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When one of Scandinavia's major international companies wants to launch a bond or share issue it turns to a global player like Morgan Stanley - not to a local bank. Most Nordic banks concentrate on smaller companies and retail banking. But their ambitions are growing, and with privatization gathering pace and a single European capital market looming, the region's banking sector is consolidating rapidly. Robert Minto reports on the race to become Scandinavia's first truly regional bank.

The Kalff interview

Nordic borrowers are inconsistent users of capital markets and when they do use them tend to concentrate on price above all else. With the advent of Emu likely to shift investors' attentions towards credit quality and away from currency arbitrage, this short-term approach to the market could hurt Nordic government and corporate issuers. Jules Stewart reports.

With Japan's financial deregulation gathering pace - and foreign players emerging as the clear winners - Japanese institutions have been slow to formulate defence strategies. Some see their salvation in growth areas such as investment banking and asset management. But as Jack Lowenstein reports, their real future may lie in linking up with outsiders. And foreign acquisition of Japanese firms may not be far off.

When high-flying Hong Kong investment bank Peregrine decided to set up a joint venture in South Korea six years ago, its partner must have seemed an excellent choice. A medium-sized conglomerate, the Dongbang group was a reasonably well focused business, the leading maker of cooking oil, a producer of food materials and owner of a restaurant chain. Inexperienced in investment banking, it was not likely to interfere in the day-to-day running of the business.

Take a trip to Moscow and you might come away with the impression that AKA Bank is one of Russia's largest financial institutions. A huge advert for the bank bears down in passport control outside Sheremetyevo airport and also appears on the back of cloakroom tags at the Bolshoi theatre, accompanied by the slogan "the customer is king at our bank" - a concept new to anyone accustomed to the Byzantine ways of Russian banks.

Commerzbank used to be content pushing along as Germany's number-three bank. As local rivals merge and grow, this bank is too proud to downsize. In equities at least, it wants to be a global player. Laura Covill reports.

Market-watchers may detect just a hint of arrogance when a country not yet six months out of civil war starts eyeing the markets. Even more so when the country's new leaders have consistently directed their vitriol at powerful governments and organizations such as the US, the UN, the IMF and the World Bank. But Laurent Kabila, president of the new Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been dropping some heavy hints of late.

Slovenia is the wealthiest country to have emerged from communist rule, but is it losing its way? Exports are flagging, industry is becoming politicized and the stock market is shaky. Even the country's successful banking reforms have ground to a halt. Gavin Gray reports on the dangers ahead.

ABN Amro is not one house but many. Its interests across the globe include auto leases in Brazil and Japan's biggest foreign bank. But it has achieved this position in seven years without making either headline-grabbing mergers or hiring high-flyers. Instead, its universal banking business is a patchwork of different names. Through all the expansion, the bank's culture remains distinctly Dutch and every decision is pondered by its eight-man executive board. Chairman Jan Kalff is the man who holds it all together.

MeesPierson never sat happily within ABN Amro, and nobody was surprised when the venerable Dutch merchant bank was put up for sale last year. Now new owner Fortis faces the challenge of accommodating the bank - and motivating its restless managers before the current trickle of departures turns into a flood. Antony Currie reports.

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