July/August 2022

With the US Fed on an anti-inflation tear, the recent surge in the world’s foremost currency is leaving few companies unaffected.

As the MENA region prepares to host the world’s major climate-change policy event, COP27, Global Finance explored the region’s sustainability commitment and sustainable finance initiatives in a discussion with experts from MENA’s leading banks.

The market for financial products to support renewable energies and the transition to sustainable business practices continues to evolve, with sustainability-linked bonds and loans soaring in growth.

The Global Finance community gathered in person recently to honor outstanding leadership in sustainable finance and the world’s best investment banks.

Strategic partnerships and technological investments mark this year’s cream of the crop.

Bennett Freeman, associate fellow of Chatham House and former SVP of Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert Investments, speaks to Global Finance about environmental, social, and governance efforts worldwide.

Russia's war in Ukraine has led to a spike in energy prices that Europe can ill afford.

Investors may be fleeing Bitcoin but El Salvador's president seems determined to buy the dip.

The last time Germany had a trade deficit was in 1991.

Moscow argues that default is a technicality and that debt payments have been held up by Western sanctions.

Powered by high valuations and mainstream adoption of blockchain, dealmaking in the crypto industry is moving rapidly, opening an uncharted lane for traditional corporate finance.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández appointed Silvina Aída Batakis in a desperate attempt to calm investors amid a 64% year-over-year inflation rate.

Former guerrilla rebel Gustavo Petro pledged ambitious reforms in pensions, taxes, labor and health care on the campaign trail.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seeks to follow the path carved out by the late Shinzo Abe on foreign and defense policy while putting his own stamp on economic policy.

Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson steps down just three years after winning a historic mandate.

Layoffs hit the formerly hot tech sector.

The Kremlin is moving in on the holdings of foreign energy companies as the war in Ukraine drags on.

PayTo is expected to become a digital alternative to periodic payments and other similar arrangements.

Although national legislation for crypto assets already existed in some member states, no specific regulatory framework at the EU level has existed until now.

Foreign banks are pulling back from the Irish market amid regulatory tightening.

Saudi Arabia is looking to acquire a stake in British luxury car brand Aston Martin but such a move could damage the company's reputation.

Egypt’s Banque Misr and Turkey’s Ziraat Katilim are the first international banks to begin operations in Somalia.

More than 300 companies went public via mergers with SPACs over the past two years, but many of these listings proved to be problematic.

The decline in startup funding globally and the uncertainty around raising new venture funds have brought attention to new sources of capital for technology companies to address liquidity and operational concerns via venture debt financing.

Partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C. may derail the CHIPS Act, a $52 billion bill aimed at helping the U.S. catch up in the global race to secure semiconductor chips.

By embracing new technologies, Estonia has become the Baltic region’s economic rising star.

Gulf banks remain on par with their Western counterparts.

The GCC remains a small player in global fintech, but institutional support and capital availability encourage growth.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are leading frenzied activity in Gulf equity capital markets.

As the Ukrainian conflict blows up, the GCC economies hit the jackpot.

Ali H. Khalil, CEO of Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”, speaks to Global Finance about the effects of the Ukraine conflict and advancements in fintech.

Faisal AlHaroun is managing director of Tap Payments Kuwait and senior vice president of Tap Payments Global. He speaks to Global Finance about the evolution of fintech and its customers in the MENA region.