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Is the international sovereign bond market on the verge of a great transformation or will the recent debate over terms and conditions turn out to be so much hot air? Investors and bankers are hoping for the latter proclaiming that any changes would cut off the supply of capital to emerging markets. Others decry a situation in which they see different lenders getting different treatment due more to historical evolution than to any set of rational principles.

Zambia's economy remains as dependent as ever on copper, and there is no immediate prospect that the current depressed price of this commodity will improve. Zambia also desperately needs currency stability. The kwacha has fallen by more than 70% against the dollar in the past two years and interest rates are over 30%. Helen Henton reports

Laisser-faire never was quite what it seemed. It required a lot of state power to create and a lot of state power was acquired under the guise of free markets. The process hasn't finished yet. Globalization, far from undermining the nation state, is fostering stronger governments capable of standing up to the new forces. Laisser-faire is over, re-regulation has begun and welfare spending is about to rocket, especially in the emerging markets. The 21st century will witness more varied forms of capitalism than ever before, each with a differing role for the market and a strong role for the state, argues Brian Caplen

An extensive audit of 18 Russian commercial banks shows that many bigger ones are - by western standards - clinically dead. International lenders have lost patience. They want to push Russia's central bank and government into a major overhaul of the sector. But they lack the leverage to enforce it. And the central bank lacks the will. John van Schaik reports.

Portugal's banks are performing well, stimulated by the new single currency. In the long term, though, they will need to consolidate if they are to carve out profitable niches in euroland. One route to this, arrangements with Spanish banks, has just closed, at least temporarily. James Rutter reports on the likely next steps

Prompted by the ravages of Hurricane Mitch and the crisis in emerging markets, Central America is changing - fast. As the crisis in Brazil finally explodes the myth of monetary sovereignty, Central American capital markets and institutions are being restructured in line with global developments. Michael Peterson toured Central America's banking sector, stopping off in Costa Rica to interview the president.

How does an emerging-market sovereign extract the best from its underwriters? Argentina, praised for its borrowing success, has learnt its tough tactics the hard way. Gone are the days when freewheeling bankers could sell the republic a pup. Now they are met with controlled aggression and barbed comments alternating with soothing charm. Good cop, bad cop, Argentine-style, has shaved basis points off the nation's funding costs. Brian Caplen reports on the team behind the strategy

An interesting document, which came into Euromoney's hands, maybe sheds some light on the furore in Japan about deals allegedly designed to defer losses over future reporting periods. David Shirreff reports

Corporate restructuring is bound to generate frictions. Even so, long-suffering shareholders in Hong Kong red chip Guangnan hardly expected to witness a public row between two of the world's leading accountancy firms KPMG and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

Today's short-termism doesn't encourage the study of history, unless it's reduced to a set of data points. Here we test that little-used part of the brain which stores longer-term facts. They were important at the time, but the detail has long-since vanished in the white noise of yesterday's markets. Most of the answers can be found somewhere in this anniversary edition