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by David Roche

In the long term there will probably be room in the Danish banking market only for Den Danske Bank and Unibank. But before then they will have to adjust to the EU's single-currency system, which Denmark is unlikely to join at the outset, and to competition from consolidated banks in neighbouring states. Jules Stewart reports on their prospects

Robert Mohamed; Robert Gray; Joan Beck;

Olivetti strongman Carlo De Benedetti is clinging to power at the company he has dominated for 17 years. Stripped of all executive titles and controlling only a 15% stake, he remains very much in charge. UK and American fund managers who thought the Italian corporate was a turnround stock with new go-ahead management have been rudely shocked. The share price has halved as bad news has heaped up. They now realize that De Benedetti doesn't care how low the stock goes as long as he wins the fight against them. As they slug it out, foreign investment in Italy suffers. Peter Lee reports

Union Bank of Switzerland and Deutsche Bank are focusing on cracking the US market in their plans to become truly global investment banks. With a stable of expensive Wall Street talent on board, their willingness to commit time and money to establishing a US presence is already starting to pay off. Michelle Celarier reports

Foreigners love the Turkish stock market because it behaves like none other on earth ­ driven by forces only a few can understand, involving politics, hidden assets and the so-called "chatterers". It's been referred to as one big inside trade. But there are serious attempts to clean it up. And Global Securities, the market leader, is under pressure to change its act. David Shirreff reports

Gazprom overcomes investors' doubts

Hillboot Strictly Private Banking, Moorgate, London EC2 (Representative offices in Grand Cayman, Lugano, St Petersburg, Vatican City)

Offsite and off the pointJean-Claude Komarovsky attends Black Knight's first offsite, and finds that generating ideas is a tough business

The first interest rate cut in five years has helped to boost the Chinese bond market, which is being reformed and currently enjoying a good run. But there are still problems. The market is relatively new and lacks experienced traders. More worryingly, the government closed down the futures market after Wanguo Securities crashed because of a bad speculation. Although China is keen to have foreign investors in the market, it says this won't happen until the reforms are completed ­ which it estimates will take several years. Sophie Röell reports

The international houses can no longer claim to have a monopoly ofinvestment banking in emerging markets. But if you do decide to go native, whichinstitutions can you trust? We asked those in the know who they like to deal withwhen a foreign bank just won't do. James Gordon-MacIntosh reports