Banks have shown themselves incapable of safeguarding the system in which they operate. Intrusive, interventionist, expert, powerful, independent regulatory authorities are the answer.

Despite transforming UniCredit’s business, Italy’s most controversial banker lost one too many battles with the bank’s shareholders.

The reputations of many analysts soared as other bankers lost credibility. But are their opinions as sound as many think?

Currency-market intervention cannot boost Japan’s exports in the short term. Nor does it tackle the country’s deeper economic malaise.

China is increasingly exposing its currency to the wider world but free convertibility still looks a long way off.

Broad agreements on regulatory harmony would help pan-Asian development and safeguard against potential market shocks.

In trying to make rating agencies liable for their structured finance opinions, Dodd-Frank could end up killing off the US ABS industry altogether.

There’s investment advantage to be gained from a rational macroeconomic viewpoint.

Brazil’s stability is something bankers can’t help but get enthused about.

And so it has come to pass. Central counterparty clearing is to set to become, well, central to the financial markets landscape. It is seen as a cure to the concentration of risk that was held by the world’s largest trading firms in the lead-up to the financial crisis.

If regulators want to fix bankers’ pay, then pushing fair-value accounting is not the answer.

The choice of HSBC’s next chairman will tell you everything you need to know about the bank’s future.

Europe’s financial institutions must realize that the price of issuance is unlikely to improve any time soon.

Last month, European bank regulators tried to reassure the markets that in a severe recession and collapse in European government bond markets, only seven of the 91 leading European banks they tested would face a shortfall in core tier 1 capital ratios below 6%, amounting in aggregate to just €3.5 billion.

Private equity firms have large amounts they need to put to work, so market discipline might be sorely tested over the next few years.

US legislation regulating rating agencies should bring healthy competition to the market – if newcomers can meet the costs involved.

An onerous tax on banks proposed by the Hungarian government can only further damage an already weakened economy.

Russian bank IIB’s default on a Eurobond pinpoints the Russian state’s power to make or break businesses.

Banks in the UAE are a long way from provisioning for Dubai’s debt and property crises.

With public markets shaky, there is demand for private equity, and banks want to be in on it despite regulatory threats.

The list of cornerstone investors in the ABC deal shows the newfound prominence of Asian and Middle Eastern buyers.

In tight markets, some Latin issuers are doing blow-out deals that demand investor attention.

Here’s the good news. Even as profound uncertainty persists over sovereign debt sustainability, the impact of deficit reduction on economies, the potential damage from declining prices and evaporating liquidity in government bonds on banks’ balance sheets and profits, the capital markets remain open.

US corporate buyers are finding rich pickings in Europe.

Sentiment in Gulf property is picking up but a truly sustainable recovery is impossible.

Amid the threat of competitive devaluations, the US and the eurozone need help from the new emerging market powers.

For the briefest of moments the news of European Union plans to bail out eurozone members that could not meet their debt obligations brought a sense of calm to the market.

The German chancellor’s short-selling ban had no impact other than to increase speculation about the future of the eurozone.

Exchanges might prove temporary fixes rather than permanent solutions.

Dubai World’s debt restructuring shows that orderly, voluntary agreements are the best solution to a crisis.