January 2015

Cover Story
The drastic drop in oil prices will clearly have an impact on both individual companies and on overall growth in some countries. But is the shift net positive or negative, cyclical or systemic? The ultimate outcome is yet to be seen.

Regulatory uncertainty, technological change and traders behaving badly have collided in a perfect storm for banks’ foreign exchange operations

Eddie Listorti, co-global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities at ANZ Group in Singapore, sees intra-Asian currency flows as a lucrative opportunity.

Mikhail Palei, head of foreign exchange flow at VTB Capital in Moscow, expects international banks to lose their appetite for risk in the Russian ruble—which he sees as an opportunity for Russia’s FX desks.

Philip Nel, head of FX trading for Africa at Standard Bank in Johannesburg, anticipates a proliferation of new foreign exchange products in countries across the continent.

Antti Ranta, head of FX at Nordea in Helsinki, sees demand growing for emerging markets currencies in Nordic countries—and for advice on how to trade them.

Global Finance held its annual Stars of China awards ceremony in Beijing in November. Corporate and financial leaders from around the country were present to accept their awards and honor other recipients.

Global Salon
Global Finance sat down with Jochen Dümler, president and chief executive officer of insurer Euler Hermes North America, to look at the global market for trade credit insurance.

Poland | Country Report
Although still outperforming most of its neighbors, Poland needs to reinvent itself if it wishes to sustain long-term growth.

Kuwait | Country Report
Kuwait is at a crossroads. Despite huge financial reserves, the Persian Gulf state must speed up project implementation to revive a stagnant economy far too dependent on oil revenues.

South Korea | Country Report
One of Asia’s most powerful economies, South Korea is maneuvering deftly between even more powerful neighbors and allies.

China | Milestones
The Chinese government has followed the US and Western European model by providing deposit insurance for private savers in the Chinese banking system.

Lithuania | Milestones
On January 1, Lithuania abandoned the litas, becoming the 19th member of the eurozone and joining Baltic peers Estonia and Latvia in the economic and monetary union.

Nigeria | Milestones
Nigerians go to the polls next month with some trepidation...

Taiwan | Milestones
Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou and his Kuomintang party lost control of important political positions in late November, when Taiwanese voters chose opposition party and independent candidates in local elections across the island.

Brazil | Newsmakers
Joaquim Levy, Brazil’s newly appointed minister of Finance, will need to muster all his skills to navigate the rough waters of Brazilian domestic politics and restore the public budget surplus that made the country a darling of Wall Street investors.

India | Newsmakers
Arun Jaitley, a corporate lawyer by training, has emerged as the rising star of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and chief troubleshooter in the new government, headed by prime minister Narendra Modi.

Qatar | Newsmakers
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed bin Saud Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family, was appointed CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) as part of a reshuffle that includes the addition of other Al-Thani family members.

United States | Newsmakers
After the Republican victory in the 2014 US midterm elections and an eight-year hiatus, Richard Shelby, a senior senator from Alabama, has taken over his old post as chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Corporate Tax | Trends
By replacing cascading sales taxes with a value-added tax (VAT), Africa has succeeded in lowering its total tax rate to 46.6% from a peak of 72.2% in 2005.

UK Corporate Tax | Trends
Britain likely will succeed in taxing multinational companies at a 25% rate on their UK operations beginning in April, without violating international tax treaties, analysts say, but tensions are rising between countries on suspicions that MNCs are engaging in global tax evasion.

Activist Investing | Trends
Vanguard CEO William McNabb is making it plain that he wants the many public companies in which the world’s second-largest fund management firm owns significant minority stakes to take Vanguard as seriously as they take activist investors.

Renminbi | Trends
Autumn was a sweet season for the offshore progress of the renminbi.  One-third (31%) of major German corporations polled in a November survey by Deutsche Bank are trading in renminbi with cross-border customers and suppliers, while another 17% said they intended to do so in 2015.

Sovereign Debt | Capital Markets
Governments in Africa issued a record amount of debt in international markets in 2014, taking advantage of strong investor demand and low borrowing costs ahead of the Federal Reserve’s expected rate increases this year.

Corporate Debt | Capital Markets
Euroclear will extend its cross-border settlement services at the end of January to Mexican corporate debt instruments known as cebures, or “bourse certificates.” This will enable Mexican companies to issue peso-denominated debt specifically targeted to international investors.

Proxy Voting | Management
Proxy advisory firm ISS updated its proxy voting guidelines last fall to introduce a more detailed approach to the recommendations it makes on companies’ equity plans and shareholder proposals for an independent chairman. The changes could create uncertainty for companies during this year’s proxy season.

Regulation | Management
In October the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project released a report outlining its progress on a series of steps it was taking to combat tactics—often legal but ethically questionable—used by many multinational companies to reduce or eliminate tax liabilities across their operations.