How did Asia's foremost investment bank come to grief? Andre Lee - seen by many as the villain of the piece - speaks out for the first time. He tells Peter Lee about the internal tensions at Peregrine, the role of his fixed-income business, the firm's culture of credit management and the source of the rumours that broke the bank

When a top Malaysian bank revealed its losses in March, the country was stunned. The suicidal lending of Sime Bank undermined the government's claim that Asia's problems were not Malaysia's problems. The country was just as stunned when top financier Rashid Hussain stepped in to buy the troubled bank. Steven Irvine reports.

Ewa Wisniewska, the new president of Poland's largest bank, has her work cut out for her. On one side of the modern office tower in mid-town Warsaw where she works, there is a large sign that says "Bank Pekao SA"; on the other, the sign says "Grupa (Group) Pekao SA".

Charles Harman's arrival at his new job with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) in December was the latest step in a career that has seen him rise rapidly through the ranks of investment banks focusing on central Europe and Russia.