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If 145 simultaneous sell orders are booked, suspicions are bound to arise.

Was it the summit meeting that saved world financial markets from Armageddon? Or was it the night on which Wall Street's crony capitalists, backed by the taxpayer, looked after their own - John Meriwether at Long-Term Capital Management? Whatever the interpretation, fear was in the air, and there wasn't much time to philosophize. David Shirreff reports on five days that shook the world. That's followed by a study of over-leverage, by Michelle Celarier, and another sad tale at UBS, by David Shirreff.

The near-collapse of several hedge funds, including Long-Term Capital Management, was a symptom of increasingly reckless market practices, particularly in the handling of collateral. Perhaps the shock will send banks back to revise their repo agreements and to look less at mark to market, more at potential future exposure. By Michelle Celarier.

Citibank has had correspondent banking relations with Turkey since World War II. It had an interest in Turkey but not a substantial business until 1975 when a representative office was opened. After this, outstanding loans grew very rapidly until 1977 when Turkey defaulted on the so-called CTLDs (convertible Turkish lira deposits). Under this scheme Turkey had attracted foreign-currency deposits with high interest. In the following three years Citibank played a prominent role in rescheduling the CTLDs and, more important, together with a small group of international banks that included Banca Commerciale Italiana, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS, providing the trade finance that allowed Turkey to maintain international trade. These banks ended up intermediating virtually all of Turkey's trade.

Too many consultancies offering their services these days? No more niches to find? Not according to Rob Heyvaert, a 34-year-old financial entrepreneur from Belgium. Having already set up and run a software business, and having had a stint at IBM, he's now returned to running his own show. In April this year he started canvassing for capital, and partners, to help develop his new business, the Capital Markets Company, or CapCo.

When Meriwether invited Union Bank of Switzerland to eat a special dish with him at high table, it seemed too good to be true. It was. Why did a bunch of Swiss bankers rush in where the rest of Wall Street feared to tread? By David Shirreff.

Publicity-shy Investcorp has spent 16 years channelling Middle East wealth into property and corporate ventures in the US and Europe. Nemir Kirdar, the firm's head and founder, explains the Investcorp philosophy to Peter Lee.

Oyak Bank is unusual in two ways. It is one of the few banks in the world wholly owned by an army and it is the only Turkish bank run by an American. But that American, Mark Foley, considers himself to have gone more than a little native.

From his unassuming manner you would never guess that Alberto Albertini is one of the most influential figures in Italian finance. But when he decided to study economics at Milan's prestigious Bocconi university in 1974 he was embarking on a well-worn family path. His father had been a prominent stockbroker since the 1950s and in the early 1970s started the family business, now called Albertini & Compagnia, one of Italy's most well known and successful independent brokerages.

Yet more losses are rumoured at Warburg Dillon Read, this time in the bank's European closed-end fund sales department. The team tracks, researches and makes markets in closed-end funds, has 40 dedicated analysts and salespeople, and is the biggest player in the market.

Two decades and billions of dollars ago, Wall Street's most noble credit institution began to reinvent itself as a hybrid investment-cum-wholesale bank. For a while it seemed unstoppable. But this year JP Morgan stumbled - amid rumours of takeover. Parity with those bulge bracket firms still seems so near - and yet so far. Antony Currie reports.

Next year, the world economy will shrink. Only Europe will have moderate growth. Wealth destruction will produce a growth recession in the US. Japan will continue to emulate an economic black hole in the middle of a time warp. Emergent economies' growth will be negative.