Regulars | Global Finance

The Japanese yen will stay a safe-haven currency in 2012, while the dollar will be more attractive than the euro.

Depositary receipt investors pushed trading to a record high last year despite challenging market conditions.

Ford Motor Credit and General Electric were first out of the gate with big new corporate bond issues in January.

State-owned hydroelectric company China Three Gorges bought a 21% stake in EDP, Portugal's largest utility.

Qatar and the UAE will have to wait six months before being considered for an upgrade to emerging markets status.

Demonstrators peacefully took to the streets to protest widespread fraud in the December 4 parliamentary elections.

Global Biofuels, a Nigerian biofuels producer, will build 15 biofuel refineries at an investment of $2.55 billion.

China threatens tariffs on imported US-made products, charging below-market prices from US autoparts makers.

The Indian government is bolstering US$ inflows after the rupee fell by 13% during the last three months of 2011.

Brazil's government will spend $500 million this year recapitalizing two state-controlled banks to boost lending.

The BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—now contribute more than half of the world's economic growth, while the broader emerging markets provide more than 70% of current global growth.

BNY Mellon set up unsponsored American depositary receipt (ADR) programs for two Thailand-based companies in December, Thai Airways International, the national carrier of Thailand, and BEC World, a television broadcasting and media group.

Yandex, the leading Internet search engine in Russia, with a 63% market share, purchased SPB Software last November to increase its mobile services.

The Federal Reserve has found a new way to communicate its intentions to the markets. It will publish forecasts for the federal funds rate, the key short-term interest rate under its direct control.

While attention in December was mostly focused on the evolving political environment in Russia, a major economic milestone was achieved on December 16, when the World Trade Organization formally accepted the country as a member.

As if a weakening currency, surging public debt and three downgrades to junk bond status since November weren't enough to dissuade investors from sinking money into Hungary, they now have to deal with a prime minister intent on undermining the independence of the central bank's monetary policy.

The government of Nigeria took a calculated political risk when it removed gasoline subsidies on January 1.

In the midst of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, a scandal hit the beleaguered continent's financial system in January.

Ready or not, as minister of economic development, infrastructure and transport for the newly-formed government of prime minister Mario Monti, Italian banker-turned-bureaucrat Corrado Passera will be honing his political skills this year.