November 2009

Sustainable Procurement   Rising transportation costs and impending rules on carbon emissions are prompting companies to reassess their sourcing strategies. Many are realizing substantial savings in the process.   By Anita Hawser   When London was awarded the 2012 Olympic ...

Regional Report / Asia Investment   Investment into—and out of—Asia bucked the global trend over the past year as China and India continue to power the region’s economic progress.   By Thomas Clouse   The past year has been a ...

CORPORATE CARDS GO GLOBAL AND VIRTUAL   Companies are reworking their corporate card programs and setting up new corporate purchase card programs to improve spend management and gain greater control over global expenses.   By Denise Bedell     Companies ...

INTELLECTUAL VALUES   Companies on the hunt for liquidity are unearthing hidden treasures in their intellectual property portfolios.   By Antonio Guerrero   As companies strive to make the best use of their assets, to focus on their core operations ...

  Location: IMF Annual Meetings, Istanbul   WORLD’S BEST BANKS 2009   Global Finance’s 13th annual Best Banks awards ceremony was held in early October in Istanbul, as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were ...

Derivatives Stage A Comeback   Market participants are rediscovering the appeal of derivatives, and the providers that stayed the course during the recent meltdown are reaping the benefits.   By Laurence Neville   In the year covered by Global Finance’s ...

Roundup   —Antonio Guerrero   China is extending its access to Africa’s raw materials with a new deal in which it will provide some $7.2 billion in financing to the de-facto government in Guinea, the world’s largest bauxite producer and ...

Investor   Argentine Electric Company Lists ADRs In New York.   By GP   Pampa Energía, which generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Argentina, listed American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange on October 9, and its chairman, ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Banco Santander Brasil, the local subsidiary of Spanish banking giant Banco Santander, in October raised more than $8 billion in Brazil’s largest-ever IPO and the world’s largest this year. Abu Dhabi’s state-controlled Aabar Investments ...

Roundup   By Thomas Clouse   Going east: GM’s Hummer brand heads to China China celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1 with a morning parade through the main avenues of Beijing, an ...

Investor   HSBC Indian Equity Fund Produces Strong Return.   By Gordon Platt   Sanjiv Duggal, investment director of equities at Halbis, the active fundamental investment management arm of HSBC Global Asset Management, closely monitors the progress of the monsoons, ...

Roundup   By Aaron Chaze   In a sign of returning confidence, corporate India is rushing to market with a rash of IPOs and share offerings. During the last week of September alone, 20 Indian companies filed draft prospectuses with ...

Roundup   By Gordon Platt   Topping out: The colossal Burj tower nears completion Economic growth for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will reach 5.2% next year on the back of rising oil revenues, the International Monetary Fund forecasts. A ...

Investor   Potash Producer Loves Green Shoots In Global Economy.   By GP   Israel Chemicals is one of the best-positioned potash producers in the world, given its exclusive concession from the Israeli government to extract a seemingly endless supply ...

Roundup   By Kim Iskyan   Beating the booze: President Medvedev takes aim at alcoholism In early October Norway’s Telenor and Russian investment vehicle Alfa Group announced an agreement to merge VimpelCom and Kyivstar, their jointly controlled Russian and Ukrainian ...

Who’s Who   ILYA SOROKIN president and CEO ActForex Ilya Sorokin is president and CEO of ActForex, a New York-based provider of retail foreign exchange trading platforms. The firm’s Internet Currency Trading System (ICTS) has the ability to accommodate various ...

Swaps   Foreign exchange swaps appear to be about to emerge unscathed from the flurry of new regulation prompted by the recent financial turmoil.   By Gordon Platt   Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, released a ...

Gordon Platt Contributing Writer gplatt@gfmag.com   Conspiracy theories abound about the so-called demise of the dollar. When all is said and done, however, the dollar no doubt will remain widely held by central banks and citizens of the world, and ...

Managing Volatility   Accurately predicting currency movements can make the difference between profit and loss for a multinational. Fortunately, help is at hand.   By Gordon Platt   Finance ministers and central bankers have a habit of substituting “volatility” for ...

Spread Betting   Spread betting is becoming an increasingly popular form of FX trading. Its proponents are hoping it will grow as a risk management tool, too.   By Anita Hawser   Its initial popularity—and notoriety—may have been among sports ...

  EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR       As Brazilian president Lula prepares to step down, the country is facing a remarkably bright future—and a presidential election that is far from a foregone conclusion.   By Antonio Guerrero   Brazilian ...

  BUCKING THE GLOBAL TREND   Lebanon sidestepped the global turmoil and is busy building on its newfound prosperity.   By Justin Keay   On any morning in downtown Beirut—along the sunny Corniche or in the cafes in the reconstructed ...

Hungary   By Justin Keay   Bajnai: Credited with pulling Hungary back from the brink Its economy could contract by 6.7% this year and 0.9% in 2010, foreign debt is at record levels and the public mood very sour, but ...

Middle East   By Gordon Platt   Sulaiman: Keen to develop efficient capital markets In its first sukuk to raise long-term funds in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is giving a shot in the arm ...

Corporate Debt   Taking Away The Punch Bowl Could End Rip-roaring Party In The Credit Markets.   By Gordon Platt   The fxed-income markets have produced some of the biggest returns ever this year, as central banks around the world ...

Bernanke Heads Off Big Attack On Dollar With Rate-Hike Talk By Gordon Platt The dollar has lost 12% against a basket of currencies since President Barack Obama took office in January, but selling of the greenback has been orderly, and ...

Equity Capital Underwriting Fees Rise 33%   Gordon Platt   Underwriting fees from global equity capital market transactions in the first nine months of 2009 rose 33% from the same period a year earlier to an estimated $14.8 billion, according ...

Morgan Stanley Leads After Three Quarters   BY Gordon Platt   Morgan Stanley edged out Goldman Sachs as the top financial adviser on mergers and acquisitions worldwide in the first three quarters of 2009, as M&A; activity declined 38% from ...

Asia   By Thomas Clouse   Lee Myung-bak, Wen Jiabao and Yukio Hatoyama in Beijing China, Japan and South Korea have pledged to work more closely with each other on issues ranging from economic development to environmental protection and nuclear ...

Mexico   By Antonio Guerrero   LFC workers protest against Calderón’s actions When Mexican president Felipe Calderón decided in October that the staterun LFC electrical utility had sapped resources for too long, to the tune of $3 billion in annual ...

United Kingdom   By Gordon Platt   King: Lambasting banks for their lavish bonuses After bungling his handling of the Northern Rock crisis in 2007, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, was blamed for creating the crisis that ...

Russia   By Kim Iskyan   United front: Putin and Medvedev stand together Outside of Hollywood, there are few relationships that are watched more closely than that between Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and his protégé—and boss, theoretically— president Dmitry ...

PROVIDING A VITAL NEW LINK IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN.   Global Finance brings together some of the leading experts in supply-chain finance to discuss developments and opportunities in this fast-growing field.   Moderated by Joseph Giarraputo   Global Finance: What’s ...

  PROVIDING CONFIDENCE IN TROUBLED TIMES   As they seek to better understand and manage the risks and value in their portfolios, investors are looking for more support than ever from their custody and investors’ services providers.   Moderated by ...