Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
COVER STORY — RENMINBI RISING By Michael Shari Multinationals are positioning themselves to capture lucrative gains from the internationalization of China’s currency. When McDonald’s became the first non-Chinese corporation that was allowed to issue a bond denominated ...
GCC REGIONAL REPORT: BACK FROM THE BRINK By Gordon Platt Upheaval in the region and beyond is encouraging banks to bolster their balance sheets before launching any aggressive lending programs. Banks in the GCC have recovered from the ...
GCC REGIONAL REPORT: OIL MARKETS By Gordon Platt Global politics, supply dynamics and the fiscal needs of the GCC’s governments are combining to cloud the prospects for oil prices . Oil prices have been volatile in recent ...
GCC REGIONAL REPORT: MARKING A MILESTONE By Gordon Platt The regional group faces new challenges as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) celebrated its 30th anniversary on May 25 with quiet flag-raising ceremonies ...
GUNS AND BUTTER The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, led by Saudi Arabia, will spend $120 billion over the next few years to buy advanced fighter planes and anti-missile defense systems. They are spending even larger sums to placate ...
ANNUAL SURVEY: MEETING NEW DEMANDS By Gordon Platt Subcustodians focus on real-time data and safety of client assets. The world’s leading subcustodians are investing in new systems to meet an increasing desire from global custodians for real-time ...
ANNUAL SURVEY: SUPPORTING ROLE By Anita Hawser Banks and nonbanks are driving steady growth in both the volume and the sophistication of supply chain finance. The global financial crisis provided a “light bulb” moment for many buyers ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: AFRICA by Antonio Guerrero Sierra Leone opts for controversial biofuel production Africa is poised to enter the world’s growing biofuels market. The biotechnology unit at Addax, a Switzerland-based investment firm, plans to open a ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: BRAZIL by Antonio Guerrero Brazilian companies take flight Board members at Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company, are calling on the company to tame costs linked to its $224 billion 2011-2015 spending plan. The investment ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: CHINA by Thomas Clouse Floods devastate crops Inflation in China accelerated in May to its most rapid rate in 34 months. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the consumer price index rose 5.5% ...
EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR / DR NEWS by Gordon Platt Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, plans to list global depositary receipts (GDRs) in London and Frankfurt soon, with BNY Mellon as the depository. The listings could make Sberbank one of ...
EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR / NEWS by Gordon Platt Further political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is highly likely and could have a major negative impact on investors’ portfolios, according to a BNY Mellon white paper ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: INDIA by Aaron Chaze Tata Steel: Trimming debt In an attempt to trim its debt, India’s largest steel producer, Tata Steel, is to sell its 26.3% stake in Riversdale Mining, the Australian Stock Exchange–listed coal ...
EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR / COMPANY TO WATCH: COAL INDIA/INDIA by Gordon Platt Coal India has enjoyed a solid increase in its stock price since it listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange last November in the country’s biggest-ever IPO, ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: MIDDLE EAST by Gordon Platt After five months of political wrangling, Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati on June 13 announced a new government led by the Shiite Hezbollah movement, giving Syria and Iran renewed influence ...
EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP: RUSSIA by Kim Iskyan Medvedev and Putin go head to head During his June 17 speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia’s version of Davos, president Dmitry Medvedev highlighted his reformist stance ...
SIBOS 2011— TRADE FINANCE By Denise Bedell Trade finance is in the midst of wrenching changes, and banks must keep pace with them or face loss of market share and a deterioration of their client base. The ...
TECHNOLOGY— SIBOS 2011 By Anita Hawser Banks are facing growing competition from technologically advanced nonbanks as customers seek more convenience and higher service levels. Imagine a world where money is no longer thought of as something physical ...
SIBOS 2011— REGULATION By Denise Bedell Companies—and their banks—are increasingly mindful of how regulatory changes, such as the introduction of Basel III, will affect their corporate banking activities and the cost of banking services. Wholesale banking activities—in ...
SIBOS 2011 Change is in the air at this year’s annual Sibos conference in Toronto. Hosted by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the conference provides a forum for the world’s biggest corporate and investment banks to ...
Light At The End Of The Tunnel By Vanessa Drucker Portugal’s new political leaders have a plan to dig their country out of its deep fiscal hole. Portugal is about to receive a dose of strong medicine. ...
Uphill Struggle By Laurence Neville Ukraine’s recovery appears impressive, but structural cracks remain that could derail it. At first glance, Ukraine appears to be in fine health. Having been at risk of collapse in the first stage ...
MILESTONES: ASIA by Denise Bedell Charged up: Investment should enhance power grid Vietnam’s National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT) has launched a $200 million, 13-year infrastructure finance facility that demonstrates the growing enthusiasm among international investors for financing Asian ...
MILESTONES / CANADA by Erik Heinrich Near-monopoly: Bid faces antitrust scrutiny The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been stymied in its attempt to take over Canada’s TMX Group, parent of the Toronto and Montreal exchanges and the TSX ...
MILESTONES / GLOBAL by Gordon Platt Taipei: Developed but still emerging, according to MSCI Many thought this would be a breakout year for the Pacific Rim—the year two of its hottest economies would be designated ‘developed markets.’ But ...
MILESTONES / GLOBAL by Laurence Neville Renaissance’s Robertson: “China in risky period” China will become a democracy by 2017, while Russia is highly likely to become a strong democracy within the next few years, according to a remarkable ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS / CORPORATE DEBT by Gordon Platt The high-yield bond market felt the spillover effects in early June from a steep decline in prices of bonds backed by subprime mortgages, but US-based companies continue to tap ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS by Gordon Platt The froth in the market for initial public offerings of China-based companies listing on major stock markets around the world has been blown away by renewed concern about accounting ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS / FOREIGN EXCHANGE by Gordon Platt The euro tumbled against the dollar, the yen and the Swiss franc in mid-June, as European finance ministers reached an impasse on a second Greek aid package and demonstrators clashed with ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS / MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Corporate Finance Focus by Gordon Platt Corporations worldwide are using their cash stockpiles to make acquisitions and are driving M&A; activity to a higher level that confirms the bullish trend ...
NEWSMAKERS: PERU By Antonio Guerrero Humala: Investors’ friend? The election of leftist leader Ollanta Humala as president of Peru after a June run-off has unleashed concerns among the business leaders who feel the former coup-plotter may impose radical ...
NEWSMAKERS: EUROPE by Anita Hawser Draghi: Will face scrutiny Despite attempts to block his candidacy, Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi will become the new president of the European Central Bank (ECB) when Jean-Claude Trichet retires in October. ...
NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES by Gordon Platt Dimon, JPMorgan: Questioning cumulative effect of reforms As head of the most profitable US bank, JPMorgan Chase, CEO Jamie Dimon is a natural choice to lead the industry in its battle to ...
NEWSMAKERS: IRELAND by Gordon Platt Full throttle: Ryanair powers up its fleet with giant order Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, stole the limelight at the Paris Air Show in June by signing an ...
