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German business doesn't like equity. The old Rheinland model that was the foundation of the Wirtschaftswunder and Germany's spectacular rise from the ashes after the second world war is based on close working relationship between private enterprise, the local bank and the regional authorities. There was no need to open a company up to public scrutiny in the form of demanding shareholders. "Germany is all about private equity, in that private ownership is still the norm. If you take a list of the 30 biggest listed companies in Germany and a list of the 30-biggest companies then there is only limited overlap," says Siegmar Thakur-Weigold, head of alternative investments at HSBC. "There is a long tradition of buying companies here, but none of selling them again. Selling has been seen as a sign of weakness."

CEO, Greenpark Capital

Khathar hunnu bhanda marhu ramro. Or in English: "It is better to die than live a coward." That's the motto of the Brigade of Gurkhas, as London financial sector workers are about to find out.

Chairman, CEO and CIO, US Global Investors

Best at equity derivatives

Since taking office in 2003, Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been the man to watch in Latin America, bringing the region's largest economy unprecedented stability and silencing fears that the former steel worker would be unable to handle the country's huge foreign debt. This year, though, Lula faces one of the biggest challenges to his pro-market credentials: the task of pushing an initiative through congress to give the central bank autonomy.

Virtually unknown outside its native Malaysia, investment bank Commerce International Merchant Bankers has rapidly consolidated its domestic dominance. Running out of room to grow, the firm is acquiring Singapore stockbroker GK Goh in its first big step to create a regional investment banking force. The ambition is evident and so are the challenges.

Having had serial relationships with three global investment banking houses, all of which deals unravelled, Thai investment bank Phatra Securities can be forgiven for wanting to go it alone. Although the firm still enjoys good relations with one ex-partner, the new-found independence clearly suits its style.

TUI Northern Europe, a division of TUI AG, the world's largest tourism and services group, has selected Trintech's ReconNET to automate the verification and reconciliation of cash banking and credit card transactions, including foreign currency deposits from Forex Bureaus distributed throughout its 1,100 agencies. Additionally, the module automates the verification and reconciliation of the company's principal disbursement account.

Alba, the leading consumer electronics brand company in the UK and Europe, has gone live with SimCorp's IT/2 treasury management system. Advantages of the system, according to the corporate, include better visibility of information, reduced risk and a saving in treasury headcount.

Almost all venture capitalists expect to see an increase in UK activity this year, in both volume and value of deals, with particular consolidation in the retail and financial services sectors.