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The recent turbulence at the heart of Pakistan’s political machine raised significant but nuanced questions for Mian Mansha. The two individuals publicly responsible for ousting Pervez Musharraf as president – former premier Nawaz Sharif, and Asif Ali Zardari, the current president and widower of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto – are also prominent members of the country’s rich list. Zardari, second in the rankings, is worth an estimated $1.8 billion, while Sharif, ousted as premier in 1999 by Musharraf, is worth $1.4 billion (but possibly as much as five times that tally), largely thanks to his shareholding in the Lahore-based Ittefaq Group, founded by Sharif’s father, Muhammad.

The US government warned that failure to pass the Paulson plan into law would lead to disaster. In the worst-case outcome, that could mean wholesale nationalization of the finance industry. With Frannie and AIG, and a banking system that fails without dramatic Fed intervention, the Bush administration has already made a start. Peter Lee looks at alternative strategies that might prove sharper than Tarp.

The US economy is far more resilient than some commentators think. The present crisis also creates an opportunity for the Treasury to help itself and many pension funds.

Greek banks’ share prices plummeted in 2008 – even before Lehman collapsed. Despite this, as well as higher inflation, slower economic growth and more taxes, they have ploughed on with ambitious regional expansion plans. Can Greek banks defy the global financial crisis? Dominic O’Neill reports from Athens.

Short of a radical restructuring of the banking sector, the US government bailout will prompt a market rally. However the longer-term effects will be deleterious.

Freddie Mac is seeking to reassure holders of its debt that the preferred stock purchase agreement announced by US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson will protect them, "regardless of who wins the elections".

Deutsche Bank is taking a 40% strategic stake in Russian fund manager UFG Invest, one of the top 10 players in the Russian asset management industry. Under the terms of the agreement between the two firms, Deutsche will have the option to increase its holding to 100%. Deutsche’s existing fund business, DWS Investments, will be combined with UFG Invest and the new entity will be branded Deutsche UFG Capital Management. "[This] transaction further strengthens our role in Russia," says Igor Lojevsky, chief executive of Deutsche Bank Russia.

Dubai Islamic Bank has appointed a new chief executive. Abdulla Al Hamli moves to the position from his role as chief of operations and information technology at the bank. Al Hamli has worked at DIB for nine years. For more than 10 years before that, he was director of information systems at the Dubai Ports Authority and Jebel Ali Free Zone.The previous chief executive, Saad Abdul Razak, left in late 2007 to join the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

It might have been the most turbulent month in memory for global stock markets but equity capital raisings did not grind to a halt. In fact, September has seen a spate of equity raisings from banks despite, or rather because of, the fact that they are at the centre of the market’s turbulence.

Bans on short sales, of naked shorting, and variations thereof were the order of the day in the second half of September as countries around the world attempted to stop stock markets falling.

Onexim Group, one of Russia’s largest private investment funds, with more than $25 billion in assets, has entered into a strategic agreement whereby it will acquire a 50% interest in Renaissance Capital, the market-leading investment bank in Russia, the CIS and Africa. Commenting on the transaction, Stephen Jennings, Renaissance Group chief executive, says: "The partnership with Onexim creates a financial powerhouse with the resources, skills and ambition to be the clear leader in all its markets."

As the region’s stock markets tumble and the international bond market shows no sign of opening, Latin American companies in need of cash are turning to plan B. "The loan market is still open in Brazil. There is also securitization. At the moment there is a plan B beyond the international bond market that will work for many Latin companies, especially for those in Brazil," Dan Vallimarescu, head of debt capital markets at Santander, told Euromoney just days after Lehman Brothers’ collapse. "Several issuers are getting a bank deal done quietly," says Chris Gilfond, joint head of Latin American debt at Citi. "People are also staying local and/or regional. For example, in Mexico and Peru the local debt capital markets business has been doing very well."