This paper looks at the significance of Istanbul as host of the October Governors’ meeting of the World Bank Group. This meeting in part reflects Istanbul’s growing importance as a global financial node but also suggests a shifting balance of power towards emerging markets. Istanbul will be an occasion to consider the interdependence of global finance much in the way that December’s summit on climate change in Copenhagen will consider the issue of shared responsibility for environmental concerns. The message of the Istanbul meeting should be that is in their own interests for the more developed world to listen to those nations least capable of coping with the aftermath of recession.