Gordon Platt

As we wave goodbye to 2020, Global Finance presents the most popular stories from throughout the year. 

Ricardo Cuesta Delgado, Produbanco CEO, talks about how the bank is protecting Ecuador’s Amazonian populations during the pandemic and extending its digital services to benefit all of its customers.

Companies and banks that responded with exceptional programs and initiatives.

For entities that have made exceptional efforts  to support their communities general well-being.

The pandemic may have closed stores and movie theatres but not the IPO market.

The semiconductor industry is undergoing serious consolidation.

The strong euro will dampen import prices, weighing on inflation, and will be a headwind for EU exporters. 

 The long-awaited consolidation of banks in Europe’s fragmented banking market has finally begun.

Data-warehousing cloud platform Snowflake jumped 112% in its spectacular first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Our 26th annual report grading the world’s central bankers considers their responses to the high-stress conditions wrought by the pandemic. 

Jason Rekate, global head of corporate banking, talks about how Citi is helping clients navigate the pandemic, and how it is uniquely positioned to enable them to strengthen supply chains and take advantage of the coming recovery.

Global Finance presents its 27th annual listing of the best banks globally, regionally and in more than 150 countries. This year’s winners are hoping their investment in new technology helps them weather the Covid-19 crisis.

When investors become less willing to take risks, they’ve traditionally turned to the dollar and gold as safe havens. 

As economies grapple with the economic disaster of the novel coronavirus, the value and number of M&A deals worldwide have deflated.

GCC-based countries are drawing down their foreign exchange reserves to protect their dollar pegs and tapping global debt markets for record amounts, along with corporates.

Saudi Arabia’s big VAT hike balances falling oil revenue. But what about economic recovery?

The new tool could enable the Fed to keep yields lower for longer, without necessarily continuing to expand its balance sheet.

Subcustodians make cross-border securities investing possible. Global Finance recognizes the best of them around the world.

Big Saudi banks are about to get even bigger.

Powell has instead called for tax and spending changes to promote growth. 

The IMF expects the global economy to contract about 3% this year, which would be the deepest one-year decline since the 1930s. 

Global Finance’s 27th annual awards for the World’s Best Banks honor winners in more than 150 countries and seven global regions, as well as eight regions in the US.

Already facing low oil prices and weak credit demand, Middle Eastern banks now must gird themselves for the impact of Covid-19.

After a banner year, North American banks face the coronavirus crisis with strong balance sheets and capital buffers—but no expectation that they will be spared.

African banks delivered some of the world’s highest returns on equity last year, but current factors make a repeat performance unlikely.

Will other central banks follow the Fed and buy riskier assets as they expand their balance sheets?

In addition to tapping the bond market and holding proceeds in cash, companies took other actions, including suspending dividends and ending share-repurchase programs, to conserve cash to get through the crisis.

Dubai and the UAE hope the Middle East’s first world expo will provide a much-needed jolt to the local economy.  

Oil prices, travel and tourism are vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus.  

The COVID-19 was excluded from potential triggers of a material adverse effect that could scuttle the deal.

Many central banks have cut interest rates to zero or less and the crisis is just beginning.

Egypt’s expanding economy and population are bolstering an ambitious drive to create a more aggressive, investor-friendly economy.

Less buybacks means more money for lending.

Worldline and Ingenico are coming together.

The coronavirus epidemic is creating economic shockwaves.

Some de-escalation in the US-China trade war.

Rising protectionism dented cross-border M&A.

Milk producers are getting squeezed by low prices.

US-China tensions have not blunted American investors' enthusiasm for Chinese companies.

Global Finance selects the best foreign exchange banks in 113 countries.

Global Finance honors companies that expertly manage their FX exposures to compete in a tough global economy.

XP's IPO was the fourth largest in 2019.

Aramco's long-anticipated IPO succeeds at last.

2019 was a strong year for M&A activity.

Aramco IPO is a big deal for Saudi Arabia's only stock exchange.

Only time will tell whether the deal is a merger or an acquisition.

Trouble in the financial markets means a more activist fed.

Russia is going green.

Investors are becoming bearish on tech IPOs after disappointments from Uber, Lyft and WeWork.

Kuwait's stock exchange is going public.