Indonesia’s young finance minister has made some key decisions since her appointment, winning many friends abroad. Some tough challenges lie ahead; to meet them, Mulyani will need to win more friends at home. Chris Leahy reports.

Riad Salamé faces yet another test of his skills following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hizbullah. He has dealt with previous challenges with flying colours. There’s little to suggest it will be different this time. Sudip Roy reports.

Delegates are warmly welcomed while protesters' placards are policed.

Its capital markets are a hive of activity – with record levels of IPO activity, decreasing funding costs and a first hostile takeover attempt. But many of the most active companies say that the queen bee of government is too strict: tax and infrastructure problems are preventing the country from reaching full potential. Lawrence White went to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to investigate.

If things go according to plan, next January there could be a fundamental change to the rules under which more than 50% of Europe’s invested real estate is financed. Louise Bowman reports.

In less than two years the Philippines has transformed its sovereign debt programme from laggard to leader in emerging markets. The work of the republic’s treasurer, Omar Cruz, lies behind much of the change. Euromoney talks to the Philippines’ market man about the changes and the challenges ahead.

Ebrahim Sheibany is governor of Iran’s central bank, a position he has held for three years. He tells Eric Ellis in Tehran that as far as economic policy is concerned, little has changed, despite the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.

Hungary’s OTP Bank dominates its domestic market, but can it compete with regional powerhouses such as Raiffeisen International and UniCredit, or is it in danger of being swallowed up itself? Kathryn Wells meets OTP’s long-serving chief executive, Sandor Csanyi, to find out.

Árni Mathiesen, Iceland’s finance minister, speaks to Laurence Neville about this year’s economic troubles and the economy’s prospects.

CDS trading volumes in Latin America are growing fast as credit derivatives become an increasingly important investment tool. Leticia Lozano reports on the impact on the region’s capital markets.

It offers double-digit yields, is not correlated with the equity market and provides secure, long-term returns. Allocations of investment capital to real estate have therefore ballooned – and look set to keep on growing. Louise Bowman reports.

After EU accession in 2004, the next target for central Europe’s governments is the euro. In the scramble to comply with the Maastricht criteria, have they started to borrow techniques, invented by their western European counterparts, for massaging the numbers? Kathryn Wells reports, with research by Pauline Thomas.

The recent explosive growth in European CMBS is the fruit of years of investment in the product by many banks. But do these institutions now find their hands tied by the need to feed the machine that they have created? Louise Bowman reports.

In an investment banking world dominated by US bulge-bracket operations, UBS has muscled its way into the global league. Success has come despite its singular provenance, say critics, and, argues CEO Peter Wuffli, because of it. The Swiss bank’s head explains this reasoning to Chris Leahy and discusses developments on banking’s latest battlefront.

Increasingly sophisticated Russian retail investors are seeking new products to beat interest rate returns. Patrick Gill reports.

French bank BNP Paribas is being sued in the US federal courts by a hedge fund over the financing of contracts for oil from Congo-Brazzaville. Rather than settling out of court, BNP says it will fight the lawsuit all the way. Felix Salmon reports on a grey area of black gold.

Foreign investors have made fortunes investing in Russia. But now they are looking to go deeper, and are packing their bags to discover Russia’s regions. Julian Evans reports from three of Russia’s developing regions.

Foreign banks are pushing the sector forward even as the rewards come in. The capital market is also showing signs of life but would benefit from more determined decision-making. Florian Neuhof reports.

Oji Paper’s bid for rival Hokuetsu breaches a Japanese taboo on hostile takeovers. It has also prompted some extraordinary, perhaps illogical, defence tactics. Is this the shape of things to come in Japanese M&A? Chris Wright reports.

The Republic of Indonesia’s successful $2 billion issue this March has given an impetus to the revival of the country’s corporate bond issuance. Nick Parsons reports.

Iceland’s financial supervisory authority, the FME, has kept a close eye on the health of Iceland’s big three banks, says Jonas Fridrik Jónsson, director general.

When Fitch put Iceland on a negative rating outlook in February the country was facing a heavy current account deficit as well as an asset price and credit bubble. But the banks and politicians think that it was all a misunderstanding. Laurence Neville reports.

Lebanon’s finance minister, Jihad Azour, told Sudip Roy in early August how his country is coping with conflict.

For many years the accepted wisdom in global banking has been that bigger is better. The full-service banks dismiss smaller competitors, saying that to succeed in modern finance you need to offer all things to all clients. And yet a number of European banks continue to demonstrate success in their chosen specialist fields. Peter Koh profiles the financial institutions that prove you don’t have to be everywhere and everything in the world to be a world-class operation.

The country’s newly revitalized banking system throws up colourful characters and eccentric approaches to marketing. But overseeing it all is a rigorous central banker with solid US commercial banking experience. Eric Ellis reports.

Israel’s conflict with Hizbullah began just as Lebanon was finding its feet again following the assassination last year of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The government was in the middle of a series of reforms that it hoped would provide the capital markets with a bigger role in the country’s economic story. Those reforms are now on hold but it is imperative that they are implemented as soon as circumstances allow. Sudip Roy reports from Beirut.

Richard Lark, CFO of low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, exemplifies the increasing sophistication that ex-bankers are bringing to Brazilian corporate finance. He is a qualified pilot, was formerly a vice-president at Morgan Stanley and is a borrower whose company’s stock value has doubled since its IPO. Lawrence White spoke to him in São Paulo.

“The events of February and March can be blamed in part on the relative lack of knowledge about the Icelandic economy and its peculiarities, which was reflected in some reports,” says prime minister Geir Haarde.

Iran’s authorities are looking to invigorate the country’s private sector with plans to sell up to $110 billion-worth of state assets over the next 10 years. Can the programme attract the foreign investors it needs to succeed? And can Iran’s government learn from past mistakes? Euromoney reports.

With a successful Eurobond behind it, the republic is beginning to fulfil its promise as a strategic part of the Balkans. Oonagh Leighton reports.