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The number of banks seized by the government in Turkey has recently risen to 10 but foreign banks still manage to elude having their fingers burned.

Several banks are benefiting from the slew of former DLJ bankers who have decided that their new owners, CSFB, are not for them. Lehman and Salomon Smith Barney have done particularly well in the US, and UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank are not far behind. But in Europe another name has joined the list, and it may be a surprise to some: Bank of America.

The panic’s over. We can all go back to normal. We’ve got it all under control. That’s the message now coming from the investment banking world as we wind down for Christmas.

Banks around the world have browbeaten their regulators into accepting so-called hybrid tier one securities issued by special purpose vehicles. Now the investment bankers who arrange capital issues are looking for the next challenge of finding new issuers for these securities.

A major priority for the UK's Financial Services Authority is developing a suitable regulatory stance in e-commerce and internet delivery of financial services. Its approach rests on judgements about the potential risks from e-developments to its statutory objectives – market confidence, consumer protection, public understanding and reduction of financial crime – and working out strategies to mitigate and minimize risks. By Lydia Bailey and Crispian Lord

The Chinese have a heavy historical load to shrug off. It's the financial system. The need for restructuring is recognized and a start has been made on dealing with banks' non-performing loans. Privatization will then be possible. But for all the bankers' adoption of western business suits, it's far from clear whether the government can bring itself to leave Chinese banks free to develop truly commercial lending policies. And then there's the stock market - the most hedged about with restrictions on foreign access in all Asia. Opening it up will mean grappling with weighty corporate accounting issues. More worrying still, it raises the scary prospect of unrestricted currency convertibility.

Efficient linkages between stock markets should eventually enable global investors to trade shares easily on local markets removing any need to use such instruments as depositary receipts. But such linkages are far from complete. American investors still prefer to deal in dollar-denominated paper. Foreign companies are building up their ADR programmes as a currency for US acquisitions. With the trade in ADRs in 2000 exceeding $1 trillion by September, and expected to top $1.3 trillion by the end of the year, the depositary receipt market looks set to prosper.

Vice president, operations, Atlas Ventures

Even a year ago US bulge-bracket firms refused to acknowledge that a foreign bank could come within striking distance of having a decent US bond business. That's no longer the case.

The potential for internet growth in Latin American remains among the highest in the world, though that is not sufficient to support large numbers of start-up companies. Financing is hard to come by in both the public and private equity markets. But Latin American internet companies are about to show the rest of the world where the new economy is heading. The convergence of internet, traditional media and telecom businesses is at hand.

In e-finance developments the day of the independent entrepreneur capturing a chunk of the market is over – and maybe the notion was never a runner. Banks and other financial institutions now dominate the e-finance cutting edge through direct and indirect investment. Britt Tunick reports

According to Mark Gormley, a partner with Capital Z Partners, very few venture capital Wrms focus on e-Wnance and, apart from the securities Wrms and banks themselves, Capital Z is the only one in Europe that deals exclusively with it.