April 2008

Middle East Lebanon’s banks are spreading their wings as they push for more growth in the Middle East’s key markets.   Banks in downtown Beirut: Lebanon's financial institutions are expanding through the region. While the banking sector remains the backbone ...

Middle East As Islamic bonds become more popular, banks are creating a viable secondary market.   Emirates Islamic Bank: Reaping the benefits of a surge in business. Asurge in the issuance of sukuk, or Islamic bonds, and growing demand from ...

The Middle East Prudent investment of vastly increased oil revenues and a determination to build stable financial foundations are helping transform the Middle East into one of the world’s most vibrant economic areas. The DIFC in Dubai: One of the ...

WORLD’S BEST DEVELOPED MARKETS BANKS 2008 BEST DEVELOPED MARKETS BANKS Global Finance unveils its annual list of the best banks in developed markets around the world.     The past year has been one of the most tumultuous in recent ...

India         ICICI Bank: One of the Indian banks repurchasing bonds.   Indian banks and corporate bond issuers in international markets are taking advantage of the widening credit spreads and tightening liquidity conditions in global bond markets ...

Brazil             President Lula: Basking in Brazil's new net creditor status.   After holding its ranking as the world’s largest emerging markets debtor for several decades, Brazil in January became a net foreign creditor for ...

Russia     Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev with his mentor, Vladimir Putin. As expected, Dmitry Medvedev won the Russian presidential elections on March 2, with 70% of the vote. Medvedev was a shoo-in by dint of enjoying the explicit support ...

China         Chinese students prepare for this summer's Olympics in Beijing.   China will more strictly examine applications from listed companies to issue new shares on domestic capital markets, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced after the ...

Dr News         African issuers of global depositary receipts could benefit from the fact that they are remote from the effects of the US-centric credit crunch, says Stuart Matty, partner at White & Case, the law firm ...

Company To Watch: Ioi/malaysia         Palm oil prices have almost doubled in the past year on rising demand from China and India and increased use of crude palm oil as an alternative energy source. Kuala Lumpur-based IOI, ...

News         The Rwanda Stock Exchange opened for business in the capital city of Kigali at the end of January, but so far the exchange has not traded any stocks. It has listed two government bonds and ...

COUNTRY REPORT: SOUTH AFRICA   Flagging global growth, an ongoing energy shortage and increasing wage and inflation pressures are weighing heavily on South Africa’s economy.   In a hole: South Africa's mining industry has been badly affected by recent power ...

Colombia/ecuador/venezuela     Uribe: Used the standoff to push US-Colombia trade deal After Venezuela and Ecuador sent troops to their borders with Colombia, in response to Colombia’s attack on FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels within Ecuadorian territory on ...

Europe     McCreevy: Securitization makes risk get lost, not disappear Six months into the credit crunch, and with banks in other parts of the world such as India still announcing losses from the sub-prime crisis, the European Commission has ...

Panama     Digging in: Work is now under way on the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal. Although Brazil appears poised to become Latin America’s next investment-grade-rated sovereign, a tiny country may beat the giant to the punch. ...

Israel     All change: Israel’s currency is set to take its place in the world markets. The Bank of Israel has joined the New York-based CLS (Continuous Linked Settlement) Bank (a multi-currency bank supervised by the US Federal Reserve ...

Global Equity/drs     The Shanghai Stock Exchange raised more funds in initial public offerings last year than any exchange worldwide, and it is taking aim at another record in 2008, despite a 30% pullback in the Shanghai composite index ...

Corporate Debt     Credit spreads widened last month and corporate bond yields were at or above levels that prevailed prior to the start of the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing last summer, leading economists to conclude that the US economy ...

Mergers & Acquisitions     HDFC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab have agreed to the biggest merger in Indian banking history, valued at about $2.4 billion. It is likely the beginning of a wave of M&A; deals in the ...

Foreign Exchange         CURRENCY FORECASTS         Latin America has experienced its share of currency crises in recent decades, but for the past few years the region’s currencies have continued to go from strength to ...

  Germany       Ackermann: Global watchdog could prevent market bubbles Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann suggests that creating a global financial sector watchdog could prevent an encore of the global market storm unleashed by the US subprime crisis. ...

Germany       Hunt: Legacy airlines lock in customers with "bribery" In a move that is clearly aimed at drumming up corporate business, upstart UK-based business-class-only airline Silverjet has rolled out an innovative loyalty program that takes the benefits ...

SPONSORED ROUNDTABLE   At a roundtable in Istanbul, Global Finance brought together Turkey’s central banker and other leading figures to discuss the prospects for the country’s economy.   GLOBAL FINANCE: The Turkish government seems to be redoubling its efforts to ...