Gordon Platt

The real estate investment market in the Middle East is exhibiting a resurgence and signs of maturity, with real estate investment trusts growing in popularity as an alternative source of capital. 

Sovereigns continue to lead debt issuance in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, with further major issuances planned for this year, as countries look to plug deficits.

Three women advancing to the top levels of the Saudi Arabian finance sector show the kingdom making progress in improving work opportunities for women.

Ratified by more than 110 of 164 member countries, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has gone into force, launching “a new phase for trade facilitation reforms all over the world,” according to the WTO.

McDonald’s agreed to sell 80% control of its restaurants in China and Hong Kong for 20 years to state-owned conglomerate Citic and the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.

Global Finance announces our picks for the world's Best Trade Finance Providers for 2017, including both bank and non-bank financial institutions. 

Donald Trump's policy plans put him in conflict with traditional Republicans in Congress and the states--in this case, his plans to impost tariffs to shape trade. 

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is expected to exceed $2 trillion in 2018, is slated to play a major role in diversifying the Saudi economy, with big investments in a technology, healthcare and other sectors. 

The desert kingdom's bold plans to boost the private sector and diversify away from oil include a little more government spending this year. 

With the worst of its financial pressures behind it, Saudi Arabia is forging ahead with its ambitious Vision 2030 development plan to diversify away from oil dependency and stimulate demand. 

Global Finance's annual awards honor the corporations savviest in managing foreign exchange issues. 

The dollar’s mid-December surge to a 14-year high is pressuring currencies pegged to the greenback, while making it more difficult for emerging markets countries with weakening currencies to repay increasingly expensive, dollar-denominated debt. 

Interview with Sulaiman Al-Marzouq, head of treasury at National Bank of Kuwait, about changes in Gulf economies and NBK’s role in development.

Global Finance publishes its annual list of the top foreign exchange providers in the world. 

Oil-rich Qatar is spending heavily on infrastructure, even as it goes deeper into debt, claiming the massive spending is aimed at creating a knowledge-based economy. 

Qatar plans to spend more than $200 billion on infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges, railways, and ports, and has loosened guest worker sponsor requirements to facilitate recruitment.

The Egyptian pound was floated this fall, and quickly lost half its value. But the reform is part of restructuring Egypt's economy to encourage foreign investment. 

The Trump administration’s nascent economic policies will likely result in a strong dollar and rising interest rates. 

Qatar has begun construction of a new financial city which aims to be the country’s Wall Street or Canary Wharf.

The US dollar remains king in the world’s biggest market, as the rise of Asia’s share in foreign exchange trading, led by China, is coming at the expense of Europe rather than the US, analysts say. 

Saudi Arabia made a splash with its $17.5 billion debut in the global bond market, which was the largest debt issuance by an emerging economy. The successful sale on October 19 was increased from an originally planned $10 billion, as ...

Rising oil demand has some countries hoping that commodity prices will rebound. 

Algorithms reading Twitter may have sent the pound tumbling for no good reason. 

A series of proposed megamergers in the global agrochemicals and seed industries—capped by Bayer's record $66 billion cash bid for Monsanto—raise fears of a pricing monopoly in the farm-supply industry and threat to the global food supply.

Read how these winning financial institutions earned designation as one of the World's Best Banks for 2016. 

Global Finance unveils its annual lists of the best banks in the world, globally, regionally and by country. The winners outperformed their peers and provide top-notch service to clients in a challenging environment. 

Global Finance takes the world’s central bank governors to school in our annual “report cards” grading their economic stewardship.

BREXIT FALLOUT  | Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent shock waves through global capital markets, but the increased volatility lifted trading revenue at big global banks and created a significant number of winners alongside the losers.

Egypt | Its IMF loan could ease investor concerns and end its foreign exchange shortage.

CREDIT LINE | On a visit to Argentina in August, Citi CEO Michael Corbat met with the country’s pro-market president, Mauricio Macri, and announced a $3.5 billion line of credit for the bank’s 1,300 corporate and institutional clients in the country.

Can the Saudis’ $2 trillion Public Investment Fund transition the kingdom to a post-oil economy?

GCC nations are constantly recalculating the cost/benefit ratio of maintaining the dollar peg. Lately, external pressures give the question new urgency. 

China’s recent efforts to make it easier for global investors to access its enormous stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were not enough to persuade MSCI to include these “China A shares” in its widely followed Emerging Markets Index just yet.

Grappling with new technology and regulatory pressures, securities services must keep pace with rapid change or be swept away.

European Union regulation will likely spark a talent war for data protection officers -- and lead to a shortage.

From financial services to healthcare to tourism, the Emirates is exploring and expanding into new non-oil businesses.

Following the FX benchmark rate-fixing scandal, which saw six banks fined almost $6 billion, currency traders at corporate and financial institutions worldwide are revising how they execute transactions.

These are exciting times for the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as the decline in oil revenues is forcing them to finally make dramatic changes to their oil-based economies.

A squeeze on earnings and a rise in funding costs have persuaded many US companies to commit less cash to buying back their own shares this year.

Capital Markets | Foreign Exchange
After years of bemoaning the negative effects of the strong dollar on their revenue and earnings, US-based multinationals are singing a different tune.

Capital Markets | Fixed Income
US companies are rushing to borrow in European bond markets. They’re taking advantage of low interest rates on euro-denominated issues after the European Central Bank’s decision to start buying investment-grade corporate bonds in June—part of its economic stimulus program. Last year already set a record for corporate borrowing in Europe’s bond markets, where rates are significantly lower than in the US.

Capital Markets | Sovereign Risk
Low energy and commodity prices and a global economy stuck in low gear have provoked a surge in sovereign ratings downgrades in the first three months of this year. And rating agencies anticipate another wave of downgrades if a wider global economic slowdown materializes.

Saudi Arabia
Known as the Minister of Everything, deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, the favored 30-year-old son of the geriatric king of Saudi Arabia, is a man on a mission.

Trends | Emerging Markets
Emerging markets sovereigns and corporates will need to refinance up to $2 trillion of debt coming due in the next five years, as a result of extravagant borrowing earlier this decade when commodity prices were soaring and cheap financing was readily available.

Following a record-breaking year for worldwide mergers and acquisitions, dealmaking declined to a two-year low in the first quarter of 2016.

Low oil prices are taking a heavy toll on Saudi Arabia’s economy, which is facing even greater austerity under deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud’s plans to raise $100 billion a year from subsidy cuts and new levies.

The People’s Bank of China has introduced bigger movements in its daily fixings of the country’s currency against the dollar. If sustained, this subtle change could signal that the central bank is preparing to allow greater flexibility in foreign exchange trading.

The banking industry’s leading lights have largely adjusted their business plans to a world of tighter regulations, higher capital requirements and less leverage. Now, they are taking on new competitors by embracing the very information technology that has disrupted their business.

The US Treasury’s latest measure to keep US companies from reincorporating in lower-tax countries is its strongest effort yet to halt so-called “inversions,” and could have far-reaching consequences for multinationals.

Global Finance presents the winners of its 23rd annual awards for the World’s Best Banks.