Lone Star enters final talks on Novo Banco takeover; BCP heads to Chinese and Angolan control; CaixaBank takes BPI majority.

Rumours that hip hop musician will.i.am might be about to announce a tie-up with UK start-up Atom Bank raises the intriguing possibility that the man behind classics like Elephunk might be about to make board meetings even cooler than they presumably already are at the mobile-only bank.

Lloyd Blankfein may think that Goldman Sachs’ bankers have a monopoly on doing God’s work, but HSBC seems to be giving the US firm a run for its money.

Samuel Tsien, the CEO of Singapore’s OCBC Bank, was in the mood for love…

The Inter-American Development Bank’s decision to hold its annual meetings in Asuncion this year has been well received domestically as validation of Paraguay’s strong recent economic growth and free-trade policies.

The considerable wealth of Mike Smith, former ANZ CEO and long-time HSBC globetrotter, is a subject of some contention among Australian investors who feel he earned a ton of cash for eroding shareholder value during his time at the helm of the Australian bank.

EU’s me-too demand for non-regional bank holding companies could harm non-EU bank funding in the region.

International banks are showing divergent patterns on remuneration.

That business includes almost constant interaction with counterparts at the Bank of Israel, says Palestinian Monetary Authority deputy governor, Riyad Abu Shehadeh

The 30-year bull run in bonds is far from over.

Does this banker want to run rings around his clients?

Brokers and insurance agents can still ignore Gary Cohn and shake off their reputation as cowboys.

While the imagery around the Trump presidency looks awful, it may obscure some good intentions – but what stops us cheerleading these efforts is the worry where they spring from.

The new president of Brazil’s central bank has identified the large interest rate spread applied by banks on top of the base rate as an obstacle to economic growth. His plan to increase competition and reduce this ‘spread bancario’ is long overdue.

The country’s bankers are confident they can overcome any fall-out from their northern neighbour’s new regime. But falling consumer confidence is adding to pressure on the nation’s economy.

Five years of strong economic growth have seen Paraguay decouple from its larger, troubled neighbours. International investors have taken note. Finance minister Santiago Peña is not resting on his laurels – bond deals, PPP initiatives and pro-business policies are all in the pipeline.

Santander Brasil lost out to rivals Itaú and Bradesco as other foreign banks put their businesses on the block. It might not be a bad thing. The bank is the momentum story in a tough market. But just how far can it grow?

SoftBank’s $3.3 billion purchase of Fortress Investment Group could mark a shift into shadow banking that is as important as its much-hyped plan for a $100 billion technology fund.

A US federal appeals court ruling on February 21 effectively ended a legal attempt by a group of hedge funds to stop the government from collecting billions of dollars of profits made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in recent years.

As UniCredit goes from zero to hero, is Intesa taking the opposite route?

That is, if you are a foreign investor.

Since 1996, Turkey’s leading local investment bank has not only held its own against international competitors but maintained a dizzying pace of expansion. Now chairman and founder, Mahmut Unlu, is looking to transform the country’s private banking market.

Breaking the sovereign/bank nexus has been a priority for policymakers since the global financial crisis. The problem is particularly acute in Europe. One proposal, to end the preferential capital treatment for the sovereign exposures of banks, may presage a revolution in European capital markets. But getting Europe’s rival factions to agree on a policy is far from simple.

The political class is tainted with corruption. What a time to introduce some big reforms.

Local regulation will formalize wealth management industry; Argentine tax amnesty has provided another boost to AuM.

Expected to ‘de-couple’ from weakening macro; alternative valuation highlights growth potential.

Spectre of BTA comes back to haunt KKB; currency collapse adds to pressure on IBA.

Pilot projects to transact on distributed ledgers are starting to deliver lower costs, higher speeds and improved efficiency to bank customers. Blockchain may be the biggest shake up in market share the banking business has ever seen

While US regional banks are thriving, European banks of a similar size, in similar economies, are the focus of concern. If they want to survive in a rapidly changing eurozone, they might do well to take a look at provincial America.

Whisper it quietly, but a special relationship of sorts has grown between the monetary authorities of Israel and the Palestinian territories, between whom a needs-must spirit of cooperation, engagement and mutual respect exists. Euromoney lifts the lid on technocrats managing to do business amid the noise of politics.