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For a major Czech bank, Investicni a Postovni Banka was deeply untransparent. Bank analysts, auditors and central bankers tried in vain to map the labyrinth controlled by vice-chairman Libor Prochazka. They didn’t much like the bank or its emphatically non-strategic partner Nomura. So, when catastrophe hit IPB in June, the government stepped in heavily and maybe did the wrong thing, for the right reason – or vice versa. Was this the best way for an EU candidate to reform its financial sector? David Shirreff reports

Remember how the internet was going to put securities firms out of business? It isn’t happening yet. Never before have investment banks made so much money from international capital markets. Volumes are rising across all categories. Underwriting fees are holding steady. And lucrative areas such as capital instruments, leveraged finance and securitization are bursting into life. Meanwhile, the equity markets have been a thrill-a-minute roller-coaster ride. But times aren’t as good for issuers and investors. As prices slide, bond and equity buyers alike have lost money. And issuers have had to jump through hoops to complete deals in crowded and volatile markets. Michael Peterson reports

The great triumph of last year’s IMF/World Bank meeting was the unveiling of an agreement on debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries. But now that the promises are coming due, the international financial institutions are claiming poverty. This is special pleading - they have more than enough resources to cover the entire $45 billion multilateral share of the debt. The familiar cycle of debt and default will repeat itself, Adam Lerrick argues, unless the reform required of borrowing nations is matched by reform in the agencies themselves.

The policy team of new Mexican president Vicente Fox has thought of everything. An impressive set of reforms covering the central bank, capital markets, the fiscal deficit, the energy sector and judiciary are all laid out ready. But can they be got through congress and made to work free from interference and corruption? Mexico is facing one of the biggest make or break periods in its history, writes Andrea Mandel-Campbell

Last month Freddie Mac did something that solid, dependable US agencies are not supposed to do: it took a gamble. It announced that it would start borrowing large amounts in euros.

Washington wags used to quip that former IMF managing director Michel Camdessus wanted to be “the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral”. They had a point. Camdessus put the Fund on an ambitious course to be many things to many people during his 13-year tenure. That ended in February and today his successor Horst Köhler is getting back to core principles. He says he wants a leaner, meaner IMF. Now he has to deliver. James Smalhout reports

Two years ago the Korean banking sector was in crisis. Foreign banks were nervous of making acquisitions. Today, although total banking-sector losses are still high, a core of mid-sized profitable banks has emerged. None, though, is large enough to prosper in the long term and the race is on to find complementary partners in an increasingly competitive market. Simon Brady reports

A run on Romania’s biggest bank was stopped in its tracks. The episode highlights nervousness in the system as banks are being readied for sale. Some on the inside say the situation’s not so bad as it looks and that the supervisors are getting tougher. But foreigners are still asking a host of questions, as Erik D’Amato reports.

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To date, most Arab countries have been insulated from outside pressure due to highly protected markets and huge oil reserves. But foreign competition is set to increase, especially for markets joining the World Trade Organization. The biggest banks in small countries will have to look outside their domestic markets for growth, either through acquisitions or alliances. Darren Stubing reports

When an institution declares that under no circumstances will it reform you can be sure it faces a rocky future. The idea that any economic player, public or private, can carry on acting in the same old way, regardless of external changes, strikes most people as absurd. Yet this is what the Paris Club believes. Events will surely force it to shape up or wind up.

If all goes as planned Komercni banka, the second largest Financial institution in the Czech Republic and the last state-owned bank, will Find itself in the hands of a strategic partner by the end of March 2001. As the privatization draws near, the Czech government appears to have learned from the mistakes it made during previous bank sales.