Muhammad Abdi has nine children, and the financial support he received from his sister abroad was crucial to the family. Since October 2001 he has not had any money because of the situation with al Ba...

Sign in the lobby of the head office of al Barakaat, Somalia's main bank. The company was engaged in a form of hawala money transfer, but its international operations were closed down in November 2001...

Government buildings designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The north (at right) and south (at left) Secretariat buildings house the Ministries of Finance and External Affairs respectively.

Government employees trim the bushes outside the building which once housed the Central Bank.

Woman signing for a loan as part of a micro-credit scheme run by a community self-help group.

Community micro credit union members counting loan money.

NGO FINCA gives loans to community groups to set up small businesses.

People chatting on the Kowloon waterfront at dusk, with Hong Kong island across the harbour, including Two International Finance Centre (415m), the city's tallest skyscraper, completed in 2003 on recl...

View over Hong Kong Harbour to Kowloon from the Peak, showing Two International Finance Centre (415m), the city's tallest skyscraper, completed in 2003 on reclaimed land.

People chatting on the Kowloon waterfront at dusk, with Hong Kong island across the harbour, including Two International Finance Centre (415m), the city's tallest skyscraper, completed in 2003 on recl...

Republic Bank building in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Citibank branch. The company recently became a minority shareholder in the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

Armed guards on patrol in front of the Bank of Baghdad. Banks in Iraq are providing basic services again but a modern banking system has yet to be established.