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Despite measures by some governments to curb expenditure, withdeflationary effects on economic growth, the health of Arab banks remains good.Banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, continue to dominate the top 100 rankings. Martin Gallagher and Andrew Ioannou analyze the latest results.

Managing director and head of fixed-income trading and sales, West Merchant Bank Limited

Edson Mitchell's bold attempt to turn Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (DMG) into a world-beating bond house has made headlines in the past year. He has employed about 500 new staff -­ including many from his old firm, Merrill Lynch -­ in little more than 12 months. But until now Mitchell has shied away from talking publicly about his plans. Here, for the first time, he reveals what his aims are -­ and how he's going about achieving them. Mitchell spoke to Garry Evans

The Euromoney country risk assessment uses nine categories that fall into three broad groups: analytical indicators, credit indicators and market indicators. The weighted scores are calculated as follows: the highest score in each category receives the full mark for the weighting; the lowest receives zero. In between, figures are calculated according to the formula: Final score = weighting/(maximum score minimumscore) x (score minimum score). The country risk ranking shows only the final scores after weighting.

Brazil's finances are being taken in hand. But fiscal reform depends on constitutional changes, and so far president Cardoso hasn't fulfilled any of his promises. The team implementing the Real Plan for recovery believes some measures can be taken without a battle in congress, but these ideas are still on paper. Although inflation is down, external investment is up and privatization has sped up, the markets will give Brazil only so long. Danielle Robinson reports

Robert Rubin, secretary of the US treasury, has faced tough situations and made tough decisions. In a remarkably short time, he dealt with the Mexico crisis and put the dollar back on course, demonstrating a rare grasp of both domestic politics and global markets. By Katharine Morton

The new dawn in South Africa is not an unmixed blessing for its banks. They now have to face foreign competitors muscling in on a sector they previously monopolized. But with their strong networks and increasing overseas resources, local banks are finding that alliances with foreign institutions can be mutually beneficial. Bruce Cameron reports

Stock exchanges all over Europe are junking floor trading for electronic trading. Power is being handed to the intermediaries, while bourses battle over price, efficiency and liquidity. Laura Covill considers which exchanges are likely to survive beyond 2000

Komarovsky falls helplessly into a sinister web of deadly intrigue and in-flight food

Salle d'Attentes Deuxième Classe, Gare de Trou-sous-Mer, Pas de Calais ou d'Argent, France

Bank buildings were once designed to convey solidity and reliability. Then they went through a phase of gigantism. Now the emphasis is on user-friendliness and functionality. But there are still hints here and there of folies de grandeur. Stephanie Cooke reports