Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
Do you remember the 2007-2008 financial crisis? Its daunting impact on the world economy is finally fading away and the US Federal Reserve Board is slowly moving to a less expansionary monetary policy, but the debate on its causes and, more important, on what is needed to prevent similar episodes from happening again is still very much alive.
Indeed, there are those who think that the IP wars will continue to have no clear resolution or winners. The only real beneficiaries: lawyers. But commentators such as Bruce Berman argue that unless and until we can quickly sort out the real issues in the IP imbroglio, almost everyone –even the patent trolls – will lose out.
The fight has just begun, as newly enacted Fed rules start to cramp long-accepted operating styles of global banks. The banks are weighing what to do about it—as are global policymakers.
When, on March 18, longtime Canadian Finance minister Jim Flaherty unexpectedly announced his resignation, few were perhaps more surprised than his soon-to-be successor, Joe Oliver, the 73-year-old minister of Natural Resources.
Brazilian Finance minister Guido Mantega may be dealing with both internal and external headwinds, but he—and Brazil—are still standing.
Weird weather presents major problems for supply chains, and 77% of companies believe climate change has the potential to significantly affect their revenue.
NEWSMAKERS By Valentina Pasquali Headed by 39-year-old prime minister Matteo Renzi, Italy’s new government is the youngest in the country’s history. But at the helm of the ministry of Finance is an official with a lot of stripes—the former chief ...
Multinational corporations lobbied hard for preferential agreements under proposed Asian and European trade pacts. But the result may be more than they bargained for.
MILESTONES By Luca Ventura The oldest multinational in the world is about to get a substantial makeover. The news came on February 24th, when its CEO, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, also known as pope Francis, issued a Motu Proprio, ...
THE BIG, THE BAD AND THE SAFEST By Hilary Johnson At Global Finance ’s monthly Salon, Richard Bove, bank analyst at Rafferty Capital and author of the book, Guardians of Prosperity: Why America Needs Big Banks , spoke about overregulation ...
Corporate tax evasion is like the weather: Everyone complains about it, but what is being done and what does it mean for corporations?
UniCredit Holding, Milan The write-offs taken in early March by UniCredit may fall well short of what Italy’s largest bank needs to do to satisfy the European Central Bank before it takes over supervision of UniCredit and other EU members’ ...
Given the spate of recent fines by UK and US regulators against banks for failure to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, it’s worth exploring the question of why the banks keep coming up short. The most recent headline was the ...
NEWSMAKERS By Forrest Jones Alberto Arenas returns to government as Finance minister with some big plans for a country looking to enact education, labor and other reforms. A budget director during Chilean president Michelle Bachelet’s first term in office from ...
MILESTONES By Ronald Fink Fiat-Chrysler’s move from Italy to London, and the plans of other multinationals to relocate to the United Kingdom, cements the UK’s newfound international tax status. The car manufacturer’s recent decision to shift its tax domicile from ...
PROPRIETARY TRADING By Michael Shari Corporate clients of investment banks around the world could see a dramatic impact from the Volcker Rule, Basel III and other new rules against bank proprietary trading. Like his counterparts at many large and small ...
MILESTONES By Forrest Jones Few things polarize policymakers like free-trade agreements, especially the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) linking the United States, Canada and Mexico. Critics of the agreement feared it meant jobs and industries would relocate to underdeveloped ...
Tax officials perplexed by Google (Photo: CoolCaesar) If 2013 was the year public opinion turned solidly against the tax avoidance strategies of large technology companies, 2014 promises to be the year lawmakers actually address the schemes. In late December, Italy ...
Bernanke: The Visible Hand For Ben Bernanke, a rocky eight-year tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board is ending on a good note. The U.S. economy, teetering on the brink in the wake of the financial crisis that erupted ...
Ryanair: Attitude Adjustment When EasyJet in November reported a pre-tax profit of £478 million (US$785 million) for fiscal 2013—a 51% jump from the previous year—it caused a considerable flap with the shareholders of rival budget airline Ryanair. The stockholders’ vexation ...