Despite investment banks' profits being under pressure, with share prices on the slide, bonuses and jobs being slashed and a general state of panic and insecurity throughout the industry, all the major banks will still be shelling out for a box or suite at this month's CSFB-sponsored Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.

Director of research, Hermitage Capital Management

Credit derivatives

UK prime minister Tony Blair is facing the biggest test of his political career as he tries to persuade the British public to support military action against Iraq in alliance with the US. But his government is not just dealing with a major foreign policy problem. The UK economy is also under scrutiny.

The Indonesian banks that best coped with the 1997 crisis were focused on retail and small business customers. Now those banks that are restructuring are intent on the same sector.

Jochen Friedrich arrived at DZ Bank last year to become head of fixed income. This bank, along with WGZ Bank, is one of the two central institutions linking Germany's mutual banking network. Consolidation is under way among the cooperatives as well as the Landesbanken. DZ itself is the product of a difficult merger between DG Bank and GZ Bank, and expects the total number of German cooperative banks to fall from about 1,600 today to roughly 800 by 2008.

With much of south America in economic turmoil, central America has become a safe haven for high-yield bond investors. But oversupply and renewed instability might soon undermine the region's attractiveness.

Portugal

Foreign exchange

With so many corporates under pressure to raise cash, and understandably loath to sell off holdings at depressed prices in a weak market, the hunt for higher valuations is driving a wave of complex structured equity deals.

CEO, Epic Investment Consulting

If you can make it here, so the song goes, you can make it anywhere. But New York hasn't been that accommodating to Duncan Goldie-Morrison. The towering Scot, head of global markets for Banc of America Securities, only moved there from Chicago last year.

Jose Isidro Camacho, secretary of finance of the Philippines, is a former investment banker - he was Deutsche Bank's country head in the Philippines from 1999-2001. He talks to Euromoney's Chris Cockerill about what the Philippine government must do to regain the market's trust.

Impending full liberalization of Malaysia's banking system is encouraging local players to grow their investment banking business, with RHB Sakura and CIMB taking the lead.

India

President Arroyo took office in the Philippines with ambitious plans to increase revenues, curb corruption and cut the state deficit. But after two years in office little has been achieved on these fronts. Now pessimistic country analysts are making worrying comparisons between Asia's busiest sovereign borrower and Argentina.