December 2009

  THE BIGGEST EMERGING MARKET BANKS   Global Finance unveils its second annual league table of the biggest emerging market banks ranked by total assets.   By Dan Keeler   As the world’s key emerging markets continue to drive the ...

EMERGING MARKETS FOCUS: CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE   For most Central and Eastern European countries, 2009 turned out to be every bit as bad as expected. The region’s prospects for the coming year are mixed, at best.   By Justin ...

  EMERGING MARKETS FOCUS: AFRICA   Africa’s economic development will be fueled more by its relationships with other emerging markets than with historical partners in the West.   By Anita Hawser   For hundreds of years Africa has represented a ...

  EMERGING MARKETS FOCUS: ASIA   Asia has confounded skeptics with its remarkable rebound, but its continued rapid growth will depend on some tough decisions.   By Thomas Clouse   Asia’s economic outlook was bleak this time last year. Despite ...

  Emerging Markets Focus: Latin America   Much of Latin America is reaping the benefits of a rapid growth in China’s involvement in the region. Booming trade levels are changing some key global market dynamics.   By Antonio Guerrero   ...

Emerging Markets Focus: Middle East   The outlook for the Middle East’s economy has brightened substantially in recent months, but the reluctance of banks to lend remains worrisome. Bond issues are picking up some of the slack.   By Gordon ...

    EMERGING MARKETS FOCUS   Emerging markets are leading global growth, and they are doing so by relying increasingly on domestic demand.   By Gordon Platt   The big question global investors and economists are asking about the sharp ...

  BANKS DEVELOP SOCIAL SKILLS   In the second of a two-part series, Global Finance identifies the best global and regional Internet banks.   By Adam Rombel   Not many of the headlines about the global banking industry in the ...

Retailer Aims To Cash In On Latin America’s Growth   By GP   With its network of department stores, home-improvement centers, supermarkets and consumer banks, Falabella is one of the leading diversified retailers in Latin America. It is teaming up ...

Israel’s Delek Group Creates Sponsored ADR Program   By GP   Delek Group, one of Israel’s largest companies, introduced a sponsored American depositary receipt program on the OTCQX, the highest tier of the OTC market for companies listed on a ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Panning for gold: African mines spark investor interest Rising gold prices have sparked renewed interest by foreign investors in African mines. Banro, a Canadian gold miner, expects to close a debt financing deal for ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Too strong: Authorities fret over appreciation of Brazilian real The Brazilian government took the controversial step of reintroducing a 2% financial transactions tax on purchases of stocks and bonds by foreign investors that had ...

Roundup   By Thomas Clouse   Open market: China’s Nasdaq-style GEM opens for business China’s economy will grow by 8.4% this year, according to World Bank estimates, and by 8.7% in 2010. The World Bank projected 2009 growth of 7.2% ...

Roundup   By Aaron Chaze   Poor transport infrastructure weighs on India’s competitiveness The Indian government’s privatization program has received a shot in the arm after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave the green light to a proposal ...

Roundup   By Gordon Platt   ExxonMobil is first US company to win Iraq oil contract A joint venture of ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell has clinched a $50 billion deal to develop one of Iraq’s biggest oil fields, the ...

Year-End Rebalancing May Aid Bond Funds By Gordon Platt Emerging market bonds could attract significant inflows from fund managers in the year-end period, as money is redirected from safe but low-yielding investments into riskier assets, assuming that the global economic ...

Roundup   By Kim Iskyan   Avtovaz: Struggling to survive in market downturn Russian government officials have sounded increasingly optimistic notes about the country’s macroeconomic situation, as strong oil prices are likely to result in a lower budget deficit than ...

Panama   By Antonio Guerrero   Providing a lift: Canal expansion will boost Panama economy Panama is poised to become Latin America’s newest investment-grade-rated country. Standard & Poor’s pushed Panama closer to the coveted rating in November when it raised ...

Lebanon/Syria/Turkey   By Nick Kochan   Yilmaz: Turkish banks were ready for leverage crisis The evolution of Turkey’s role in the Middle East and beyond was clearly on display at a late-October risk management conference in Beirut. The guest speaker ...

Credit Market Recovery Stays Alive   By Gordon Platt   Corporate bond issuance worldwide passed the $2.5 trillion milestone for the year to date in October, and credit quality improved, as the record rally in the credit markets rolled along. ...

Dollar’s Recovery Linked To Timing Of Fed Rate Hike   By Gordon Platt   Foreign exchange market analysts expect the dollar to turn higher sometime in 2010, but whether the turning point comes early or late in the year could ...

Outlook Improves For Capital Raising Using Depositary Receipts In 2010   By Gordon Platt   Like initial public offerings, the amount of equity capital raised using depositary receipts dried up during the global financial crisis, but there has been a ...

Emerging Markets Deals Gain Prominence By Gordon Platt Warren Buffett’s $34 billion investment in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the second-biggest railroad in the US, was a big bet on the future of the US economy, but major deals in emerging ...

Japan   By Thomas Clouse   Hatoyama: Tough decision will be made a little easier with news of recent economic growth Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept into office in September with pledges ...

Russia   By Kim Iskyan   Heavy burden: Deripaska’s empire is weighed down with debt Oleg Deripaska’s plans to float Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum company, in a December IPO are facing serious turbulence. The company, according to some metals ...

United States   By Gordon Platt   Dodd: Taking direct aim at Fed’s supervisory role The chairman of the Senate banking committee, Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd, has taken dead aim at the Federal Reserve’s authority to supervise banks in what ...