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The IFC's Minati Misra is not prone to giving the dealers on her MTN programme an easy time. With a reputation as one of the market's most sophisticated borrowers, she is far from passive. Steven Irvine spent two days by her desk in Washington listening as she charmed and cajoled her intermediaries.

The near-collapse of Agrobanka, the Czech Republic's fifth-ranked bank, has highlighted the aggressive activities of investment companies such as Pavel Tykac's Motoinvest. Philip Eade reports on the elements of the crisis and the chances that lessons have been learnt from it

Why did Daiwa's European fixed-income new-issue wheel fall off in 1996? In a record year for new-issue volumes and secondary bond trading, Daiwa Europe has plummeted like a stone in the league tables finishing 19th, compared with seventh position in 1995. Had it not been for a World Bank issue late in the year targeted into Japan, Daiwa might even have finished behind Nikko Europe which would have been seen as a disaster at Daiwa's HQ. "There would have been bodies floating all over Tokyo Bay," comments a former Daiwa trader in London.

It's not often you get a morality tale in the bond markets. But when an obscure line of postal bonds grabbed the attention of traders in London, the conflict of interest that haunts all investment banks came horribly alive. One man decided that his bank's relationship mattered more than short-term gain, and he gave his traders' profits back. Was this the action of a saint, or just good business sense? Steven Irvine reports.

So it's goodbye to the name of Strauss Turnbull. The call to the knacker's yard from the uncompromising French bosses at Société Générale surprised no-one. Relationships between the two house had long been fraught. SocGen probably thought that Strauss Turnbull was a better firm than it proved to be. When the French found out that it had been sold a pup it was only a matter of time before the tumbrels were rolled out.

The House of Rothschild doesn't look as solid as it used to. In a world of supermarket banks, the days of the corner shop may be numbered ­ even if it has the best name in the business. But Rothschild is fighting the trends with a major reorganization. Brian Caplen analyzes the plan and looks at the vexed issue of succession

What will be the effect of European economic and monetary union (Emu) on the rest of the world? Will the euro be strong or weak? How will Emu affect world trade and global currency coordination? There are plenty of wild guesses. David Shirreff consults a handful of experts

A special report prepared by WoodCommerz

A special report prepared by the Capital Markets Centre of Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA

by David Roche

By BRIAN CAPLEN