Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
Costelloe says CEOs should be paid for performance Change-of-control agreements didn’t go away during the lull in M&A;, says Friske of Towers Perrin. “The golden parachutes have been there since the dot-com era. They are fairly standard across US companies.” ...
Mergers inflate golden parachutes as payouts to CEOs of target companies soar. A rising tide of mergers and acquisitions in 2005, led by Procter & Gamble’s $57 billion purchase of Gillette, is expected to continue in 2006, triggering huge payouts ...
Delves questions if big payouts are necessary. According to Delves, the reason most often given by corporate boards for approving such cushy compensation agreements is to protect the shareholders. “This rationale is in direct opposition to the truth,” he says. ...
While executive compensation and golden handshakes are smaller in Europe than in the US, they have been making headlines in Germany. In December the German Supreme Court, or Bundesgerichtshof, ordered a retrial of Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann and five ...
Yield-hungry investors are piling into a market that offers high returns, reduced risks and a degree of inflation protection. The success of the leveraged loan market in 2005, when lending exceeded $500 billion for the first time ever, has brought ...
Europe Leads The Way In Derivatives Development As the trend toward using equity derivatives in corporate finance sweeps Europe, the situation in the US couldn’t be more different. Companies have long used equity derivatives to help manage equity-related risk. Now ...
After enduring some stormy times, Brazil is beginning to see the results of President Lula’s careful—but sometimes controversial—economic management. When Brazilians go to the polls in October to choose a president and the nation’s legislators, many may be making their ...
Global Finance selects the best treasury and cash management banks, globally and by region, and the best providers of treasury management systems and services by category. With companies casting their nets further afield for growth opportunities, there is increasing pressure ...
Global India’s Tata group was putting the final touches on a proposed $2.5 billion investment in power, steel, fertilizer and coal projects in Bangladesh as Global Finance went to press. The company warned that it may move the projects elsewhere ...
India Strikers block the road into New Delhi’s airport Policymakers finally approved the privatization of two major airports in early February—those of Mumbai and New Delhi. This was a long-awaited and contentious development that the labor unions and the government’s ...
Brazil Taking advantage of high international reserves of nearly $57 billion and strong international liquidity, the Brazilian National Treasury launched a program in January to buy back its outstanding Brady bonds as well as other short-term government instruments maturing before ...
Dr News Foreign companies that list their shares on US as well as domestic exchanges, known as cross-listing, enjoy sustained higher market valuations, a recent study shows. The study found that global investors were more confident when non-US companies bond ...
Russia AvtoVAZ's joint venture with GM is on the rocks Rumors circulated that metals giant Norilsk Nickel has discussed merging with state-owned diamonds giant Alrosa, suggesting that the Kremlin is accelerating its drive to control key sectors of the economy. ...
News Private capital flows to emerging markets rose to a record net $358 billion in 2005, an increase of $40 billion from a year earlier and well above the previous record of $324 billion in 1996, according to the Washington, ...
Company To Watch: Reliance Industries/India Mumbai-based Reliance Industries, ’s largest private-sector company, has spun off its power, telecom, financial services and natural resources units to settle a feud in the Ambani family, which holds a 34% stake. The petrochemicals and ...
China ICBC: Preparing for its IPO State-owned Bank of China (BOC) has yet to set a date for its initial public offering as it reportedly debates a possible dual listing in the Hong Kong and the domestic A-share markets. The ...
Global Finance selects the best treasury and cash management banks, globally and by region, and the best providers of treasury management systems and services by category. With companies casting their nets further afield for growth opportunities, there is increasing pressure ...
Global India’s Tata group was putting the final touches on a proposed $2.5 billion investment in power, steel, fertilizer and coal projects in Bangladesh as Global Finance went to press. The company warned that it may move the projects elsewhere ...
Japan Japanese consumers, known for their tight-fisted spending habits, are finally beginning to loosen up. This change in behavior could be a blessing, not only for the deflation-ravaged Japanese economy, but for Japan’s neighbors and trading partners as well. Japan’s ...
India Indian technology companies have long been in demand from private equity investors, but now that demand has enveloped sectors ranging from retail to real estate. In addition, global investment structures are emerging in the private equity drive that show ...
Russia Raiffeisen International’s expansion strategy in CEE stepped up a gear in February with its acquisition of Russian retail bank Impexbank for $550 million, making it the largest foreign-owned banking group in Russia. Impexbank, which is owned by seven Russian ...
Corporate Debt The recent increase in worldwide mergers and acquisitions is resulting in a rise in large corporate bond issues to raise money to help pay for the takeovers and to take advantage of low long-term interest rates. Global corporate ...
United states Bernanke: Straightforward presentation In his first semi-annual testimony before Congress on February 15, the new Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, sounded more like a grizzly than the “Gentle Ben” that some analysts had anticipated. His upbeat assessment of ...
Argentina Kirchner: Making new friends After being regarded as the scourge of the international financial community when he completed the largest-ever sovereign debt restructure—a more than $100 billion deal with somewhat draconian haircuts—Argentine president Nestor Kirchner is redeeming himself. Investors ...
United states Still looking: Morgan Stanley’s John Mack John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley, who took over the firm last June following the ouster of Philip Purcell, made it clear that major acquisitions would be a significant part of his ...
United states Ken Lay arriving at the courthouse The landmark trial of Jeffrey Skilling, Enron’s former chief executive, and Kenneth Lay, its former chairman, could have a widespread effect on corporate governance in America and the confidence of investors in ...
