Bank lending is being used as a direct and often blunt lever by which to manage Vietnam's economy, proving a critical first defence against the global economic slump. But the medium-term consequences of over-interference may be another bubble, warn analysts. Writer Michelle Price
Alex Ehrlich, the global head of prime brokerage at Morgan StanleyThe client-base, funding model and counter-party trust upon which the prime brokerage business grew so successful was badly damaged by the crisis. Almost 18 months on, however, the industry is regrouping. Writer Michelle Price
While Chinese banks continued to dominate The Banker's Asian ranking in terms of number and profits, Australia also put in a standout performance, recording the second highest Tier 1 capital despite only accounting for a small proportion of the region's banks. Writer Michelle Price
Having emerged from years of civil war, Sri Lanka is in a position to address its long-term economic development and infrastructural regeneration. The country's central bank governor discusses his monetary policy for 2010 and explains how it will work alongside the government's reform plans. Writer Michelle Price
Missing out: the Philippine Stock Exchange has lost major domestic listings to the Singapore ExchangeA move to fully integrate ASEAN capital markets by 2015 is proving a powerful driving force for pan-ASEAN economic integration. Writer Michelle Price
The financial crisis exposed the inadequacies of industry-wide cash management operations, making the case for intra-day cash management ever-more compelling. In this round table, a range of senior industry executives discuss the challenges of shifting to a new operational model. Writer Michelle Price
The Bank of Thailand's tenacious governor reflects on the central bank's staunch risk management reforms which saw the country's banking sector through the credit crisis in good shape, and looks ahead to the next challenge - of negotiating a macro-prudential economic policy across south-east Asia. Writer Michelle Price
Inconsistent reference data is an ongoing industry-wide problem that leads to time-consuming trade breaks and results in millions of dollars of unnecessary annual expenditure. The industry is considering creating a centralised reference data utility that would provide a global store of transaction information. In this Masterclass, John Mason, CEO of SmartStream's DClear Utilities, outlines the industry's efforts to address them. Writer Michelle Price
Larry Tabb, CEO of capital markets analyst firm Tabb GroupBATS Exchange's move into the US listings business in December signals growing competition in this space. But can high-tech upstart trading venues hope to make inroads into the high-touch listings business? Writer Michelle Price
Turkiye Garanti Bankasi's general manager for technology, Halil Husnu Erel, was instrumental in overseeing the bank's launch of the world's first online-only Western Union transfers system and is now driving the development of a contactless 'e-purse' card, which looks set to reaffirm Garanti's status as a leader in retail banking innovation.
The former prime minister of New Zealand and now chairman of New Zealand Post Group's fast-growing Kiwibank believes that the company offers a template for post groups around the world attempting to establish a banking brand. Writer Michelle Price
As customer dissatisfaction with the UK's existing high street banks intensifies, new entrants are sprouting - many of which are extensions of established retail brands, striving to create the winning formula using their innate consumer insight. Will these new operations pose a sustained threat to the existing ones? Writer Michelle Price
Banks' back offices were exposed by the recent crisis as inefficient, lacking in scalability and ripe for increased regulatory scrutiny. Policy-makers and regulators, meanwhile, began to call for the creation of centralised industry utilities, in a bid to reduce the systemic risk associated with the trading, processing and clearing of a variety of complex products.