January 2010

Shifting Sands   Global Finance takes a long, hard look at the prospects for the coming decade.   By Dan Keeler   The first decade of the 21st century began with the spectacular and painful collapse of the dot-com bubble ...

A WIDE OPEN WORLD   As new technologies help individuals gain greater access to information and data, how they use it will change the corporate and financial worlds forever. To stay ahead of the pack, firms must change the way ...

Building Boom   A much needed explosion in infrastructure spending is already under way in both developed and emerging markets.   By Gordon Platt     The world’s infrastructure will change dramatically in the decade ahead as a result of ...

Credit Where It’s Due   As governments around the world contemplate reeling in the financial lifelines that helped them prevent a global systemic meltdown, the prospects for credit growth in the coming decade are still unclear.   By Antonio Guerrero ...

  ISLAMIC FINANCING   Islamic finance is set to become one of the defining phenomena of the coming decade. Some are concerned, though, that the surge of growth may compromise the strict principles on which it is founded.   By ...

  THE NEW WORLD POWERS   The coming decade will witness a fundamental rebalancing of economic power, setting the stage for this to become the Asian Century.   By Harold L. Sirkin   It is clear to almost everyone that ...

Tomorrow’s Battleground For Banks   Banks and regulators worldwide are starting the new decade at loggerheads, but signs are slowly beginning to emerge that point to the future shape of regulation.   By Nick Kochan   Banks are on the ...

The Dollar’s Decline   A weak dollar may be beneficial to the US in the short term, but it is undermining the dollar’s long-term status as the de facto global currency.   By Laurence Neville   One of the rocks ...

THE NEED FOR SPEED   The foreign exchange market is growing—and operating—at lightning speed. Global Finance selects the leaders of the world's biggest financial market.   By Gordon Platt   The best banks in the foreign exchange market performed well ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Game on: South Africa prepares for the 2010 World Cup This year’s FIFA Soccer World Cup in South Africa will inject nearly $7.5 billion into the nation’s economy, according to a study by the ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Itaipu: Hydro plant blamed for near-nationwide blackout Banco do Brasil, controlled by the federal government, may seek up to $4.4 billion in primary and secondary share offerings during the first half of the year, ...

Roundup   By Thomas Clouse   Racing ahead: Incentives are helping drive record Chinese auto sales China’s real estate market continued to heat up in November, with housing prices in 70 large and medium-size cities rising 5.7% year on year, ...

Auto Sales Revival Puts New Shine On Platinum   By GP   South Africa-based Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest primary producer of platinum, retrenched in 2009 after demand for the metal used in catalytic converters suffered from decreasing consumption by ...

Banco do Brasil Establishes OTC-Traded DR Program   By GP   Banco do Brasil, one of the biggest banks in Latin America, has established an American depositary receipt program in the over-the-counter market. It selected BNY Mellon as depositary for ...

Roundup   By Aaron Chaze   Not for sale: India’s farmers are resisting land acquisitions India’s government is forging ahead with its privatization program and has asked various ministries for a list of companies that could be considered for disinvestment— ...

Roundup   By Gordon Platt   Dubai International Financial Center: Turmoil casts doubt over future The repercussions from the debt-standstill by investment company Dubai World will be felt for months, if not years, to come. Moody’s Investors Service on December ...

M&A; Wave Could Lift Asian Markets In 2010   By Gordon Platt   Increased merger and acquisition activity is likely to be the next driver of growth in many Asian markets, says Jason Pidcock, investment leader, Asia-Pacific equities, for Newton, ...

  Roundup   By Kim Iskyan   Medvedev : Budget focuses on short-term measures The long-anticipated IPO of Russian aluminum producer Rusal was delayed until the first half of 2010 after the Hong Kong stock exchange declined to approve the ...

Europe/Global   By Anita Hawser   Trouble ahead: Delegates failed to secure a binding treaty in Copenhagen In mid-December political leaders, environmental scientists, NGOs and lobbyists converged on Copenhagen to try to hammer out a global agreement on climate change. ...

Mexico   By Antonio Guerrero   Calderón: Reform agenda is in danger of stalling Analysts had for months warned of an impending Mexico downgrade. When it finally came, it did so in the form of a one-two punch. In November ...

Europe   By Laurence Neville   Drying up? Investors may shun European IPOs After months of increasing excitement among equity capital market (ECM) bankers about the prospects of a bumper first quarter of IPO issuance in Europe in 2010, events ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — CORPORATE DEBT   HUNT FOR YIELD TO CONTINUE IN 2010   By Gordon Platt   Investors will continue to seek higher returns than will be available on treasury notes and bonds in 2010, providing good demand ...

Corporate Finance Focus Foreign Exchange Prime Brokerage Adapts To Changed Landscape In Post-Crisis World By Gordon Platt Before the global financial crisis hit, prime brokerage had become one of the fastestgrowing products in the foreign exchange market. The service enables ...

  Emerging Markets Take IPO Lead Role   By Gordon Platt   Companies based in China and Brazil led a global rebound in initial public offerings in the second half of 2009, and emerging markets are likely to continue to ...

Taiwan Emerges As Tech M&A; Hot Spot   By Gordon Platt   In the biggest merger ever in Taiwan, liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor maker Innolux Display agreed in November to acquire Chi Mei Optoelectronics, which makes LCD panels for ...

Indonesia   By Thomas Clouse   Yudhoyono: Two key aides fall under suspicion Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets in cities across Indonesia on December 9 to urge the government to do more to fight corruption. The ...

Europe   By Justin Keay   Torres: Green and digital technologies may fill growth gap With the most serious global recession since the 1930s slowly coming to an end, European policymakers are now focusing on the post-crisis landscape. The view ...

India/Global   By Dan Keeler   Children at Manjushree line up for vaccinations While the financial world has been embroiled for the past two years in the global crisis, Global Finance’s charity partner, Amrit Davaa, has been making tremendous progress ...

United States/United Kingdom   By Gordon Platt   Volcker: Promoting a more conservative banking model The legendary Paul Volcker, the 6-feet, 7-inches tall former chairman of the Federal Reserve who slew the inflation dragon in the early 1980s, is not ...

  AFTER THE MAELSTROM   At a recent roundtable, Global Finance brought together some of the leaders in the treasury and cash management industry to discuss technology, corporate behavior and the realities of the post-crisis world.   Moderated by Joseph ...

    Sponsored Interview: American Express Corporate Services   American Express' commercial card business handles travel, entertainment and purchasing spend of large corporations and mid-size companies. Global Finance spoke with Sanjay Rishi, executive vice president, US Commercial Card, American Express, ...