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Telecommunications: Ways to survive a sea of troubles

Poll of Polls: Warburg's excellently average performance

Poll of Polls: Warburg's excellently average performance

Asset Management: Allianz wants other people's money

If the systems changeover for the euro turns into chaos, then the proprietor of a greasy spoon café in the City of London might know why.

Another euro-related operational issue has cropped up. Banks have tended not to charge each other for the provision of intra-day liquidity, but the euro payment systems will change all that - at least that's what bankers are predicting.

While all eyes are on the birth of the euro, a region not so long ago written off is quietly rebuilding. In Thailand, interest rates are falling 25 basis points a week. The Republic of Korea looks likely to be upgraded as its current account swings from a 1997 deficit of $8.2 billion to a projected surplus of $40 billion in 1998 - a change equivalent to 16% of GDP. Even in Malaysia - where the situation is complicated by the regulatory environment - the stock market is booming. What they said could not happen is happening. Asia is exporting its way out of trouble.

City thinktank CSFI has been agonizing over whether to bite one of the hands that feeds it. Should it publish a paper by FSA researcher Kevin James which claims that - surprise, surprise - the gullible British public are being ripped off by their fund managers?

So far there's no world-beating example of an internet bank. Euromoney and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) decided to fill the gap in three easy stages. First, drafting the structure. Second, launching a virtual retail bank. Third, diversifying into all areas, to build a veritable Merrill Lynch of the ether. That's the theory. Here's what happened at stage one, as reported by David Shirreff.

A strange side-benefit of the Asia crisis: Hong Kong becomes less brash, and the service improves. "I've always preferred living in Hong Kong during a recession," says John Manser, the great taipan of Robert Fleming, from the comfort of his London office.

Many of Bangkok's drivers owned riches beyond their wildest dreams - and never even knew about it. Mercedes, houses and even whole companies were in the names of lowly drivers as nominees for their bosses. As Thai authorities now grapple with the black hole of debt which engulfed the country, recovering the massive loans - many made to friends or relatives - is not proving as easy as hoped.

Asset Management: Allianz wants other people's money