Creating opportunity out of crisis; Transaction cost measurement; Regulation and reducing risk; Algorithmic trading; Arbitrage trading; FX trading moves into the next generation

Both as an attractive, highly profitable business for banks and a provider of increasingly vital services for corporate clients, transaction banking is in the limelight. Euromoney speaks to leading bankers in the sector about market conditions and likely prospects.

Moscow’s attempt to develop as an important financial centre is at the core of a series of capital markets-friendly legislative changes. Euromoney talks to investors, City of Moscow officials, exchange heads and regulators about progress so far and what is to come.

Garanti’s first place in the CEE companies poll for the second successive year is reflected in its high standing in the capital markets. Other top contenders are similarly favoured. Guy Norton reports.

Just when Bank of America thought it had come through the dark days of 2009 Angela Iannelli and Luke enter the fray. Iannelli, a mortgage client of Bank of America, is suing the bank for stealing her parrot, Luke.

Much out-of-hours competition between investment banks in Hong Kong comes in the drinking dens of Lan Kwai Fung and Wanchai.

A proposed merger of the EIB and EBRD has received the endorsement of Michel Camdessus, the former managing director of the IMF, and an advisory EU committee he headed. He speaks exclusively to Nick Lord.

Before it became the lightning rod for public fury over the banking crisis, Goldman always seemed to pride itself on doing things differently. It held itself rather aloof from the rest of Wall Street – an exclusive club to which only the crème de la crème de la crème were invited.

"Yes, but what the fuck have you done to help?"

"Problems of this sort are rarely confined to one institution; the dotcom era shows us that in the wake of a crisis, business practices which were considered normal at the time can look very much worse with the benefit of hindsight and in a legal setting"

Foreign and local investors were hard hit when Kenya’s nascent stock market plunged in the wake of the financial crisis, but recent government efforts to woo them back with simplified regulation and enhanced systems seem to be working. Chloe Hayward reports.

The economy has gone a double-digit economic boom to a double-digit recession. Guy Norton reports on how the embattled Baltic state is coping.

Latvia’s blonde ambition

Lower oil prices and a lack of international finance have given the country the slack it needs to diversify. But will it grab the opportunity or go the way of other resource-rich Asian states? Nick Lord reports from Baku.

Longmore latest senior FX exec to leave; But UK bank continues to build market share

After the turmoil of the past couple of years, many have been surprised by the amount of deal activity. But, having scaled back during the crisis, they’re finding that local rivals are winning more business. Dominic O’Neill reports.

Kosovars feel oppressed by high interest rates and suspect a bank cartel. The banks respond by citing the country’s fragile status as a sovereign, making funding expensive and uncertain. Either way, costly credit is an impediment to growth, and widespread corruption adds its own obstacles. Elliot Wilson reports.

The results of this year’s Euromoney FX survey suggest that, rather than cement the dominant position of leading banks, e-commerce could offer firms that have lagged behind the chance to catch up. But they’d better do it soon – rich rewards await those that can secure the largest pools of liquidity. Hamish Risk reports.

Fidesz party seeks to expand state spending limits; Analyst warns on dangers of political rhetoric

Volatile, opaque market makes for rollercoaster ride; Structural demand/supply levels give grounds for hope

Benefits from oil, rates, and stock market; Information awaited on financial results and state bad-debt plan

Pioneering issue attracts institutional demand; Proceeds to fund gas project

Saudi Arabia’s Jubail oil refinery is one of the biggest and most complex projects ever to be commercially financed. With dollar and local-currency funding, Islamic and conventional tranches, an IPO, an Islamic bond, and multiple export credit agencies, it has demanded a huge amount of work. Dominic O’Neill reports.

Brian Moynihan is determined to build his big bank, whatever regulators might threaten.

Burgeoning sovereign debt is a threat to economic recovery, not a way to achieve it. It will crowd out borrowing for more productive purposes and will inevitably foster inflation and possibly defaults.

Emerging market banks should brace themselves for when the coming bubble bursts.

No matter how much noise the SEC makes about shutting the door, the horse has already bolted.

Oh the irony. As Euromoney left the executive offices of one of Goldman’s main hubs this week, the image projected on the plasma screen in the elevator could not have been starker. “The world against Goldman Sachs” was the screaming headline of one financial television news channel.