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Last month's G7 finance ministers' meeting in Dubai prompted a sharp fall in the dollar. I reckon this is a turning point in the fortunes of the currency since its peak in February 2002.

Foreign insurers, asset managers and banks are preparing to tap India's retirement savings. On August 23 the Indian government cleared a plan that is a first step towards pension deregulation.

When banks develop fancy new structured products, they usually describe them as value-added, yield-enhancing solutions that do everything a client could possibly want except, perhaps, washing the dishes. No discerning investor or corporate should be without them.

Source: www.breakingviews.com is Europe's leading financial commentary service.

Investing in China is tricky enough without having to offer coherent data on performance. Fund managers, under increasing pressure to outperform benchmarks, are struggling with the fact that index providers offer a mystifying range of products covering Chinese stocks.

Talk about getting them when they're young. Merrill Lynch has joined forces with Elmo and the Cookie Monster to develop a "financial fitness" curriculum aimed at children between the ages of two and six.

Private-equity houses are trawling Europe for cheap listed companies. Critics say shareholders shouldn't sell out so cheaply but should rather seek enhanced value for themselves. Some are already rebelling against the loss of future value.

Issuer: RHG Nord Size: e65 million Arranger: Rabobank International Issue date: September 17 2003

September is a popular time for international get-togethers. Near the end of the month there was a small one in New York, organized by the Brazilian/American Chamber of Commerce. It took place while the IMF/World Bank meetings were still under way in Dubai, shortly before the opening of the UN General Assembly, and a week after the collapse of the World Trade Organization talks in Cancún.

At the IMF/World Bank meetings in Dubai last month, Padraic Fallon, chairman of Euromoney Institutional Investor, presented the finance minister of the year award to Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf of Saudi Arabia, describing him as a symbol of the new Middle East. Fallon praised the reforms of Crown Prince Abdullah, which have created a liberal foreign investment regime. The minister cautioned that the award "does not mean that we have achieved our ambitions but is a reminder of the need to work diligently to reach our potential".

Investment banks are turning to new research strategies as they fight to win back investor confidence and wash away the stigma of bias and conflicts of interest that have tarnished sell-side research in recent years. There appears to be a stress on intellectual honesty but can this coexist with turning a profit?