In a momentous year for the industry, the top tier of trade finance banks remained remarkably stable in this year’s Trade Finance Survey. Supply chain disruption will continue to bedevil the sector and liquidity provision together with digital innovation will place sizeable demands on trade finance banks in 2022.

Despite stock volatility rising from recent lows, and the interest rate picture changing as central banks tackle inflation, convertible bond issuance in 2022 has been very slow. What needs to happen for that to change?

Egypt’s supportive regulation, together with the impact of Covid, saw cashless payments in the country grow by more than 230% last year. Now fintechs, banks and state-owned platforms all want a piece of the action.

Rate rises, combined with the soaring price of oil, mean that Saudi banks enjoy unprecedented liquidity. This will accelerate the change already under way in the sector.

Shinhan’s landmark anniversary comes as its chairman tries to navigate an unpredictable global environment, the threat of big technology in Korea and the opportunities of expansion in Vietnam.

South Korea’s KakaoBank is unusual among Asian pure-play digital banks, in that it is not only growing fast but is also profitable. Having harvested the low-hanging fruit of wallet balances, it is now building higher-fee products. And last year’s listing showed just how much belief there is in the story.

The war in Ukraine has further highlighted the benefits of Banco Santander’s diversification across Europe and the Americas, according to executive chairman Ana Botín. However, its European home market may be a big disadvantage in Citi’s looming auction of Mexican lender Banamex.

Park Jung-ho is a key executive in three arms of the SK chaebol, Korea’s third-largest. In more than 30 years he has developed a reputation as a dealmaker, whose key transactions – buying Hynix, Toshiba’s memory business and a major division of Intel – are seen as corporate landmarks. He explains his approach to Euromoney in Seoul.

As Covid fatalities rise fast, senior bankers are fleeing a city that, despite today's relaxation of some rules, is increasingly cut off from the world. Will Hong Kong ever be the same again?