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NatWest gambled on bancassurance, lost its acquisition target and its chief executive and triggered a raid on itself from Scotland. Many in the City of London are pointing the finger of blame at adviser JP Morgan for encouraging NatWest's delusions. How did an investment bank that prides itself on telling clients which deals not to do get so much egg on its face? Marcus Walker reports

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

The amorphous sector challenge

The amorphous sector challenge

The amorphous sector challenge

European equity brokers have been struggling with the challenge of shifting to sector research from country research. The big firms are going even further, with cross-sector analysis of rapidly changing industries. Luciano Mondellini reports.

Thais won't practise safe banking

Keeping faith from bust to boom

During the 1990s central European countries were taught that patience, self-discipline and the narrow road to convergence was the only way to qualify for Emu membership. It was a sign of progress when increased confidence in local currencies drove dollars and Deutschmarks off the streets of Prague, Budapest and Warsaw. That's what the European Central Bank wants them to believe. But the Czechs and Croatians now suspect that by dumping their own currencies for the euro straightaway, they can take a short cut into Emu. The ECB is desperately looking for a way to stop them. Laura Covill reports.

E-Force One glides into the Gare du Midi, Brussels. The band strikes up buongiorno il duce and Prodi emerges from the presidential train, glowing from his triumph at the G3 summit in Bruges.

There are a record number of equity offerings in the pipeline for the rest of 1999. That may seem like good news for equity capital markets bankers. But with Y2K likely to close the market early this year those deals will have to squeeze through a narrow window. Even more worrying, this year has seen a surprising number of deals turn sour. Which of the deals in the pipeline is likely to turn rotten? And which firms will be left celebrating the successes? Michael Peterson reports.