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The ranking of top 200 banks in emerging markets was compiled in conjunction with Fitch IBCA. All information was supplied by Fitch IBCA from commercial banks' annual reports and financial statements. Where possible, figures are presented in consolidated form and banks owned by other financial institutions are not listed separately.

Something strange is happening in the Taiwanese banking sector. Despite the ministry of finance having stated its aim of allowing banks a universal remit, it is now planning to issue industrial banking licences. As Rachel Wu, banking analyst at Warburg Dillon Read in Taipei points out: "Industrial banks create another niche within the financial sector." Acting as an industrial bank in Taiwan entitles the licence holder to arrange a variety of funding instruments for corporates including commercial paper and to undertake venture capital projects. To date, only state-run Chiao Tung Bank has such a license.

According to Moody's Investors Service, there were 82 downgrades of US corporate credit ratings in the second quarter of 1998, the most for any three-month span since 1991 when the US economy was deep in recession. For the first time in nine quarters, the number of downgrades outstripped the number of upgrades (79 ratings were upgraded from April to June 1998).

Too many people believe that the Asian crisis is over. It has only just started. Investors are encouraged by the reforms that Asian governments have said they will implement. The World Bank, IMF and US government - if those last two can still be considered separately - have added to the euphoria by praising the governments for the swiftness in capitulating to their demands. And the markets have responded. Capital gains on some Asian benchmarks were 18% in the first quarter.

"Show me the money." The catchphrase that lit up Jerry Maguire, the Oscar-winning film about a sports' agent played by Tom Cruise, could soon have added resonance in financial markets.

The love affair between increasingly yield-hungry European investors and corporate borrowers is becoming ever more passionate. Their sweet nothings include high yield bonds, convertibles, exchangeables and dealer remarketable securities. Rebecca Bream checks out some of the hottest dates in the market.

Pensions are the greatest pyramid scheme ever, argues Arnab Banerji. As Europe turns from unfunded to funded schemes it will need the higher returns that only emerging markets can provide.

A troubled government that swaps domestic debt for foreign currency-denominated debt would seem to be inviting catastrophe - isn't that what dumped Asia in the mire? But Russia has done exactly that. Alex Jurshevski argues that this and other measures are just what Russia needs.

InterSec 250: The changing face of asset management

InterSec 250: The changing face of asset management

The news of an alliance between the sleepy London Stock Exchange and the Deutsche Börse, its biggest European rival, surprised the market. Eventually the partners hope to bring in other bourses. That pleased the Dutch but the French felt slighted - they'd been courting the Germans too. The devil will be in the detail: the Germans let slip that they thought their settlement system would win out, much to the chagrin of London's CrestCo and the LSE's derivatives counterpart Liffe. So will it be London-on-the-Main or Frankfurt an der Themse? Antony Currie reports.

So far, Australia has emerged from the Asia crisis remarkably unscathed. In fact, it seems like just the right sort of stable market for European investors seeking diversification. Australian borrowers are responding by getting on the euro issuance bandwagon. Albert Smith reports.