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

Japan's new leviathans

When cutting costs is not enough

Privatization is still keeping lawyers busy the world over - and benefiting from the vital contribution they have to make. By Christopher Stoakes

We live in a time when the necessity, desirability and inevitability of ever more bank mergers is simply taken for granted by bank executives, shareholders and regulators. The model of the ruthless cost-cutting merger, so firmly established in the US in the last seven years, has increasingly been adopted worldwide. As producing shareholder value becomes the prime motive of managers in national banking industries which for years have been overprotected by governments, overpopulated by too many unprofitable players, and inefficiently run, mergers - it is now taken for granted - are the only way to boost returns by cutting costs.

To the casual visitor Prague seems a very civilized place. The city is bristling with church spires, historic buildings, museums and elegant squares. Every night is a cultural feast with opera, classical music and theatre of the highest quality. In this rarefied atmosphere, artistic and intellectual endeavours thrive and it is difficult to believe that the country was once under the dead-hand of communism.

Mannesmann has pitched into some speedy, expensive takeovers, but is still a takeover target. That's a symptom of the rush for change affecting nearly all German companies. For years investors complained that German managers were too slow and cautious; now many have become dangerously impulsive. By Laura Covill.

Edited by Brian Caplen

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.

It's been a rollercoaster ride. First investors were desperate to buy any stock available, now they are withdrawing funds. But how much is the grey market to blame? Laura Covill reports.

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.

Citigroup's latest acquisition