Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
SUNSET, OR A NEW SUNRISE? By Michael Shari Brazil faces a monumental challenge in meeting the expectations of its citizens, corporations and global investors over the next several years, as the nation invests heavily to host the World Cup and ...
THE NEW NORMAL By Hilary Johnson More companies than ever are launching supply-chain finance programs to reduce costs, ensure the stability of their supply chains and improve working capital efficiency. And growing competition among program vendors is making it easier ...
A GLOBAL CONNECTION SWIFT’s annual Sibos conference is just around the corner, and this year attendees will gather in Dubai. With Middle Eastern companies following the trend now seen in many emerging markets and increasing the sophistication of their ...
THE GREAT DIVIDE By Susan Kelly As inter- and intra-regional trade in emerging markets continues to grow, the gap between needed and available trade finance is also on the increase. But new financing sources and new tools offer the ...
REVEALING INNOVATION By Rebecca Brace A number of new technology solutions building a presence, thanks to SWIFT’s annual start-up challenge, hold the promise of making life easier in corporate treasury and financial management. There are plenty of ...
GOING GLOBAL AND MOBILE By Karen Kroll Companies are increasingly using e-payments and looking at mobile channels. But moving money electronically cross-border can still be an issue. The ways in which organizations are paying their suppliers and business ...
STEALING THE SHOW By Gordon Platt Middle East banks say they are catching up to the global transaction banks, and in some cases winning greater market share by delivering solutions that meet the specific needs of companies doing business ...
THE CONTENDER
Cambodia is emerging as a key investment destination—and potential consumer market—for companies focused on Southeast Asia. After more than a decade of 6%-plus growth—with just one hiccup during the global crisis in 2009—this nation of 15 million people has begun attracting serious interest.
DESPERATE TO DIVERSIFY By Kim Iskyan The countries of central Asia are working hard to become more than one-trick ponies, as each struggles in its own way to reduce economic reliance on a single growth driver. The five ...
ON AN EVEN KEEL By Al Modugno Despite historic catastrophic events over the past two years, reinsurance rates have remained relatively steady, saving primary insurance providers—and thus corporate buyers—from higher costs. With even a hint of any potential ...
UNLOCKING HIDDEN POTENTIAL By Anita Hawser and Paula L. Green Global Finance presents the winners of its annual awards for the Best Supply Chain Finance Providers globally and by region. Five years have passed since the global financial ...
SAFETY FIRST By Gordon Platt Safeguarding client assets has never been more important in this era of global economic uncertainty —and even subcustodians are finding themselves increasingly in the spotlight as a result of sovereign and commercial pressures. ...
By Anita Hawser and Paula L. Green BEST SUPPLY-CHAIN FINANCE PROVIDER—BANK Citi Some of of the main prerequisites for a bank to be able to support supply-chain finance programs in different countries are its knowledge of local market regulations ...
By Anita Hawser and Paula L. Green NORTH AMERICA Citi In North America, Citi has closely aligned itself with government efforts to leverage supply chain finance as a means of funneling much-needed working capital to SMEs. It is a ...
COUNTRY WINNERS Argentina Citi Armenia Ameriabank Australia HSBC Austria UniCredit Bank Austria Bahrain HSBC Belgium KBC Brazil Itaú Unibanco Canada CIBC Mellon Chile Banco de Chile China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Commercial Bank of China Colombia Citi Croatia ...
By Gordon Platt NORTH AMERICA Citi Lee Waite: The rules of the game are not static Citi is the largest subcustodian in the US, the world’s biggest subcustody market. The bank also has the largest proprietary network in the industry, ...
BRAZILIAN PORTS OPEN TO PRIVATE INVESTORS By Antonio Guerrero The Dilma Rousseff administration signed into law new regulations that open the country’s ports to greater private-sector investments. Approved in June, the policies are expected to help attract ...
CHINESE SOLAR-PANEL MAKERS FACE TRADE TARIFFS IN EUROPE By Thomas Clouse Chinese companies face trade friction in Europe now that the European Commission has imposed tariffs on Chinese solar panels. The EU charges that Chinese companies are ...
TRADING IN THE GREEN By Udayan Gupta At Global Finance ’s monthly Salon, Izzet Bensusan, executive director of renewable-energy investment boutique Karbone, discussed the market dynamics, financing and investment oppor-tunities for alternative energy. PHOTO: KATE FREY Given a politically ...
THE RIGHT ROUTE FOR GROWTH By Antionio Guerrero Nigeria has averaged 7% growth over the past decade. But effectively managing its continued expansion is proving problematic. Infrastructure investment is a key challenge. The Nigeria stock exchange building in ...
MODEL FOR GROWTH? By Vanessa Drucker The Troika’s “darling of reform” is in its third year of recession. Citizens—and policy-makers—want to see the promised economic rebound. Portugal and the European Union depend on one another. On the one ...
MILESTONES: FINLAND By Paula L. Green Even though the financial fortunes of mobile-phone manufacturer Nokia continue to weaken, Finland is not letting go of its reputation for technological innovation. The Nordic country seems intent on sustaining the type ...
MILESTONES: US-COLOMBIA By Forrest Jones The free-trade agreement between Colombia and the United States spent years stalled in the US Congress, but it just celebrated its one-year anniversary in May, and both sides are hailing the deal as ...
MILESTONES: BANGLADESH By Udayan Gupta Even as Bangladesh tries to extricate itself from the Rana Plaza building collapse, the Dhaka disaster that killed more than 1,100 garment workers, one private equity fund is trying to infuse new capital into ...
MILESTONES: US By Valentina Pasquali In June, US regulators took yet another step in the slow but steady implementation of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, also known as Dodd-Frank. AIG to face ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT By Gordon Platt US interest rates have been in a general declining trend since 1981, when Paul Volcker was Federal Reserve chairman and the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 16%. A sell-off in the bond market ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS By Gordon Platt The pace of capital raising using depositary receipts has accelerated sharply from last year, and the pipeline of future issues is strong, DR bankers say. Much of the recent activity ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: FOREIGN EXCHANGE By Gordon Platt Volatility has returned to the currency markets, as participants weigh the likelihood that the Federal Reserve could dial back on its purchases of bonds if the US economy improves. A relatively ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS By Gordon Platt Shanghui International, China’s biggest pork producer, agreed to pay $4.7 billion to acquire Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer. If the deal succeeds, it should be the biggest ...
NEWSMAKERS: ECUADOR By Gordon Platt Five days after Ecuador’s left-leaning president Rafael Correa was inaugurated for a third and final four-year term, the country’s ambassador to the US, Nathalie Cely, addressed a group of business leaders and investors at ...
NEWSMAKERS: US By Luca Ventura When AG Lafley handpicked Robert McDonald as his successor to the top post at Procter & Gamble in 2009, he could not have predicted that just four years later he would be called ...
NEWSMAKERS: ARGENTINA By Paula L. Green Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner isn’t afraid to tangle with the British, global bondholders, her own judicial system or even the International Monetary Fund. Fernández de Kirchner has until September to ...
NEWSMAKERS: LATVIA By Gilly Wright Praised by both the EU and the IMF for passing painful austerity measures, Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis will soon be rewarded by seeing his country become the 18th member of the eurozone. ...
The Impact Of Rising Prosperity On Economic Growth Growth in the world’s economy is moving large numbers of people out of poverty, and if the trend continues, the shift will be dramatic in many countries by the end of ...
