June 2010

COVER STORY: CORE VALUES   Companies at the cutting edge of corporate responsibility are weaving their citizenship efforts into the strategic heart of the business.   By Dan Keeler   In the decade or so since the phrase "corporate social ...

ANNUAL SURVEY: BEST INVESTMENT BANKS   Earnings from investment banking helped major financial institutions return to profitability, but the rules are changing.   By Gordon Platt   Major banks reported hefty gains in first-quarter 2010 profits, with a powerful assist ...

BEST LEGAL ADVISERS   Global Skadden Skadden, or more formally Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, was the number-one legal adviser on global mergers and acquisitions announced in 2009, according to Thomson Reuters. The firm advised on 173 M&A; deals ...

COUNTRY WINNERS   North America Canada Scotia Capital Scotia Capital, the wholesale banking arm of Scotiabank, had a record year in 2009 for its equity platform. The bank participated in 211 equity deals, valued at $8.5 billion. In September 2009 ...

DEALS OF THE YEAR   Equity Deal Lloyds Banking Group's $22.5 billion rights issue Lead underwriters: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank, Citi, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and J.P. Morgan Cazenove In November 2009 UK-based Lloyds Banking Group's record ...

GLOBAL WINNERS   Investment Bank J.P. Morgan J.P. Morgan is the best current example of a success story on Wall Street. With its fortress balance sheet and careful management of risk, the bank grew and remained profitable throughout the financial ...

REGIONAL WINNERS   North America Investment Bank J.P. Morgan J.P. Morgan reported net revenue from investment banking of $8.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010. The bank not only led in debt and equity underwriting worldwide, as well as ...

SECTOR WINNERS   Consumer Lazard Lazard was financial adviser on some of the biggest deals of 2009, including Kraft Foods' takeover of Cadbury, the British chocolate maker. This deal stands as a tribute to Bruce Wasserstein, the veteran dealmaker and ...

ISLAMIC FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AWARDS 2010   Islamic financial institutions were not immune to the turmoil of the past two years, but their strict ethical code helped them prosper in many areas where others foundered.   By Laurence Neville   The ...

Roundup   By Aaron Chaze   Desperate: India needs to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure The Indian government is planning to establish an $11 billion infrastructure debt fund with the objective of investing in the power sector and in roads ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   South Africa’s central bank: Shareholders to get less control Nigeria has secured a $915 million concessionary loan from the World Bank to help the government fund infrastructure development projects. Funds will be drawn between ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Hot property: Vale sells its aluminum business to Norsk Hydro In what is ranked as one of the largest acquisitions ever by a Norwegian company, Norway's Norsk Hydro aluminum producer signed a $4.9 billion ...

Roundup   By Thomas Clouse   Expo frenzy: Shanghai expects 70 million visitors China's consumer prices rose by the greatest margin in 18 months in April, while property prices increased by the fastest rate since the country began publishing the ...

Roundup   By Gordon Platt   Amman: Jordan government signs deal on oil shale reserves The Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union are aiming to sign a free trade agreement at a joint ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on June ...

Roundup   By Kim Iskyan   Shuvalov: Russia is revising its plan to join WTO During a late April trip to Washington, DC, first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said that Russia would abandon its plan to try to join ...

Investor: Company to Watch Cosan/Brazil   By Gordon Platt   Cosan, one of Brazil's largest producers of sugar and ethanol, plans to form a $12 billion joint venture with Shell International Petroleum, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell. The São ...

Investor: News   By Gordon Platt   Emerging market debt has a unique attraction for investors seeking higher yields than are available on US treasuries but who lack the appetite for risk in volatile emerging market equities. Investors are pouring ...

Investor: DR News   By Gordon Platt   UK-based Standard Chartered Bank filed a draft prospectus to raise a minimum of $500 million in the form of Indian depositary receipts. "The issue will increase our market visibility and brand profile, ...

TECHNOLOGY & TREASURY MANAGEMENT — E-INVOICING Companies are taking a second look at electronic invoicing as they begin to evaluate longer-term efficiency and cost reduction programs for the financial supply chain.   By Denise Bedell   With the treasury and ...

ENABLE EFFICIENCY   Welcome to the first Technology & Treasury Management Supplement Global Finance has published. We recognize that technology has always been a key enabler of treasury management, with treasury management workstations and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems facilitating ...

TECHNOLOGY & TREASURY MANAGEMENT — TREASURY SOLUTIONS   Treasury modules offered by enterprise resource planning systems providers are threatening full-suite treasury systems.   By Denise Bedell   As companies focus more on cost savings, there is an equilibrium that must ...

CANADIAN CORPORATES BENEFIT FROM EARLY RECOVERY   With the US recovery still on shaky ground, Canada has seen growth spike, debt markets open wide for Canadian corporates and strong interest from foreign investors in both traditional debt and infrastructure project ...

MILESTONES: EMERGING MARKETS   Private Equity Focuses on Emerging Opportunities   By Anita Hawser   Thunell: Extolling the virtues of emerging markets While developed markets flounder in a post-crisis quagmire of sovereign debt, developing markets are enjoying much better times—and private ...

MILESTONES: LATIN AMERICA   Investment Floods Back To Latin America   By Antonio Guerrero   High and dry: Caribbean countries may miss out Following a hefty 42% yearon- year drop in FDI in Latin America last year, investors appear to ...

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES   Responsible Corporations Gain Protection   By Denise Bedell   Safekeeping: New law will protect companies’ ethical goals For companies that aim to always be socially and environmentally minded, achieving growth without giving up that goal can be ...

MILESTONES: RUSSIA Russia Taps Global Markets For First Time in 12 Years   By Kim Iskyan   Moscow calling: Russia tests investor sentiment Russia tapped global fixed-income markets in late April in a highly anticipated issue divided into a $2 billion ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — CORPORATE DEBT   ISSUANCE EBBS IN VOLATILE MARKET   By Gordon Platt   Reverberations from the debt crisis in Greece rattled through the corporate debt market in early May, causing extremely volatile conditions that disrupted what ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS   IPOS PULLED FOLLOWING MARKET DECLINES   By Gordon Platt   A sharp drop in world equity markets triggered a host of cancellations and postponements of planned initial public offerings in early May. Many of ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS   CORPORATE FINANCE FOCUS   CHINA AND INDIA'S COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES CAUSING RISE IN CROSS-BORDER ACQUISITIONS   By Gordon Platt   Mergers and acquisitions in emerging markets are heating up, and China and ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — FOREIGN EXCHANGE   GREEK DEBT CRISIS MORPHING INTO EURO PROBLEM   By Gordon Platt   The nearly $1 trillion plan to defuse Europe's debt crisis headed off speculation in credit default swaps, bank equities and bond ...

NEWSMAKERS: MONTENEGRO   Montenegro Aims To Be The Next Mediterranean Tiger   By Justin Keay   Luksic: Reforms should help attract investors Most small European countries are still suffering in the wake of the recent downturn, with foreign direct investment (FDI) ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   Obama Administration Continues Export Drive   By Denise Bedell   Gregoire: Coordinating efforts on export promotion The Obama administration has set a goal of doubling US exports in the next five years and announced the development ...

NEWSMAKERS: PHILIPPINES   Philippines Chooses Corruption Fighter For President   By Thomas Clouse   Aquino: Promises to investigate previous election results Benigno Aquino III will become the next president of the Philippines, after his pledges to fight corruption and reduce ...

NEWSMAKERS: BOLIVIA   Rating Upgrade Vindicates Morales’s Policies   By Antonio Guerrero   Morales: High hopes for Bolivia’s econom y While many international investors have grown to distrust Bolivian president Evo Morales, a socialist who nationalized the hydrocarbons sector and telephone company, ...