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Doubling shareholder value every three years is an objective set in stone for UK bank Lloyds TSB. The trouble is, the more money it makes ­ it's phenomenally profitable for a mature-market bank ­ the harder it is to put it to work. But there's no sign that it's run out of ideas. Jules Stewart reports.

Thais won't practise safe banking

Spider strategem

Meet the Don

Meet the Don

Corporate issuers to the fore

Issuer: Republic of Lebanon

Trawling the bottom in Europe

Brazil has lived so long in its own world that adapting to outside forces involves a profound internal struggle. Vociferous state governors have strongly opposed reforms pushed by the federal government. They wield considerable influence in states bigger than some European countries. Sometimes it seems the governors' independent acts - refuting debts or rewriting contracts - could sink the whole ship or, at the least, scare off foreign investors. Maybe these men aren't as wild as their rhetoric. To find out, Brian Caplen took a closer look at three key Brazilian states and their leaders, in Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia and Minas Gerais

After nearly a decade of fanfare, the single European market for financial services is a ghost of what it should be. Turf battles, protectionism, and the inertia of Brussels decision-making conspire to frustrate cross-border financial business. There's still no Europe-wide bank account. But the euro and the pressure of electronic commerce have panicked EU mandarins. Things are moving - a decade too late. Behold the Financial Services Action Plan. David Shirreff reports.

Europe's high-yield debt market is having a difficult year. It can't shake off its ties to the US market. Moreover, when volatilities are high even the bravest investors head for the sidelines, reports Rebecca Bream

Default on Ecuador's Brady bonds could set the pattern for other bigger Brady debtors to follow. The IMF and other multilaterals appear to be egging them on. But is this the new pragmatic model for bailing in private creditors and avoiding moral hazard, or is it the first blast of a nuclear winter in emerging markets? By Michael Peterson.