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Worldwide, investment banks that grew bloated in the bull run have been shedding staff and pulling in their horns in recent months. But something more fundamental is happening in Asia. The days of having an equity and corporate finance operation in every country in the region are coming to an end and many banks are becoming more centralized, while shifting their focus to the markets of north-east Asia, particularly China.

With its economy already weakened by falling oil prices, Venezuela’s suffering is being intensified by the actions of president Hugo Chávez, whose populism is rapidly losing all support. More conflict is likely.

The economy is booming, but Russia’s stellar growth rates of the past three years are already starting to slow. The impact of the cheap rouble and high international oil prices are beginning to wear off. President Putin must embark on painstaking structural reforms or the boom could peter out. But that means taking on powerful entrenched interests.

The departure of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's co-chairman Emilio Ybarra was half expected. But the resignation of CEO and vice-chairman Pedro Luis Uriarte, announced on the same day, shocked the market.

For years, overbanked Austria has been a byword for murderous competition and razor-thin margins. Now there are indications that it is becoming a more benign environment for bankers. Austrian banks are belatedly focusing on the business of making money, both at home and through energetic expansion in the central and eastern European region.

Operational risk is not new – it’s a concept that banks have been struggling with for years with varying degrees of success. But setting aside capital against the risk of loss from human error, systems failure, or fraud is new, and of growing concern to the industry. With the Basle Accord’s capital requirements coming into effect in January 2005, banks and other financial institutions are having to face operational risk issues with a new sense of urgency. In the following roundtable discussion, euromoney.com brought together a number of professionals with different operational risk challenges to discuss the questions they face and the business implications of the Basle Accord. IBM’s Keith Saxton moderated

E-Finance

Internet Awards 2001: Bucks and bytes struggle for glory

The IPO of Dentsu, the world's fourth-largest advertising company, was supposed to mark UBS Warburg (Japan)'s entrance as a serious name in underwriting in the Japanese market.

The stunning collapse of the once high-flying US energy group Enron is hardly a laughing matter. And hindsight, as we all know, can be a wonderful thing. But it is still hard to resist a cynical chuckle at the promotional blurb used on the website for Enron Credit - the company's credit trading unit.

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