January 2014

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT By Valentina Pasquali Global foreign direct investment is undergoing a seismic shift as emerging markets countries are seeing both inflows and outflows rise dramatically—despite flat overall levels of global FDI. When Shuanghui International, a Chinese holding company, ...

LOCATION: WESTIN HOTEL, BEIJING, CHINA   Global Finance held its annual Stars of China awards ceremony in Beijing in November. Corporate and financial leaders from across the country were present to accept their awards and honor other recipients.   1 ...

EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP   By Tom Clouse   China’s stock market regulator will simplify the public listing process for Chinese companies selling shares on domestic exchanges. Companies with IPO ambitions now need only meet certain listing requirements; they need not ...

EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Two international consortia won the latest round of Brazilian airport privatizations, in deals totaling $9 billion.   One consortium, which includes Brazilian construction company Odebrecht and Singaporean airport operator Changi, paid $8.24 ...

SIDESTEPPING THE BOOM AND BUST   By Tiziana Barghini   Global Finance sat down with Francisco Ferreira, chief economist, Africa, at the World Bank, to discuss the continent’s economic outlook. The pace of growth in Africa hovered around an impressive ...

COUNTRY REPORT   By Justin Keay   As investors query what will happen in Russia’s economy over the near term, the long-term outlook is improving as the business environment is liberalized.   Russia will be at the center of world ...

COUNTRY REPORT   By Gordon Platt   Oil-rich Kuwait is finally making progress on implementing its multibillion-dollar development program and improving its business operating environment.   Despite its aim to become a world-class financial and commercial center, the Arab Gulf ...

MILESTONES   By J.R. Brandstrader   Transatlantic investment was hurt by the recent global financial and eurozone sovereign debt crises, but America’s heartland still has eyes for Europe.   Johns Hopkins’s Center for Transatlantic Relations in Washington, DC, found that, ...

MILESTONES   By Valentina Pasquali   In recent years a nighttime satellite image of Eastern Asia has gone viral on the Internet. The image displays the glowing, electricity-filled skies of China, Japan and South Korea, and a black hole in ...

MILESTONES   By Tiziana Barghini   Twenty-two years after the Maastricht Treaty—which paved the way for Europe’s economic and monetary union—was signed, five Eastern African countries have inked a similar pact for an area that is much smaller than the ...

MILESTONES   By Luca Ventura   The announcement came early in November. Expressing the intention to break the monopoly of the Big Three in the financial ratings industry, credit ratings organizations from five countries proclaimed the launch of ARC Ratings, ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   The outlook for mergers and acquisitions in 2014 is generally positive in light of expectations for modest global economic growth, but a return to pre-crisis levels of M&A activity is not likely, ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   A rebound in global manufacturing, as well as rising confidence in the sector, is forcing bond yields higher, with emerging markets bonds feeling the brunt of the sell-off. However, analysts do not ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   As exchanges in London, Hong Kong and New York compete for the opportunity to host an expected $15 billion initial public offering by China’s e-commerce leader Alibaba, US investors are once again ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   Despite the euro’s surprisingly strong showing in 2013, analysts expect the dollar to advance against most major currencies this year. The euro won’t be allowed to continue to appreciate, or it will ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Valentina Pasquali   US retail giant Wal-Mart is going for tradition and loyalty in selecting its new CEO and president. In an effort to strengthen its bottom line at a time when the industry is in a ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Justin Keay   There were few raised eyebrows when Poland’s premier Donald Tusk replaced his longtime Finance minister Jacek Rostowski with 38-year-old Mateusz Szczurek in a major cabinet reshuffle on November 20. Disagreements between Tusk and Rostowski ...

NEWSMAKERS   KA Badarinath   World powers represented by US, EU and Japanese trade ministers openly disliked him. They held 60-year-old Indian trade minister Anand Sharma squarely responsible for holding up the World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Agenda discussions at ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Gilly Wright   Japan’s largest pharmaceuticals firm, Takeda, has appointed Frenchman Christophe Weber as COO in a highly unusual move designed to groom him for the role of CEO. Weber will join the firm in April 2014, ...

  “A $30 decline in oil price over the baseline level shows that, among developing regions, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most impacted, with GDP growth declining by some 1.3 percentage points and current account balances worsening by 4.5 percentage points ...

TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT   Moderated by Joe Giarraputo   Treasurers from leading Fortune 500 companies and executives from top banks gathered at the Harvard Club in New York in November to discuss the challenges they face in a post-crisis ...

FRONTIER MARKETS REPORT   By Dan Keeler   Ukraine’s decision to turn its back on Western Europe has seriously undermined its near-term appeal, but long-term opportunities remain.   Perhaps more than any other country in Europe, Ukraine is torn between ...