Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
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 ...
UPDATE: BRAZIL By Antonio Guerrero Brazil’s new president has already impressed the business community. But can she impress her own party? Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla fighter, has gotten high grades from the nation’s ...
ANALYSIS: INTEREST-RATE AND EQUITY DERIVATIVES By Michael Shari Investors and corporations are revamping their derivatives strategies as they prepare for a resurgence of inflation. At the beginning of the year, investment bankers noticed that institutional investors, hedge ...
FOCUS: UK RECOVERY STRATEGY By Justin Keay The UK government’s savage spending cuts and deep austerity measures have been touted as a model recovery strategy for stumbling Western economies. Faltering growth is raising questions over the strategy’s validity. ...
COUNTRY REPORT: MEXICO By Paula L. Green Safeguards put in place after the Tequila Crisis helped Mexico’s banks ride out the recent global turmoil. Now they’re facing some new challenges. On the spot: Mexico’s president Calderón faces ...
EAST AFRICA: SUDAN SPLIT RESHAPES EAST AFRICA’S ECONOMY By Jonathan Gregson As Sudan prepares to divide into two countries, plans are already under way to help the South develop its substantial oil reserves. Unless there is a ...
TECHNOLOGY: BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE By Denise Bedell Mobile and social networking technologies are helping bring heavy-duty analytical capabilities to every level of a business. Anyone who thought social networking was useful only for catching up with old school ...
ASIA'S LIQUIDITY SURPLUS: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING? By Shu-Ching Jean Chen Top finance officials in Asia are eager to mitigate the debilitating effects of hot money flooding to the region. Corporations are less concerned . ...
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 ...
