November 2010

COVER STORY: KENYA – REBIRTH OF A NATION   By Dan Keeler   With a new constitution, bold economic targets and an ambitious social development strategy, Kenya is determined to become the new star of Africa. All the signs so ...

ANNUAL REPORT: GENTLY DOES IT.   By Thomas Clouse   China's rapid recovery after the global financial crisis may yet foreshadow a hard landing as the government struggles to rein in the perennially red-hot real estate market.     Real ...

EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR: DR NEWS   By Gordon Platt   The Russian securities market regulator revoked the license of the Moscow Central Depositary, following an audit that alleged that the depositary ignored court rulings, the regulator's own instructions and regulations ...

EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR: NEWS   By Gordon Platt   Equity funds that are mandated to invest in all emerging markets globally ended September with their 18th consecutive week of net inflows, according to Cambridge, Massachusetts–based EPFR Global. Year-to-date flows into ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Ghana’s mining sector gets a funding boost from China Ghana has become the leading recipient in sub-Saharan Africa of Chinese infrastructure financing, giving China unrivaled access to the country's commodities sector. Ghana signed a ...

ROUNDUP   By Antonio Guerrero   Brazil lights up at the prospect of increased foreign investment Sinopec, China's second-largest oil and gas producer, is investing $7.1 billion in the Brazilian unit of Spain's Repsol YPF oil company. The capital increase, ...

ROUNDUP   By Thomas Clouse   Liu: China was furious over his Nobel Prize China's trade surplus fell to a five month low of $16.9 billion in September. Down almost 16% from August the figure reflected slower year-on-year growth rates ...

ROUNDUP   By Aaron Chaze   Mining a rich seam: Coal India lines up India’s largest IPO India's financial markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), says it will soon allow the auction of Indian government bonds ...

ROUNDUP   By Gordon Platt   Dubai returns to the capital markets with bond issue Dubai's successful return to the international capital markets could pave the way for state-owned companies to tap the Eurobond market. Dubai's first new issue since ...

ROUNDUP   By  Kim Iskyan   Hard line: Russian president Medvedev asserts his power Following an exceptionally bitter and increasingly dirty public struggle with the Kremlin, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was fired in late September, after 18 years in office. ...

EMERGING MARKETS INVESTOR: COMPANY TO WATCH   By Gordon Platt   LDK Solar, based in Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Xinyu City, in China's Jiangxi Province, announced an $8.9 billion five-year strategic financing agreement with China Development Bank, easing a long-running cash ...

TRAIL BLAZERS   By Gordon Platt   Trade between emerging market countries is driving a campaign for a new currency order.   The Bric countries—Brazil, Russia, India and China—have a combined gross domestic product that is greater than that of ...

READY FOR PRIME TIME   By Gordon Platt   Trade between emerging market countries is driving a campaign for a new currency order.   Future growth of the foreign exchange prime brokerage industry will come from asset managers that are ...

China's trade deficit with the US rose to another record in August, fanning the brush fires that have broken out in the currency markets. Currency issues dominated talks at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank ...

RALLY CAUSES CONCERN AMONG EXPORTERS   By Jonathan Gregson   After a year in the doldrums, the euro's rise has caught many by surprise.   Europe currently looks like the unintended fall guy amidst the beggar-thy-neighbor round of central bank ...

WHO'S WHO   By Gordon Platt   Key players in foreign exchange.   Jamie Thorsen Executive managing director BMO Capital Markets Jamie Thorsen heads global foreign exchange operations in Canada, the US and Europe for BMO Capital Markets and oversees ...

REFORM CANDIDATE   By Justin Keay   Sharply rising capital inflows and a stable banking sector have helped Lebanon achieve impressive economic growth. Maintaining it will require far-reaching reforms, though.   Winston Churchill once famously described Russia as a riddle ...

MILESTONES: DUBAI   By Laurence Neville   New hope: Dubai bourse buoyed by Axiom IPO Nasdaq Dubai has got another roll of the dice with an IPO from local mobile-phone retailer Axiom ticking all the right boxes to generate interest ...

MILESTONE: EUROPE   By Anita Hawser   Slow implementation has hindered SEPA With the threat of sovereign defaults in Europe's PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece Spain), the eurozone had its fair share of bad news this summer. As the sovereign and ...

MILESTONES: MEXICO   By Antonio Guerrero   Mexico’s financing needs taken care of with century bond Mexico may have set the stage for a stampede in October when it successfully issued Latin America's first-ever sovereign century bond, a $1 billion, ...

MILESTONES: TAIWAN   By Thomas Clouse   On the rise: Taipei prices Taiwan's export orders hit a record high of $34.9 billion in August, up 23.3% year on year, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, with orders for IT ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — CORPORATE DEBT   By Gordon Platt   The third quarter set a record for global issuance of high-yield bonds and pushed the year-to-date total above any full-year total on record, according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts expect ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS — GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS   By Gordon Platt   State-owned Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, was seeking to raise up to $3.5 billion in the country's biggest initial public offering, which began on October 18. That ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS - FOREIGN EXCHANGE   By Gordon Platt   Brazil's finance minister, Guido Mantega, touched a raw nerve when he stated in late September that an international currency war had broken out. It may seem like a war ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS - MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS   By Gordon Platt   Worldwide mergers and acquisitions are increasing, and the proportion of takeover offers that are unsolicited is at the highest level in at least a decade. The value of ...

NEWSMAKERS: FRANCE   By Denise Bedell   Smooth move: Sarkozy hopes to rein in price volatility Commodity speculation is once again in the spotlight as Angela Merkel, German chancellor, has announced her support for plans by incoming G20 president Nicolas ...

NEWSMAKERS: SOUTH AFRICA   By Nick Kochan   Johannesburg: Setback after HSBC pull-out HSBC's decision to walk away from its proposed $8 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in South African bank Nedbank is little short of dramatic. Having announced ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED KINGDOM   By Anita Hawser   Hogg: Code will be catalyst In the wake of the financial crisis, which highlighted the need for higher levels of engagement between the boards of companies and significant shareholders, corporate governance is ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Gordon Platt   Spending again: US shoppers head to the mall Surprisingly strong US retail sales in September virtually ruled out the possibility of a double-dip recession. Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of US ...

GATHERING MOMENTUM   Moderated by Joseph Giarraputo   At a roundtable in London, Global Finance brought together leading figures in the supply chain finance field to discuss key developments in the industry.       Tom Dunn Orbian Thomas Dunn ...