Italian banks reckon they are boosting efficiency and say politicians must now help by reducing the tax burden.

Guillermo Ortiz looks thoroughly at home in his opulent offices at the Central Bank of Mexico. But, as he points out, in the early 1980s he was already ensconced in the Bank’s economic research bureau.

As merger and acquisition activity in the US banking sector slows and foreign heavyweights circle, major players are choosing to diversify their portfolio of interests. Michael Blanden reports.

Post-communist European countries have made strides in moving to a market-based economy, despite setbacks, but the transition remains patchy across the region.

Kalo Rao in Mumbai reports on the latest and most difficult phase of banking reform facing the Indian government.

Last year was a bumper one for the US banks. From the local and regional retail outfits to the international money centre groups, to the specialised investment banking and fee-earning businesses, circumstances conspired in their favour.

If Spain has waited 140 years to launch its first jumbo mortgage-backed bond it is not the fault of any mañana system. The cédula hipotecaria (CH) was introduced in the market in 1861 but, until this year, it remained an instrument exclusively for retail investors.

The recent wave of banking mergers will create some of the largest banks in the world. They also reveal a determination to compete at a world-class level.

The US banks are enjoying a period of calm and they are hoping it will last.