March 2011

COVER STORY: MIDDLE EAST   By Laurence Neville   Nervous investors are looking for signs of stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The region’s burgeoning investment banking industry may provide the reassurance they’re looking for.   The political ...

Best Treasury Management Systems & Services Providers Accounts Payable Services Bottomline Technologies As companies increase their focus on automating payables in order to reduce the inefficiencies associated with handling paper invoices and to reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), competition among ...

ANNUAL SURVEY: CASH CONTROL   By Anita Hawser   In a reflection of the changes taking place in the global economy, new battle lines are being drawn by the global cash management banks, particularly in regions like Asia and Africa. ...

Best Banks for Liquidity Management North America J.P. Morgan In 2010, J.P. Morgan Treasury Services rolled out the bank’s “integrated global liquidity platform,” J.P. Morgan ACCESS Liquidity Solutions, which provides customers with an overview of their global multicurrency cash and ...

  Best Banks for Payments and Collections North America Wells Fargo Payments and collections may be the bread and butter of most cash management banks, but the real differentiator is breadth and depth of capabilities, product innovation and market coverage. ...

Best Banks for Risk Management North America Bank of America Merrill Lynch Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s substantial investment in platforms and solutions in the treasury and cash management space is helping its clients gain a clearer view of their ...

  Best Providers of Money Market Funds North America J.P. Morgan Asset Management A consistent winner in this category, J.P. Morgan Asset Management has more than a $1 trillion in assets under management. It has a dedicated short-term investment division, ...

  Best White Label System Provider BNY Mellon Enterprise Treasury Services While other banks have made a concerted effort to white-label some of their solutions only in the past five to 10 years, BNY Mellon Enterprise Treasury Services has been ...

Best Bank for Cash Management: Global Winner Global Citi Citi’s Global Transaction Services division invests $1 billion annually in technology in an effort not only to keep up to speed with customers’ needs but to preempt their future requirements, particularly ...

EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR: DR NEWS   By Anita Hawser   The wave of Chinese companies opting to list on American exchanges continues with a China-based manufacturer of rare-earth coated and prestressed building materials for roads and bridges issuing five million ...

EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR: NEWS   By Anita Hawser   As the world’s key stock exchanges engage in a flurry of mergers aimed at cutting costs and boosting efficiency, Brazil’s BM&F; Bovespa—the fourth largest exchange operator in the world—is looking to ...

ROUNDUP: AFRICA   By Antonio Guerrero   Plans for launching a single West African currency by 2015, to be known as the Eco, are being thwarted by members’ failure to meet the program’s criteria.   Zuma: Calling for help Five ...

ROUNDUP: BRAZIL   By Antonio Guerrero   Healthy demand for Brazilian equities is driving a rush to list on Brazil’s BM&F; Bovespa Stock Exchange.   BM&F; Bovespa: Business is booming With corporations showing an appetite for raising cash to finance ...

ROUNDUP: CHINA   By Thomas Clouse   China imported $144 billion in goods in January, an increase of 51% over January 2010. The country’s exports also rose rapidly, growing 38% year-on-year to $151 billion.   Drought: Farmers suffer The resulting ...

ROUNDUP: INDIA   By Aaron Chaze   The Indian government’s Central Statistical Office (CSO) unveiled a new consumer price index that it says will measure inflation more accurately.   Stepping up: India’s mobiles get boost The government currently uses the ...

ROUNDUP: MIDDLE EAST   By Anita Hawser   In the wake of the political and social unrest that has been sweeping across the Middle East following the downfall of the Tunisian and Egyptian leaders, ratings agencies are preparing to issue ...

ROUNDUP:  RUSSIA   By Kim Iskyan   In mid-January, Russia’s key national oil company, Rosneft, and BP sealed a deal to swap shares and to jointly develop major oil fields in the Arctic.   Falling: Siberian oil output Under the ...

INDUSTRIAS BACHOCO: POULTRY PRODUCER OFFERS PROTECTION IN TROUBLED MARKET   By Anita Hawser   In times of uncertainty investors often turn to so-called defensive stocks, and Mexico poultry producer Industrias Bachoco is certainly that.   Despite other problems that may ...

MILESTONES: CANADA / UNITED KINGDOM   By Erik Heinrich   London Stock Exchange: Dominant partner? The proposed merger between the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has prompted criticisms that it would not be, as the ...

MILESTONES: ECUADOR/UNITED STATES   By Antonio Guerrero   Still waiting: Chevron's appeal delays payment of its fine When a provincial court in Ecuador in February ordered Chevron to pay an $8.6 billion fine for damaging the rainforest, the ruling intensified an ...

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES   By Denise Bedell   As budget season for US State and municipal authorities pushes into high gear, and as hedge funds and money managers begin touting the potential value of distressed municipal bonds,US-based corporations may find themselves ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: GLOBAL EQUITY/DRs   By Matt Greco   A hot start to the year is suggesting that equity markets worldwide may be setting the stage for a return to a 2007- like frenzy during which they entertain all ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS   By Denise Bedell   The early months of 2011 have seen a flurry of new M&A; transactions announced across a range of sectors and industries, but it is the announced transactions for stock ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: FOREIGN EXCHANGE   By Matt Greco   Things may not look quite as bleak as they did a couple of months ago when there was talk—however irresponsible—of currency wars as trade war by other means, but international ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT   By Matt Greco   The European sovereign and related bank debt crises should have only a minimal effect on the high-yield market in 2011.   The main reason: About 85% of the market still ...

NEWSMAKERS: COLOMBIA   By Antonio Guerrero   Santos: In talks with China over 250-mile rail link The first ship crossing the Panama Canal had barely completed its voyage, after the canal opened in 1914, when engineers and politicians began conspiring ...

NEWSMAKERS: GLOBAL   By Anita Hawser   Ligteringen: “Measure what you need to manage” “We are urging all companies to look systematically at their environmental,social and economic results,” says Ernst Ligteringen, CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which provides ...

NEWSMAKERS: ISRAEL   By Dan Keeler   Steinitz: One-year budgets are a “terrible mistake” Just two years after being mired in the depths of the global financial crisis, Israel is experiencing a sharp and sustained recovery that is the envy ...

NEWSMAKERS: THAILAND/CAMBODIA   By Thomas Clouse   Thai PM, Abhisit Vejjajiva The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) passed a crucial test last month after fighting that had erupted along a disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia resulted in at ...