Global news and insight for corporate financial professionals
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH By Gordon Platt, Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson & Antonio Guerrero The World’s Best Banks undoubtedly have flaws, but their fundamentals are improving. Global Finance unveils its annual list of the best banks globally, regionally ...
By Gordon Platt, Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson & Antonio Guerrero Global Winners BEST CORPORATE BANK Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany, is a leading global corporate and investment bank and has long been the top foreign exchange ...
By Gordon Platt, Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson & Antonio Guerrero Country Winners World’s Best Banks 2012 Back To Main Article World’s Best Banks 2012: Global Winners World’s Best Banks 2012: Regional Winners
By Gordon Platt, Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson & Antonio Guerrero Regional Winners BEST BANK IN NORTH AMERICA JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase is the top US bank by assets. “For America’s largest companies, we raised or lent over $720 billion ...
GUNNING FOR GROWTH By Gordon Platt, Antonio Guerrero and Anita Hawser Global Finance presents its annual report on the performance of the world’s central bank governors. Central banks of most of the major global economies are pulling ...
KEEPING RISK IN CHECK By Paula Green Political risk insurance is of increasing interest as unstable geopolitical conditions affect corporate operations. Expect the unexpected. That is what corporate risk officers worldwide have taken away from the unforeseen ...
BANKING ON AFRICA By Erik Heinrich A continent-wide boom is shaping a new breed of pan-African lenders. The future has never looked brighter for sub-Saharan Africa. Many of its economies are expanding at annual rates of 6% ...
DIFFFICULT CHOICES By Antonio Guerrero African oil producers stand to benefit from continued sanctions on Iranian oil exports. But their path is not without challenges. As the US and EU tighten the screws on Iran, imposing sanctions ...
By Gordon Platt, Antonio Guerrero and Anita Hawser ASIA-PACIFIC AUSTRALIA Glenn Stevens Grade: A Stevens has his hands full managing an economy with booming mining and financial sectors and weakness elsewhere. So far, he has managed to keep the overall ...
By Gordon Platt, Antonio Guerrero and Anita Hawser EUROPE BELARUS Nadezhda Ermakova Grade: C Ermakova assumed the chairmanship of the central bank in August 2011 under somewhat controversial circumstances. Her predecessor, Petr Prokopovich, retired against a backdrop of spiraling inflation ...
By Gordon Platt, Antonio Guerrero and Anita Hawser MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA ALGERIA Mohammed Laksaci Grade: C The central bank of Algeria, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, has kept its discount rate at 4% for the past few years to encourage ...
By Gordon Platt, Antonio Guerrero and Anita Hawser The Americas ARGENTINA Mercedes Marcó del Pont Grade: D Marcó del Pont has focused much of her efforts over the past year on imposing draconian foreign exchange restrictions. Controls began after last ...
ASIA'S POWER NEXUS By Arthur Clennam I ndia relies on Indonesian coal to power its utilities, and both nations face huge increases in coal-fired power demand. But bureaucratic red tape makes it difficult for either nation to increase ...
ANNUAL SURVEY: The Big Get Bigger By Andrew Cunningham Global Finance presents the World’s Biggest Banks. Total assets are once again growing. The world’s 50 biggest banks notched up assets of $65,956 billion at the end of ...
ANNUAL SURVEY: DOWN, BUT NOT OUT By Andrew Cunningham Global Finance presents it annual ranking of The World’s Safest Banks. European banks still account for 20 of the World’s Safest 50 Banks, but Europe’s hold on the ...
ANNUAL SURVEY: WORLD’S BEST BANKS A selection of winners in Global Finance ’s best bank awards over the past year. Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best ...
THE A-GRADERS By Kathryn Tully Presenting the Winners’ Circle: A ranking of all the central bank governors who have received “A” grades over the history of Global Finance ’s Central Banker Report Cards—released as part of our 25 ...
Best Derivatives Providers 2011 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks 2012 Best Investment Banks 2012 ...
Best Investment Banks 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks ...
Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks 2012 Best Investment Banks 2012 ...
Best Subcustodians 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks 2012 Best Investment Banks 2012 Best ...
Best Supply Chain Finance Providers 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks ...
Best Trade Finance Banks 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 Best Investment Banks 2012 Best ...
Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers 2012 WORLD’S BEST BANKS : Best Foreign Exchange Providers 2012 Best Derivatives Providers 2011 Best Subcustodians 2012 Best Islamic Financial Institutions 2012 Best Trade Finance Banks 2012 Best Investment ...
CREAM OF THE CROP By Kathryn Tully Presenting the Winners’ Circle: the longest-running leaders of Global Finance’s World’s Safest Banks and World’s Biggest Banks rankings. WORLD’S SAFEST After 2008, the global recession ensured that the risks inherent ...
INVESTOR FEARS RISE ON MINE STRIKES By Antonio Guerrero Violent strikes at South Africa's Marikana platinum mine, operated by UK group Lonmin, could impact investment flows. Violence mars Marikana mine strikes Photo Credits: MIKE HUTCHINGS / REUTERS ...
ROUSSEFF PLANS $66 BILLION IN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT By Antonio Guerrero In a bid to reverse Brazil's recent economic slowdown and boost competitiveness, president Dilma Rousseff in August unveiled a nearly $66 billion infrastructure investment program for roads, and ...
CNOOC TARGETS CANADIAN ENERGY ASSETS By Thomas Clouse Activity in China's Internet industry has heated up in recent weeks, as the country's leading online companies compete for the attention of China's 540 million Internet users. Baidu, which ...
DOMESTIC CONCERNS PUSH INDIAN COMPANIES TO INVEST OVERSEAS By Aaron Chaze Overseas direct investment by Indian companies rose to $1.95 billion in August from $1.24 billion the previous month. Sugar futures dropping on late monsoon season According ...
FOREIGN AID PACKAGES BOOST EGYPT'S PROSPECTS By Gordon Platt Financial aid packages from the US, China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among others, will provide much-needed support for the Egyptian economy at a time when the country's FX reserves ...
CAPITAL FLIGHT GROWS AS POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES By Kim Iskyan Gazprom announced that it was indefinitely delaying additional investment in the Shtokman natural gas field in Arctic Russia. Global oil and gas firm Total, which holds a ...
ECONOMIC CHEMOTHERAPY By Udayan Gupta Global Finance sat down with economist Robert Brusca, head of consultancy FAO Economics, to discuss the global outlook, the future of Greece and the problem with current-account surpluses and deficits. Brusca has been ...
SWIFT AND EFFICIENT By Denise Bedell More companies than ever are now connecting directly to their banks and counterparties via the global SWIFT messaging system—970 corporates worldwide, at last count. That figure may seem small, but these ...
SHARING THE BURDEN By Karen Kroll New regulations and global uncertainty are reviving corporate focus on payment factories and in-house banks. As companies look further outside their borders for new growth and increased regulation makes tracking cash ...
ELEGANT, YET SIMPLE By Paula Green Corporates are beginning to use mobile finance solutions not only for payments but also to monitor risk and plan for contingencies. Mobile mania is just beginning to make its way into ...
BEYOND CONNECTIVITY By Rebecca Brace SWIFT continues to roll out new company-focused initiatives as its corporate user-base grows. As SWIFT’s corporate membership figures rise—the number currently stands at around 970–the bank-owned cooperative is working on a number ...
TURKISH DELIGHT By Justin Keay Turkey's economy is one of the few in Europe experiencing positive growth, but as the pace of economic reform slows and a rising current-account deficit looms, pundits are beginning to ask, has complacency ...
A STUDY IN CONTRADICTIONS By David Lipkin Geopolitical and fiscal uncertainties are having an impact on Israel's growth prospects, but the country is benefiting from development of its natural gas reserves. Although its export-oriented economy and high-tech ...
MILESTONES: VIETNAM By Thomas Clouse Vietnam’s stock markets tumbled in August following the arrests of two of the country’s top bankers, Nguyen Duc Kien and Ly Xuan Hai. Asia Commercial Bank’s Kien arrested for “illegal business activity” Photo ...
MILESTONES: US/GLOBAL By Gordon Platt Two years after Dodd-Frank became law, US regulators identified eight "systemically important" clearing and payment firms that provide critical infrastructure to the country's financial system. Systemically important financial utilities named None of the ...
MILESTONES: IMF/WORLD BANK By Laurence Neville A year on from the appointment of Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the challenges faced by her institution—and its sister entity, the World Bank—in helping to right ...
MILESTONES: RUSSIA By Kim Iskyan After a 19-year process, on August 22, Russia finally became a full-fledged member of the World Trade Organization. Russia expects long-term benefits from WTO membership Accession will have little impact in the short ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: CORPORATE DEBT By Gordon Platt Global investors are creeping further out on thin ice to capture the higher yields available on bonds issued by companies in emerging markets (EM). Analysts caution that many of the ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: GLOBAL EQUITY / DRS By Gordon Platt Santander, the eurozone’s biggest bank by market value, said it would issue up to $4.3 billion of shares in an initial public offering of up to 24.9% of its ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: FOREIGN EXCHANGE By Gordon Platt The euro rebounded to a two-month high in early September, as European policymakers approved a plan to lower borrowing costs for debt-laden members of the euro area through open-ended purchases of bonds ...
CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS By Gordon Platt Despite a decline in global mergers and acquisitions valuations in the first half of 2012, a recent uptick in technology and Asia-Pacific deal values provides some hope for a revival ...
NEWSMAKERS: UNITED KINGDOM By Anita Hawser Since its bailout after the 2008 financial crisis, Royal Bank of Scotland has come under pressure from the government to increase lending, and recent reports suggest the government is considering fully nationalizing ...
NEWSMAKERS: ETHIOPIA By Valentina Pasquali Plagued by corruption and emerging from three decades of stable but authoritarian government, Ethiopia is undergoing its first peaceful transfer of power after the death, in August, of longtime prime minister Meles Zenawi. ...
NEWSMAKERS: ARGENTINA Miguel Galuccio is very busy these days. The new CEO of Argentine firm YPF is discussing possible joint ventures with Chevron, Gazprom and the Argentine firm Bridas—partially owned by China's CNOOC. YPF aims to restore ...
Commodity Prices And Emerging Markets Rising commodity prices have a much bigger effect on the performance of emerging markets economies than they do in developed markets. “This chart is important because it shows how sensitive emerging markets are to ...
