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The quest to find the best-guarded bank in Central America begins in Costa Rica. Raids on branches have become a problem in this traditionally peaceful, unarmed society. Crédito Agrícola de Cartago has taken on a nervous-looking youth with a rifle. Few such worries at the central bank, where the security guard is armed only with a pistol and is too busy chatting with the shoe-shiners to notice me sneaking past.

What does the birth of a big new capital market in euros mean for the world's existing pool of liquidity, the US market? So far, few US borrowers have issued in euros, but they, along with American investors, are keeping a keen eye on the development of the market

During the past few months we have been swamped with gadgets incorporating the euro symbol. All the major European banks have been distributing euro-inspired watches, clocks, calculators and even food items to their main clients and their employees to celebrate the birth of the new currency.

At the unlikely venue of Durbanville racecourse in autumnal South Africa, a little-known four-year-old pipped Like A Rock by a length to win the Maiden Plate over 1,200 metres on April 28.

Over the years Euromoney has reported on the events that shook the market, described the innovations that went on to become standard market features and profiled the most influential individuals and institutions in the world of finance. We also dropped a few clangers. Michael Peterson spent an afternoon trawling through the archives in the dusty vaults of Euromoney HQ and offers a selection of judgements and predictions, some wildly wrong, some amazingly prescient.

Thirty years ago, US withholding-tax regulations kick-started the Eurodollar market which Euromoney was founded to report on. And today, withholding-tax regulation is again a hot topic in the international bond markets. Although the European Central Bank (ECB) has refused to comment publicly on the recent furore over savings tax harmonization, saying it is purely a matter for the European Commission, it is understood that senior ECB figures are in favour of harmonizing withholding taxes throughout Europe. This would involve the introduction of a withholding tax to be enforced in London. The ECB's motivation to support such regulation could be said to be the same as that behind its determination to restrict the access of UK institutions to the European cross-border payment system, Target. The bank is believed to be extremely uncomfortable with the idea of having the principal money market for its new currency located outside the eurozone, fearing that this would compromise the ability of the ECB to conduct monetary policy.

Our annual Bank Atlas, produced in conjunction with Fitch IBCA, shows the impact of bank consolidation. Bank of America is now the world's biggest bank by shareholder equity.

Everyone's memory is different, some have no memory at all. But a handful of deals appear to stand out as those that broke new ground and had even competitors tipping their caps in admiration. No fewer than three people, at exactly the same time, apparently saw ducks floating in the bath and leapt out shouting "Eureka" - the birth of the floating rate note. Few firsts have such a canard attached, but they are all now part of Euromarket mythology. By Rebecca Bream.

Over 200 clients of Barclays trooped out to see the US premiere of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant's film Notting Hill., an event sponsored by the UK bank.

After five years on Morgan Stanley's fixed-income syndicate desk in London, would-be rock star Eden Riche is leaving. Riche was one of the guiding lights behind Morgan Stanley's steady rise to the top tier of Eurobond underwriters over the past few years, along with former department head Riccardo Pavoncelli, who three months ago moved to head the firm's media banking group.

HSBC faces a bizarre lawsuit over the rebranding of subsidiaries. With 80% of the new HSBC signs already up in the UK outside former Midland branches, a rival financial institution, HFC Bank, has begun litigation against HSBC claiming it is damaging its franchise and stealing its hard-earned brand name.

This is a brief and highly selective history of the international financial markets over the past 30 years. Who were the heroes, who were the villains and who made a difference? It's the story of hopeful financial centres that flourished, showed promise but ultimately lost out to London, of banks and bankers with vaulting ambition who made it big, came a cropper or laid waste the markets around them. It's a story of creativity, excitement, success and spectacular failure. By David Shirreff.