November 2007

PARTY ON! PRIVATE EQUITY   Private equity has had a tough year. It was hounded by legislators for its methods during the first half of 2007. And in the second half it was hit by the credit crunch. Can its ...

ANNUAL SURVEY / BEST DERIVATIVES PROVIDERS     The fourth annual Global Finance awards for the World’s Best Derivatives Providers comes at a time when derivatives are in the mainstream news as never before. The US subprime mortgage crisis has ...

  Gol: Planning share buyback   Investment banks say the recent US Fed rate cut, coupled with strong domestic fundamentals, bodes well for Brazilian capital market investors. “Fed easing since mid-August has opened up a new leg of the bull ...

CHINA     At China’s mid-October National People’s Congress, Hu Jintao kept his position as president and made a clear attempt to further consolidate his power. Premier Wen Jiaobao clung onto his position as well, despite some criticism lately concerning ...

INDIA     India calling: Global telecom firms muscle in on a fast-growing market. Following the recent acquisition of Indian telecom company Hutchinson Essar by Vodafone Group in May 2007 for $11 billion, Russian telecom company Sistema’s acquisition of a ...

NEWS     California’s San Bernardino County’s employees’ retirement plan awarded a $125 million mandate in October to London-based Ashmore Investment Management for investment in emerging market local-currency debt. “All our central bank clients and the majority of our pension ...

RUSSIA     Putin’s deft maneuvering will almost certainly see him retaining power In the second political bombshell in three weeks—following the surprise mid-September appointment of the obscure Victor Zubkov to replace prime minister Mikhail Fradkov—Russian president Vladimir Putin in ...

DR NEWS   Companies based in emerging market countries enjoy higher domestic share prices and improved home-market liquidity one year after opening a DR program, according to a study released in October by UK-based Oxford Metrica, an independent research firm. ...

COMPANY TO WATCH: PETRO CHINA/CHINA     Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, who is one of America’s most successful investors, could be sending a message about China’s red-hot stock market by cashing in most of his chips in PetroChina, ...

COUNTRY REPORT / CHINA     China’s continuing economic expansion may be a bumpy ride, but the country’s prospects still look remarkably good.   Reach for the skies: China’s newfound wealth is reflected in its grand plans for Shanghai and ...

COUNTRY REPORT / CHINA China’s continuing economic expansion may be a bumpy ride, but the country’s prospects still look remarkably good.     Reach for the skies: China’s newfound wealth is reflected in its grand plans for Shanghai and beyond, ...

UNITED STATES     Hank Paulson: Eager for Uncle Sam to avoid bailing out major American banks. The United States Treasury in effect told the big American banks last month to clean up their own mess and not to look ...

EUROPE     Europe's payments landscape is set to change dramatically with market reforms. Banks and companies in other parts of the world are watching with interest as the deadline for radical transformation of the UK and Europe’s cross-border payments ...

CANADA/UNITED STATES Piling up: The loonie posts record gains against the US dollar. Record prices for Canadian commodities have combined with a surge in foreign investment, robust job growth and the US Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut to send ...

VENEZUELA     Rodrigo Cabezas: New currency will help fight inflation. Venezuela is gearing up for the introduction of a new currency to replace the bolivar, in circulation since 1879, in a move the Hugo Chávez administration hopes will help ...

GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS     China has approved a series of major IPOs in recent weeks in an attempt to cool its soaring stock markets by flooding them with a growing supply of new issues. The country’s main Shanghai index has ...

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS     Energy companies are fueling a merger boom in Europe, as the industry continues to restructure in response to liberalized markets and foreign competition. Investment bankers are welcoming the advisory fees from these huge deals at ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS / CORPORATE DEBT     The high-yield bond market in the United States has revived, thanks in part to the Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut on September 18, with some companies able to double the size ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS  / FOREIGN EXCHANGE     The dollar tumbled to a record low against a basket of leading currencies known as the dollar index at the end of September and likely will fall further, but no dollar crisis ...

UNITED KINGDOM/UNITED STATES     Divett: Offshoring IT involves hidden costs. Offshoring information technology services is an emotive subject that incites mixed responses from most companies. Although Wall Street financial firms were among the early adopters of outsourcing, sending their ...

UNITED STATES     Nikola Swann: External imbalances put the dollar at risk of ratings downgrade. Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Nikola Swann says the dollar’s preeminent role in the world cannot be taken for granted. The greenback is still ...

SPONSORED ROUNDTABLE As they expand their own businesses, clients are demanding increasingly sophisticated services from their global custodians.   GLOBAL FINANCE: How has the recent market volatility affected global custodians?   JAY MARTIN , senior vice president, global custody regional ...