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It's all in the price

Touted as the world's first Federal Reserve Board-approved internet bank, Security First Network Bank (SFNB) was one of 1996's hottest internet IPOs. The $48.8 million deal, sole-managed by Friedman Billings Ramsey, a Virginia-based investment-banking boutique, was priced at $20 a share. Some early investors may have done well, as the share price more than doubled to $45 soon after launch. But the virtual bank, which had garnered only about $55 million in deposits by the end of 1997, was just a little too far ahead of its time. The Atlanta-based company focused on developing its widely acclaimed software, and didn't have anything left over to build the bank. Losses for 1996 and 1997 totalled $50 million, $3 million more than SFNB had raised during the public offering. The stock sank into the single digits last year.

Strapped for the cash to build international-style hotels, the Ukraine government is sprucing up its Soviet-era buildings and housing EBRD delegates on boats instead. But the real difficulty will be creating a service culture in time for the conference. Suzanne Miller reports

He has been brought back to save Malaysia, just as he did in the mid-1980s when he dragged the country out of recession. Can he do it again? Tun Daim Zainuddin spoke to Steven Irvine about transparency, empty monorails and the problems with Malaysia's financial system.

Peregrine's last days, by Andre Lee

Were you doing anything different from other salesmen at international firms?

Peregrine's last days, by Andre Lee

Peregrine's last days, by Andre Lee

Telstra fuels an equity boom

The secrecy of the negotiations and the price paid stunned the City into awed silence. Merrill Lynch's takeover was certainly a good deal for Mercury Asset Management's shareholders. But was Merrill so taken with the brand name that it underestimated the fund manager's problems? Mercury has little room for growth at home and has never had much success expanding abroad. Mercury wants to keep some independence, but how long before it gets Merrillized? Antony Currie reports.

A corruption scandal at the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has provided an excuse to install a new team, and to pave the way for a more truly independent central bank. But will it all work out? The institution's image has suffered from the realization that commercial banks have been lavishing entertainment on all-powerful and seemingly unaccountable officials as a way of resolving business issues. An even bigger question mark hangs over the bank's independence from political interference in its interest-rate policy.

When the Czech Republic privatized its communist-era industry in the early 1990s it made a serious mistake. It left the banks in state hands. Selling the banks is more difficult now. Their stock has fallen; their loan books are weak; and political opposition to the sell-off is strong. Nigel Dudley reports