Amid a severe economic downturn, Turkish banks are posting excellent results. Eva-Luise Schwarz asks how they’re managing it.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, once the hero of the 2005 ‘Tulip Revolution’ in Kyrgyzstan, won a second term in the disputed presidential election of the central Asian country in July.

Nils Melngailis was brought in by the Latvian government in December to try and rebuild Parex Bank, after it was nationalised in November. He epitomises the country’s stoic resolve to start again after the worst crisis in the country’s short history.
 

Lebanon has faced four years of violence, civil strife, assassinations and war. And yet its economy and banking sector grow stronger each year, reports Julian Evans from Beirut.

Foreign banks have pledged their faith in the economies of Southeastern Europe. However, lending is down and political pressure is growing on them to open their purses, writes Eva-Luise Schwarz.

While corporate and retail lending in Poland are declining, Polish banks are buoyed by the prospect of €68bn in EU funds over the next seven years, writes Liz Salecka.

For the second time in 12 years, Russian investment banks have gone from dizzying boom to disastrous bust. How will they fare in the post-crisis world, asks Geoffrey Smith.

Regulators are promising major reforms of the banking sector.  But have they been too soft once more, asks Julian Evans.

Anvar Saidenov certainly doesn’t dodge the tough jobs. For several years, he had the task of regulating Kazakhstan’s over-heating banking sector. Now, he’s been put in charge of sorting out the restructuring of the country’s biggest bank, BTA, which the government declared insolvent in February.

Azerbaijan’s banks have so far shown resilience in the face of the credit crunch, and are preparing for the recovery, says Philip de Leon.

If you can keep your capital adequacy ratios, when all around you are losing theirs, then you will be a successful CEE & CIS bank, and worthy of an emeafinance award.

If ever there’s a good time to remind ourselves that investment banks are not entirely evil, it is now. There is a risk that the understandable public anger at the volatility and personal losses from the financial crisis will lead to a demonisation of both bankers and international banking. But there are still very good reasons to celebrate banking.