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Aside from the odd foray into the yen market, Fannie Mae has always been a devout US dollar issuer. But, since the start of 1997, something has changed. Of the 11 international bonds the US agency has issued this year, only three have been in its home currency. Does this signal a definite shift in Fannie Mae's borrowing strategy?

As the tobacco industry and the US government inched towards finalizing their historic $368.5 billion settlement on tobacco-related health claims, the news for the powerful industry was none too good. President Bill Clinton criticized the deal for undercutting the Food & Drug Administration's regulatory authority over tobacco. Joe Camel, the cartoon character that became a symbol of teenage nicotine addiction in the US, was relegated to marketing history by maker RJ Reynolds. And there was growing congressional criticism of the settlement's proposal to make the payments tax-deductible, which the White House said would rip a hole in the federal budget. Any deal must ultimately be approved by congress, and signed by the president, which is not expected until next year.

In an interview with Euromoney, Bundesbank vice-president Johann Wilhelm Gaddum outlined the Bundesbank's thoughts on maintaining influence after Emu and touches on the gold revaluation issue. Here are some of his main points:

It's tempting for investment banks to promote themselves as "one-stop shops", offering every kind of financial expertise, including lending. It may be good for their client relationships, but it probably doesn't earn them any money. By Laura Covill.

When the European Central Bank takes control of monetary policy, what's left for the mighty Bundesbank? And how mighty is it? Its scrap with Bonn over the revaluation of its assets suggests that the central bank tends to back down under pressure. Laura Covill reports.

Next time your lawyer puts the deal on hold, refrain from calling him uncommercial. By Christopher Stoakes.

Emerging market banks: Turbulent times

JP Morgan's Emu calculator is a good way to track real-time the likelihood that Emu will happen on schedule. Avinash Persaud explains how it works

How important to SBC Warburg is the bank's chief operating officer, the young and mysterious David Solo? Some insiders at the bank say it is the shy Solo who, at 32, is masterminding SBC Warburg's strategy to become the world's best investment bank.

The deal was so full of firsts that the borrower's name could not have been more appropriate. It was the first time the IFC had set up a US commercial paper programme for a client, the first private Thai company to tap that market and the first time IFC had syndicated a letter of credit. Capping that, the deal was the largest financing it had ever arranged for a financial institution, the World Bank's commercial arm trumpeted in March 1995.

When, in the autumn of 2002, president Chirac tried to renegotiate the Maastricht Treaty, the future of the euro began to look shaky. Then the big hedge funds moved in for the kill and monetary union had little chance of survival. David Lascelles writes the history book in advance.

"I hate fancy-dress parties," says Henry Strutt, the 43-year-old chairman and chief executive of Jardine Fleming. "But I'm made to go by my wife. When I get there I usually have a good time." He was most recently seen partying in a 1960s hippy outfit, complete with false beard and strapped-on padded stomach. Fellow partygoers thought he looked like Benny Hill, a British slapstick comedian.