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AFP Exclusive | Q&A
An interview with Dan Scanlan, regional transaction banking head for the Americas, Standard Chartered.

Emerging Markets
Corporate bond markets denominated in domestic currencies are developing rapidly in many emerging markets, enabling local companies to issue debt without having to worry about repaying it in revalued dollars.

EXCLUSIVE
As China’s top political leaders gathered this week in Beijing for their annual conclave amid expectations for a new reform push, a joint study by two U.S. think tanks said that the world’s second-largest economy is undergoing a massive overhaul of its obsolete growth model.

In what is considered a first step for even bigger foreign direct investment to Sri Lanka, TPG Capital announced in August it would invest $113 million to buy a majority stake in Union Bank, a small distressed financial institution based in Colombo.

Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has just announced seven new infrastructure projects, worth $1.1 billion, as part of master plan to accelerate and expand Indonesia's economic development.

Some discrepancy exists between the rules that are written and those that are enforced. This is true for most places in the world, and China is no exception.

This month the European Central Bank will start to buy euro-denominated asset-backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds in an effort to revive a market that has been sharply impaired since the financial crisis.

Inside Sibos | Review
At this year's event held in Boston, there seemed to be a greater sense of urgency among the banks about the need for change.

Inside Sibos | Review
As the dust settles from Sibos 2014, delegates may be asking if they missed anything essential. Here are some of the key announcements to emerge during the event:

Inside Sibos | Review
From a product perspective, a key area of commitment is related to trade documentation: “We have been active in this area for many years and it is undergoing transformation. I am convinced that BPO [bank payment obligations] will have success..."

Inside Sibos | Day 3
“Global Transaction Banking is the fastest growing unit in Société Générale,” says Christian Behaghel, head of GTB at Societe Generale. “It is a very stable business, and while we generate something like 6% of the total revenue of the bank, we are experiencing growth of our revenue of 10-15% a year.” This compares, he says to some areas of retail banking that have 0-2% growth a year.

Inside Sibos | Day 3
The increasing sophistication of Asian corporate treasuries to buoy the rapid development of Asian companies is a message that has been growing in resonance in recent years, and it is once again a topic of discussion at this year’s Sibos conference.
 

Inside Sibos | Day 3
This year’s Sibos event is set to see a greater focus on the use of technology to support trade. Since the launch of the Bank Payment Obligation (BPO), and the publication last year of the Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligation (URBPO) by the International Chamber of Commerce, adoption of the new instrument has been gradual—but across the industry there is increasing focus on how technology can be deployed in an area traditionally dominated by paper.

Inside Sibos | Day 2
“Honestly I am here more to learn than for any other reason. And to understand what the banking system can become,” notes Antonio Patuelli, president of the Italian Banking Association, discussing SWIFT’s Sibos conference in Boston.
 

Inside Sibos | Day 2
The Future of Money is once again a key theme of SWIFT’s annual Innotribe startup competition at this year’s Sibos conference in Boston. It dominated a number of discussions on the first day of the conference, and cryptocurrencies were in the spotlight.

Inside Sibos | Day 2

As this year’s corporate forum at Sibos gets underway, what topics are corporations particularly focusing on? This year’s line-up includes a discussion around corporate-to-bank connectivity and the associated challenges.

Inside Sibos | Day 1
Global Finance spoke with Joy Cave, vice president and treasurer of international property insurer FM Global, about how the firm measures and manages relationships with its transaction banking partners and how that has changed in light of market and regulatory developments in recent years—both key topics of discussion for corporate treasurers attending SWIFT’s Sibos conference in Boston this week.

Inside Sibos | Day 1
What has really changed since the global financial crisis first hit? Four years after the Dodd Frank Act was enacted in the US to help stem another bank crisis, one of the primary causes of the meltdown remains a serious concern.

Inside Sibos | Day 1
Having the right technology is a key requirement for corporate treasurers—but increasingly companies are looking for their technology vendors to provide additional services beyond the system itself. The evolution of technology is set to be one of the key focus points at this year’s Sibos corporate forum.

In the lead-up to SWIFT’s Sibos conference in Boston, I sat down with a number of the world’s leading transaction banks to get their take on how the banking markets are changing and what it means for corporates.