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On Friday November 21, when the board of Yamaichi Securities met to discuss downsizing the firm, president Shohei Nozawa stunned board members by proposing instead that it should wind itself up. Andrew Horvat reports on the events leading to the collapse of one of Japan's big four securities houses.

For years, bankers have been waiting for the bargain basement pricing in the syndicated loan market to bottom. Now, thanks to the Asian financial crisis and, particularly, the troubles facing Japan's banks, it may finally have happened. The funding premium Japanese banks are paying in the market has widened spreads - and in some cases is forcing deals to be pulled altogether.

Few bankers would include the fact that they were once a scout on their CV, "as a joke". But Peter Luthy is not, perhaps, an ordinary banker. A fit-looking and apparently easy-going 46, he gives off a convincing sense of having squeezed the most out of life. He spent two years in his early 20s working as an idealistic carpenter in New Jersey and another two in his late 30s as a wealthy non-worker, travelling the world with his milliner wife Candace and skiing wherever the opportunity arose - 100 days a year.

A native of Calicut, India, Arjun Mathrani was one of a cadre of foreign-born bankers groomed for leadership at what was historically the most international of US financial institutions: Chase Manhattan Bank. But now Mathrani has become one of the last of such senior executives to leave at a time when the bank seems less internationally focussed.

Days before South African president Nelson Mandela lambasted "apartheid patterns of ownership" in a five hour speech to December's ANC congress, the final nails went into the coffin of South Africa's showpiece black empowerment deal.

And then there were three

Investment bankers' pay has been pushed through the roof as European firms seek to compete with Wall Street. But now banks are squeezing costs as they see their growth prospects fade. For all but the very best employees, the days of sky-high salaries may soon be over. So don't spend that seven-figure bonus all at once - it may be the last for some time. By Suzanne Miller.

Riccardo dei Conti Pavoncelli is the younger son of an Italian count. He plays polo, sits at London's finest dinner tables and is married to the daughter of controversial socialite Claus von Bulow. In short, he is an obvious target for gossip columnists.

Issuer: PT Makindo

Global Economic Projections: Overall Rankings

Country Risk December 1997: It could be worse

Ten months good, two months bad...