April 2013

NO LONGER JUST A GAME?   By Ronald Fink   The recent spate of currency devaluation will start to have a serious impact unless global leaders focus on economic fundamentals, rather than figments.   The yen is down 25% against ...

A SECTOR IN TRANSITION   By Michael Shari   Global investment banks spent the past year adjusting to the new reality of highly regulated markets and below-historical rates of return.   Last year was one of evolution for the world’s ...

BEST LEGAL ADVISERS   By Michael Shari   BEST LEGAL ADVISERS Global Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom North America Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Latin America Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Western Europe Freshfields CEE Cleary Gottlieb Steen ...

COUNTRY WINNERS   By Michael Shari   COUNTRY WINNERS NORTH AMERICA   Canada BMO Capital Markets US J.P. Morgan     LATIN AMERICA   Argentina Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires Brazil Itaú BBA Chile Banco de Chile Colombia Bancolombia ...

DEALS OF THE YEAE   By Michael Shari   DEALS OF THE YEAR Best Equity Deal US Treasury/American International Group (AIG) $20.7 billion follow-on offering, September 2012. Bookrunners Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ...

GLOBAL WINNERS   By Michael Shari   GLOBAL WINNERS Best Investment Bank J.P. Morgan Best in Emerging Markets Bank of America Merrill Lynch Best in Frontier Markets Qatar National Bank Best Equity Bank Morgan Stanley Best Debt Bank Bank of ...

REGIONAL WINNERS   By Michael Shari   REGIONAL WINNERS NORTH AMERICA   Best Investment Bank J.P. Morgan Best Equity Bank Morgan Stanley Best Debt Bank J.P. Morgan Best M&A Bank Goldman Sachs     LATIN AMERICA   Best Investment Bank ...

SECTOR WINNERS   By Michael Shari   SECTOR WINNERS Consumer Citi Financial Institutions Citi Healthcare Piper Jaffray Industrials/Chemicals Jefferies Infrastructure China Construction Bank Corp Media/Entertainment J.P. Morgan Metals & Mining BMO Capital Markets Oil & Gas Goldman Sachs Power Morgan ...

BUYING SPREE TO CONTINUE FOR ICONIC US BRANDS   By Antonio Guerrero   Brazilian billionaire Jorge Paulo Lemann of 3G Capital continued his buying spree of major US consumer brands, this time joining forces with Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett in a ...

INCREASED SPENDING AND REFORMS COULD BOOST DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION   By Thomas Clouse   In his final annual work report to the National People’s Congress, outgoing Chinese premier Wen Jiabao set the country’s 2013 GDP growth target at 7.5% and pledged to ...

INDIA’S DEMAND ECONOMY   By Udayan Gupta   At this month’s Global Salon in New York, Hiren Ved, chief investment officer of Mumbai-based investment fund Alchemy Capital Management, discussed the Indian markets and economy in a global context and within ...

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE   Photo Credits: RITU MANOJ JETHANI/ Shutterstock.com Passengers arriving at Dubai International Airport on Emirates’ double-decker Airbus 380 aircraft taxi up to a new $3.2 billion dedicated terminal, Concourse A, which opened in February. After disembarking, ...

THE ALLURE OF ETHICAL BANKING   By Gordon Platt   Islamic banks in the Gulf region are tapping into growing demand for ethical banking and are upping their game in structuring sukuk and wholesale banking services.   Ethical banking services ...

BRIDGING THE GAPS   By Gordon Platt   Jordan has a difficult road ahead as it implements economic and political reforms as part of an IMF loan package and deals with the spillover from unrest in neighboring countries.   Jordan’s ...

SEEKING UNITY   By Gordon Platt   GCC members continue to pay lip service to economic and political union, but experts say much more needs to be done on the military, security and development fronts before that can happen.   ...

SHARING RISK     By Anita Hawser Takaful insurance markets are growing steadily in the Gulf, but the regulatory framework is still developing in some countries.   Taking out car, property or life insurance is second nature in the West, ...

DEFYING EXPECTATIONS   By Gordon Platt   For many, the Arab Spring symbolizes years of painful economic and political reforms ahead. But financial institutions are upbeat about the region’s prospects, noting that markets such as Iraq and Libya continue to ...

VISIONS OF SPLENDOR   By Gordon Platt   Investor confidence has returned to the UAE, with the former debt-laden emirate of Dubai once again planning major infrastructure projects. Even a new financial center is planned for construction.   Dubai continues ...

REFORM BECOMING REALITY   By Laurence Neville   After years of promises, there are tentative signs that Russia is finally getting serious about reforming its economy.   Russia has always been the odd one out in the BRIC quartet of ...

MANAGING THE GOLDEN CROSSING   By Arthur Clennam   As relations with China continue to flourish and the Taiwanese economy picks up, political drift becomes an issue.   Taiwan, to its credit, is a place where people speak their minds. ...

MILESTONES: ITALY   By Valentina Pasquali   The general elections held in Italy in February yielded a hung parliament, marked the phenomenal rise of the little-understood protest movement of former comedian Beppe Grillo, and unexpectedly revived the flagging political career of former ...

MILESTONES: GLOBAL   By Gilly Wright   Japanese financial group ORIX’s acquisition of a 90.1% share of Dutch asset management company Robeco from Rabobank for $2.6 billion is both the largest Japanese outbound deal so far this year and a reflection of ...

MILESTONES: EUROPE   By Anita Hawser   Billed as a major blow to the UK’s status as a global financial services hub, the European Parliament and council sent a clear message in February about bank bonuses, reaching an agreement that bankers’ bonuses ...

MILESTONES: US   By Forrest Jones   Should the US Securities and Exchange Commission want to slap civil penalties on anyone involved in any improprieties, it had better get cracking sooner rather than later.   SEC told to speed up claims against ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT   By Gordon Platt   Investors have piled into US treasury bonds in recent years to escape such financial scares as the eurozone debt crisis and slowing growth in China.   Analysts warn that the bond ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS   By Gordon Platt   A rising tide lifts all ships, and the bull market in stocks is enabling a number of technology and housing-related companies, particularly in the US, to float initial public offerings.   ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: FOREIGN EXCHANGE   By Gordon Platt   The dollar has been in a long-term declining trend against the major currencies for nearly a decade, losing about 40% in value, but analysts say it is no longer weakening ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS   By Gordon Platt   With the stock market hitting record highs and confidence growing in the US economy, dealmaking has accelerated dramatically. A series of megamergers has unleashed a spirit of optimism about the ...

NEWSMAKERS: US   By Udayan Gupta   Technology companies lead a charmed life. Flawed business strategy, poor execution, inexperienced management...some technology companies seem to shrug them off and continue.   The master of spin: Groupon's founder, Andrew Mason But the February ...

NEWSMAKERS: JAPAN   By Valentina Pasquali   Prime minister Shinzō Abe's election victory at the end of 2012 promised to bring sweeping changes to Japan's handling of its lethargic economy, with renewed efforts to spur growth and combat deflation.     Kuroda ...

NEWSMAKERS: HUNGARY   By Paul Mackintosh   Widespread concerns in Europe over the independence and integrity of Hungary's institutions were rekindled recently by the news that prime minister Viktor Orbán had appointed his right-hand man, György Matolcsy, as the new governor of ...

NEWSMAKERS: CYPRUS   By Justin Keay   With Cyprus in the midst of facing down the EU while battling to rescue its biggest banks, and during its worst economic crisis since independence in 1960— unemployment is above15%, and GDP could contract by ...

NEWSMAKERS: KENYA   By Dan Keeler   Kenya appears set to reap a substantial investment dividend in the wake of its largely peaceful presidential election held in early March.     Kenyatta beats his rivals Analysts believe that portfolio flows and foreign ...

Emerging Markets Future Output Index       "Expectations of ‘future output’ by EM businesses, specifically by manufacturers, improved sharply in February as a sign of strong sentiment. Our hopes are mainly pinned on China, Asia and commodity producers in ...

  BNP PARIBAS SECURITIES SERVICES CUSTODY ASSETS: 2012: $7,291 billion   RATINGS: Moody’s: A2; S&P: A+; Fitch: A+   CLIENT PROFILE: By location: Our network is one of the most extensive in the industry, covering over 100 markets, with our ...

A FORK IN THE ROAD   Moderated by Anita Hawser   Key figures from the world of European subcustody discuss how regulation is affecting their business and changing relationships between global custodians and their network of subcustodians.   Global Finance ...