Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP ANZ Banking Group, the smallest of the four-largest Australian banks, expects to meet its 8% earnings growth target this year, despite weakness in corporate loan demand, its traditional area of strength. While ANZ ...
AUSTRIA BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT Austria’s largest banking group, with total assets of approximately $166 billion, has just become Europe’s largest IPO of the year. In July parent company HVB of Germany spun off a primary listing on the Vienna Stock ...
ARGENTINA NOT AWARDED BOLIVIA BANCO BISA Banco Bisa continues to be the best performer in a country slogging through political and economic turmoil that has left its banking system in disarray. After 30 years of operation, Bolivia’s largest bank continues ...
BAHRAIN NATIONAL BANK OF BAHRAIN National Bank of Bahrain is recognized for both its wholesale activities (NBB has lead arranged several important project finance deals in the country’s modernization drive and is rated highly for trade finance) as well as ...
UNITED STATES CITIGROUP Its banking franchise in the United States is not as large as its global presence, but Citibank is still hard to beat. The banking unit of the giant Citigroup made a move to expand its geographical presence ...
AFTER WEATHERING TWO terrible years, the world’s banks must have been looking forward to a less tempestuous time in 2003. And that was what they got. Sure, there have been trouble spots in the past year, too, but most of ...
High energy prices could prove to be a tonic for a market that has been under the weather for the past few years. Global Finance selects the winners from a shrinking group of banks with the appetite to take on ...
IT’S BEEN A TUMULTUOUS YEAR for the world’s central bankers. There have been resignations, falls from grace, surprise appointments—and, of course, the usual economic crises to tackle. Given the circumstances, it may come as a surprise that the number of ...
CLS Bank was introduced to address foreign exchange settlement risk in the interbank market,but its risk-reduction and netting benefits could find wider application among corporate treasurers and fund managers. The specter of foreign exchange settlement risk has preoccupied the international ...
As the profitability of pure custody services continues to decline, global custodians are realizing their dreams of moving up the corporate value chain. Jeff Conway, managing director, investor services UK, at State Street The bear market has been tough for ...
EUROPE The euro’s slump against the US dollar and the Japanese yen may have further to run, as long as the global recovery remains on track, analysts say. Germany and Italy are technically in recession, after reporting two quarters in ...
If the Turkish government can resist the temptations of a pre-election splurge, the country’s economic future looks brighter than it has for years. But that is a big ‘if’. Astring of encouraging economic indicators, as well as the IMF’s decision ...
Global Finance ranks the world’s biggest 50 banks as measured by total assets. LAST YEAR WAS YET another tough one for the world’s biggest banks, and many of the top names saw their total assets fall over the year. The ...
Global Finance selects the World’s Safest Banks, the 50 institutions with the highest ratings from the leading international credit ratings agencies. A single downgrade from a single ratings agency has been enough to knock the perennial leader in the Global ...
AFTER WEATHERING TWO terrible years, the world’s banks must have been looking forward to a less tempestuous time in 2003. And that was what they got. Sure, there have been trouble spots in the past year, too, but most of ...
CLS Bank was introduced to address foreign exchange settlement risk in the interbank market,but its risk-reduction and netting benefits could find wider application among corporate treasurers and fund managers. The specter of foreign exchange settlement risk has preoccupied the international ...
If the Turkish government can resist the temptations of a pre-election splurge, the country’s economic future looks brighter than it has for years. But that is a big ‘if’. Astring of encouraging economic indicators, as well as the IMF’s decision ...
IT’S BEEN A TUMULTUOUS YEAR for the world’s central bankers. There have been resignations, falls from grace, surprise appointments—and, of course, the usual economic crises to tackle. Given the circumstances, it may come as a surprise that the number of ...
CHINA/UNITED STATES RISING YUAN COULD GREASE DOLLAR’S SKIDS … The United States began throwing its weight around in China lastmonth, with treasury secretary John W. Snow making it clear to Chinese leaders that they need to change their policy of ...
THE AMERICAS The bond market has fallen so far since Friday the 13th of June, that comparisons are being made with the big Bond Market Crash of 1994. The 1994 crash was driven by the same factor that is pushing ...
THE AMERICAS Citigroup agreed to acquire the credit card and financial products business of Illinois-based Sears, Roebuck for an estimated $5 billion. The purchase will make Citigroup the largest private- label card provider in the US and extend its lead ...
ASIA Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom raised $1.4 billion through a new issue of American depositary receipts in July, as the Taiwan government reduced its stake in the company. The issue sold out quickly, as investors were attracted by the relatively high ...
IRAQ A MODEST START FOR BANKING IN IRAQ At the end of August the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq announced that JPMorgan Chase had been selected to lead a 13-bank consortium to operate the newly created Trade Bank ...
