July/August 2016

Robots, ubiquitous in factories, are moving up to take on both menial paperwork and complex data analysis. Should we worry?

Picture investment recommendations tailored or customized to individual needs or personality traits, provided cheaply via a highly intuitive digital interface.

Ethiopia actively courts and sincerely welcomes foreign direct investment, but its early stage of development presents challenges.

Demands for tech-enhanced service, a younger cohort of clients and worldwide regulation are driving innovation.

Clubs offer the ultrarich safe spaces to talk money with financial equals.

Paul Fleming, executive vice president and global head of securities finance at State Street, sees securities lenders experimenting to meet the cost of complying with Basel III. banking rules.

For 2016, Global Finance expanded the scope of the survey to include sectors such as: Prime Brokers, Securities Lenders, Collateral Managers, Trust Services Providers and Depositary Receipt Banks.

Anthony Moro, head of EMEA depositary receipts at BNY Mellon in New York, sees countries around the world developing their own DRs.

Grappling with new technology and regulatory pressures, securities services must keep pace with rapid change or be swept away.

Samir Pandiri, executive vice president and CEO of asset servicing at BNY Mellon, explains how regulations and demand for seamless products are driving innovation.

Michael Albanese, global head of collateral management at JPMorgan Chase, talks about how collateral management is changing and gaining acceptance in new quarters.

Lee Waite, global head of direct custody and clearing at Citi, discusses the challenges in subcustody sparked by regulators’ increasing focus on worldwide financial transactions.

Mary Ann Deignan, co-head of global equity capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, explains how her firm approaches depositary receipts.

Peter Cherecwich, head of global fund services and executive vice president of Northern Trust in Chicago, says securities services providers are partnering up to meet growing demand worldwide.

Aaron Brickman, senior vice president for strategy and development at the Organization for International Investment (OFII), a nonprofit trade association, also founded SelectUSA, a federal program to promote foreign direct investment in the US. He visited Global Finance to discuss the state of FDI worldwide.

ASIA | The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank began its efforts to finance Asia’s vast need for infrastructure this year. What are the prospects? 

PORTUGAL | With a hefty debt overhang, Portugal can’t quit now on structural reform.

ASIA | As the regional powerhouse restructures and tackles debt problems, neighboring nations are feeling the impact.

POLAND | New political party’s moves to roll back market initiatives may damage Poland’s relatively strong economy.

After 17 years of construction, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, connecting Northern and Southern Europe through the Alps, opened to great fanfare on June 1, and shone a light on years of lax investment in infrastructure by European nations generally. 

Brazil | Despite the optimistic expectations in 2009, when Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the competition in August is not likely to show Brazil in the best light.

The United Kingdom | Individuals and corporate teams alike are struggling through the implications of Brexit, looking for opportunities, and still hoping the whole thing will go away. 

Brazil | Pedro Parente, who was appointed CEO of state-controlled oil producer Petrobras on May 19, brings both corporate and government experience to the new role.

Peru | Even though Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was elected Peru’s new president by a whisker, his victory was greeted with enthusiasm at home and abroad.

Jordan | Hani Mulki, a former Jordanian minister, was appointed interim prime minister in May.

US | When Microsoft bought LinkedIn, the deal was structured to leave the networking site to grow and develop somewhat independently. The question is, how independently? 

Highly compensated Israeli bank executives feel harried by a new law placing limits on their salaries.  

China’s recent efforts to make it easier for global investors to access its enormous stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were not enough to persuade MSCI to include these “China A shares” in its widely followed Emerging Markets Index just yet.

European Union regulation will likely spark a talent war for data protection officers -- and lead to a shortage.

With interest rates in the gutter, large corporations are looking to put their excess funds to good use.

Following the FX benchmark rate-fixing scandal, which saw six banks fined almost $6 billion, currency traders at corporate and financial institutions worldwide are revising how they execute transactions.

As sovereign issuers tried to lock in record-low interest rates ahead of any increases by the US Federal Reserve, a record amount of new sovereign bonds was sold in the first part of 2016.

A squeeze on earnings and a rise in funding costs have persuaded many US companies to commit less cash to buying back their own shares this year.

Forget about the hoards of cash held by some US nonfinancial corporations. For most of them, their biggest worry may soon be their debt.

The theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank earlier this year highlights the problems that accompany technology’s benefits.

Amid the surge in global trade, financial institutions are revisiting the way they conduct transaction banking.

SWIFT's Sibos conference this year shows its continued growth and importance, 38 years after its creation.

Banks and fintech firms are finding synergy in partnerships that join the former’s market know-how with the latter’s technological wizardry.

We delve into cyberhacking and security, fintech partnerships, Blockchain and the Cloud. In short, all the hot topics in financial technology at SIBOS this year.

Blockchain, the Cloud and the Internet of Things are luring trade finance away from its reliance on paper.

Fintech collaborations may be on the verge of yielding concrete solutions for monitoring and compliance.

Can the Saudis’ $2 trillion Public Investment Fund transition the kingdom to a post-oil economy?

GCC nations are constantly recalculating the cost/benefit ratio of maintaining the dollar peg. Lately, external pressures give the question new urgency. 

Striving to shake its oil dependence, Kuwait is opening up to foreign ownership. Will investors bite?

From financial services to healthcare to tourism, the Emirates is exploring and expanding into new non-oil businesses.

Sparkling office towers won’t draw business without the right policies.

These are exciting times for the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as the decline in oil revenues is forcing them to finally make dramatic changes to their oil-based economies.

From shoring up sovereign funds to drawing FDI to enhancing its soft infrastructure, Gulf Cooperation Council countries take up a range of tactics to diversify and strengthen their economies.