are spinning off businesses, Lehman Brothers is sticking to a strategy of acquiring rather than relying purely on organic growth. CEO Richard Fuld has exceptional backing inside the firm for this approach. But can the openness and mutual cooperativeness of his managers survive more expansion? Fuld spoke to Euromoney's Antony Currie about Lehman's future.

Whole loan sales will offer a growing funding alternative for mortgage lenders

As nominal returns have fallen, investing in hedge funds has become more difficult. Recent high-profile failures in the UK and Asia illustrate that more than ever, it's important to pick the right strategy and the right manager

ECNs have sold themselves by claiming to offer fast, competitive, electronic execution. But research suggests only the electronic claim is true.

It took regulators one long year to work out what exactly Citigroup did wrong in August 2004 on the EuroMTS trading platform. In the interim, Citi has apologized repeatedly for its actions, perhaps because the firm itself has been the biggest victim. Having lost a fair chunk of fees underwriting business – apart from when the Greek debt office broke step in March on its €5billion 32-year deal – the firm has been notably absent in benchmark euro sovereign new issues since the misguided trade. Although some rival bankers suspect Citigroup has still been involved indirectly in the primary European government bond marks by carrying out swaps for new issues, its last euro trade of note for the Republic of Italy – the sovereign said to have taken particular issue with the rogue trade – came way back in February 2004. While Citi continues to enjoy success in other sectors of the international bond markets, the firm must be hoping that it will return to favour soon.

Saudi Arabia's Capital Markets Authority has moved closer to full implementation of the 2003 capital markets law by announcing the imminent licensing of non-bank financial intermediaries. CMA governor Jammaz Al-Suhaimi said in late May that regulations on the establishment of brokerages would soon be issued; this will put an end to Saudi commercial banks' monopoly on share trading in the kingdom. However, foreigners look set to remain excluded from offering brokerage services. Nahed Taher, senior economist at National Commercial Bank (NCB), and an adviser to the CMA committee reviewing the brokerage regulations, says the rules should appear by mid-July. They will be accompanied by rules regarding applications for asset management and financial advisory licences. She expects that financial advisory companies will be required to have minimum capital of SR400,000 (just over $100,000) while brokerages will need minimum capital of SR2 billion (about $500 million).

These benchmark awards highlight high-quality products and services across all areas of commercial and investment banking, regionally and globally.

The annual guide to the leading banks across the globe by market capitalization, plus all the other key statistics you need, including the largest banks in every region.

Santander is one of the most remarkable stories in modern banking. Even the group's highly-ambitious chairman, Emilio Botín, is amazed at how the bank has grown from a small Spanish domestic bank to a place in the global top 10 in just 20 years. He reveals the strategy that has made Santander what it is today.