October 2013

TECHNOLOGY IS THE TRUMP CARD   By Jonathan Gregson, Antonio Guerrero, Anita Hawser, Gordon Platt and Michael Shari   Global Finance unveils its annual list of the best banks globally, regionally and by country. The winners have all demonstrated dedication ...

EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP   By Gordon Platt   Rising Iraqi output could well represent the largest increase to global oil supplies over the coming years, easily outstripping projected gains from US shale oil, according to a report by National Bank ...

EMERGING MARKETS ROUNDUP   By Kim Iskyan   Russian potash giant Uralkali in late July unexpectedly withdrew from an export delivery arrangement with Belarus Potash, the marketing agent for the Russian company and for Belaruskali, the Belarus national potash company. ...

GOING DOMESTIC   By Vanessa Drucker   Global Finance sat down with Conrad Saldanha, portfolio manager, emerging markets equities, at asset management firm Neuberger Berman, to discuss the future prospects for global emerging markets.   Global Finance: Emerging markets have ...

ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT: AFRICA 2013   With a stunning twist of fate, companies that are looking for a refuge from the turmoil of recent years in developed markets are turning their attention to the continent that for much of the past ...

ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT: AFRICA 2013   By Dan Keeler   Innovative financing techniques and growing investor sophistication are prompting a surge of interest in sub-Saharan infrastructure projects.   Sub-Saharan Africa is rapidly turning into the growth and investment story of the ...

ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT: AFRICA 2013   By Erik Heinrich   Africa’s mobile-banking boom is a complicated tale of East versus West. But who’s approach will prove right in the end?   Mobile banking is a force for social and economic change ...

ANNUAL SUPPLEMENT: AFRICA 2013   By Dan Keeler   Developed-markets watchers hope tightening trade ties and increasing foreign direct investment will help ease tensions in North Africa.   Two years after the Arab Spring swept through North Africa and beyond, ...

NO QUICK FIXES   By Udayan Gupta   Poland withstood the recent global economic recession relatively well, thanks to its sound economic policies, healthy economic fundamentals and broad-based support for large and small enterprises.   A little more than two ...

THE COST OF INSTABILITY   By Justin Keay   The full effects of recent upheavals and unrest in Turkey have not yet been felt, and policymakers have some serious work ahead to bring markets back in order and reassure investors ...

MILESTONES   By Gordon Platt   The emerging-markets currency crisis, spurred by the Federal Reserve’s plan to begin winding down its economic stimulus, is prompting the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—to move forward with the creation of ...

MILESTONES   By Gilly Wright   The ongoing spat between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar (a British-dependent territory that borders with Spain at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula) has drawn attention to the continued lack of commitment to ...

MILESTONES   By KA Badarinath   Since the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had not reversed the trend of easing capital controls. But on August 14, the rhetoric was different as the RBI curbed the outflow ...

MILESTONES   By Ronald Fink   Recent write-downs of shale assets by BHP Billiton and Royal Dutch Shell have cast doubts on claims voiced in Washington, DC, that the US can attain energy independence as a result of the technological ...

MILESTONES   By Paula Green   Shareholders at McGraw Hill Financial, along with US taxpayers, could end up paying the price as the US government and one of the country’s major credit ratings agencies face off in a courtroom drama ...

MILESTONES   By Paula Green   The frequently mind-boggling comparison between the pay of a US firm’s chief executive and the company’s rank-and-file employees is finally set to come before the Securities and Exchange Commission this fall. Tucked away in ...

After posting its lowest growth rate in 13 years in 2012, Vietnam’s economy is showing signs of revival. Industrial production expanded by 5.3% in the first eight months of this year, with exports and imports up by 14.7% and 14.9% ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   The recent sharp decline in emerging markets currencies to multiyear lows will make it more costly for corporations in these countries to repay their dollar-denominated debt. Analysts say this could lead to ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   A new US law that makes it easier for smaller companies to raise equity capital is boosting initial public offerings, analysts say. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS Act, was largely ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   A cyclical economic recovery is under way in the UK and the eurozone, but it won’t be strong enough to boost the euro against the dollar, analysts say.   They expect the ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   Fears that the Federal Reserve would cut back on its bond-buying program, as well as the collapse of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista’s commodities empire, triggered a sharp decline in mergers and acquisitions ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Forrest Jones   Althought it was more than a decade ago that Argentina defaulted on $100 billion worth of debt, the fallout continues to make headlines today. Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner recently defied a US ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Paula L Green   When he took over as deputy governor for financial regulation at the Central Bank of Ireland on the first of October, Frenchman Cyril Roux began working alongside a Swedish colleague, Stefan Gerlach, who ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Gilly Wright   The proposal by Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto to reform Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the state-owned oil and gas monopoly, could have far-reaching consequences for the country’s troubled economy. The proposal, which requires a constitutional ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Luca Ventura   Lazar Krstić has a daunting task ahead: saving Serbia from a debt crisis. A Yale graduate with no party affiliations or political experience, the 30-year-old McKinsey associate is expected to consolidate public finances and ...

Emerging Markets See Strong Growth in Noncash Payment Transactions   “Mature markets accounted for 77% of the total volumes [of noncash transactions] but ... growth rates are higher in the developing markets—18.7% versus 6.2% in the mature markets in 2011. ...

Following nearly five hard years of negotiations, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on October 18 signed a Canada-European Union free trade agreement in Brussels. Although the agreement in principle got scant attention outside of Canada, the pact is, in fact, ...

Finally, a new boss at the Bank of Israel (Photo: Ester Inbar) The nearly four-month-long search to find a new governor for the Bank of Israel—more a comedy of errors than a selection process—was punctuated by political infighting, embarrassing missteps ...

Hedging gaining in currency For a global power management company like Eaton, which generated $21.8 billion in revenues last year selling products to clients in 175 countries, managing foreign exchange (FX) risk exposure is crucial. When the company acquired $5 ...

Forget the headline numbers for the rash of litigation troubles afflicting JPMorgan Chase. Yes, we're talking a lot of zeros here. So far, the running tally includes a possible $11 billion settlement with the Department of Justice, a $410 million ...

When the ubiquitous social media giant Twitter launches its initial public offering (IPO) in the coming weeks, the entire market will have its collective fingers crossed that the offering will not strike the same sour note as Facebook’s or BATS ...