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Pedro Solbes, Commissioner for monetary and economic affairs, European Union

It has been a banner year for new issues of convertible bonds, with many forces working together, especially in Europe, to support the primary market. Low interest rates and hopes for equity market growth have prompted more and more investors to buy convertibles and the pressure on companies to enhance shareholder returns and to unwind cross-holdings has prompted the issuers. High stock market volatility, following last year's financial meltdown, has also helped the market. This is the full text version of a roundtable discussion, exclusive to Euromoney On-Line.

It's been going on for seven years, and has taken up more of the US Federal Accounting Standard Board's (FASB's) time than any other rule. US bankers and issuers hate it, claiming it will force an unwanted change in borrower strategies and will even hit earnings. They've lobbied Congress to get it nullified, and the board has responded with a year's postponement and by changing some of the strictures. Yet still the complaints roll in from those few who claim to understand it. Systems still aren't ready, and there is less than a year to go before it comes into effect. Who'd have thought that an accounting rule-change could cause such a furore? Antony Currie reports on the dilemmas and debates around rule FAS133

They may be a decade late, but Japan's banks are finally restructuring. The headline deals will create the world's two largest banks. An exclusive interview with Masao Nishimura, president of IBJ and a prime mover in the recent combination of IBJ with Fuji Bank and DKB, gives an insight into the thinking of Japan's financial elite. But, as Simon Brady reports, bad debts, low profitability and economic malaise will prevent even these new giants from becoming world leaders.

Japan's new leviathans

Edited by Antony Currie

Edited by Rebecca Bream

Want to buy a bank stacked full of bad loans and losing money? The Czech Republic may be able to oblige. While the second-largest, Ceska Sporitelna, looks like going to Austria's Erste Bank, the biggest, Komercni Banka, is still up for grabs. Finally, after years of dithering and excuses, bank privatization is now happening. But the assets are worth much less since the banks ran into serious trouble. Czech government problems don't stop there. Many companies the banks lent to are floundering, capital markets are still in their infancy and the legal framework falls short. The Czech Republic is a case study of how not to handle transition. Brian Caplen reports.

Joining the Wall Street party

Citigroup's latest acquisition

Turkey is supposed to be privatizing; it's also ostensibly following policies that will bring down inflation. But vested interests that benefit from the unwieldy structure of state corporations and a banking industry dependent on earnings from high-interest treasury paper are thwarting these processes. The privatization of Turk Telekom is a tangled tale of delay and indecision, and a banking industry that can cope with a low-inflation environment is something to hope for rather than an immediately practicable reality. Metin Munir reports.

Who pushed NatWest?