Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Beirut aims to become the number-one hub in the Middle East for young entrepreneurs, so the Lebanese Central Bank recently added $200 million its 2013 promise to guarantee $400 million in investment in the knowledge economy.

Post-Brexit, real estate deals were supposed to decline--especially in London. Yet the market may prove more resilient than expected. 

Blue-chip bond buys add liquidity fuel to companies already swimming in cash.

BREXIT FALLOUT  | Britain’s vote to leave the European Union sent shock waves through global capital markets, but the increased volatility lifted trading revenue at big global banks and created a significant number of winners alongside the losers.

INDIA | Introduced just a year ago, “green” masala bonds—offshore rupee-denominated bonds to fund private-sector investment addressing climate change—are hot.

CREDIT LINE | On a visit to Argentina in August, Citi CEO Michael Corbat met with the country’s pro-market president, Mauricio Macri, and announced a $3.5 billion line of credit for the bank’s 1,300 corporate and institutional clients in the country.

Global companies continue to hoard cash at record levels, as worrisome economic conditions hamper investment in operations and investors demand ever-increasing capital returns. 

Brazil | Pedro Parente, who was appointed CEO of state-controlled oil producer Petrobras on May 19, brings both corporate and government experience to the new role.

Aaron Brickman, senior vice president for strategy and development at the Organization for International Investment (OFII), a nonprofit trade association, also founded SelectUSA, a federal program to promote foreign direct investment in the US. He visited Global Finance to discuss the state of FDI worldwide.

ASIA | As the regional powerhouse restructures and tackles debt problems, neighboring nations are feeling the impact.

Mary Ann Deignan, co-head of global equity capital markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, explains how her firm approaches depositary receipts.

Peter Cherecwich, head of global fund services and executive vice president of Northern Trust in Chicago, says securities services providers are partnering up to meet growing demand worldwide.

Adam Boukadida, deputy treasurer for Etihad Airways, talks treasury transformation vision, goals and strategy. 

Capital Markets | Fixed Income
US companies are rushing to borrow in European bond markets. They’re taking advantage of low interest rates on euro-denominated issues after the European Central Bank’s decision to start buying investment-grade corporate bonds in June—part of its economic stimulus program. Last year already set a record for corporate borrowing in Europe’s bond markets, where rates are significantly lower than in the US.

Capital Markets | Sovereign Risk
Low energy and commodity prices and a global economy stuck in low gear have provoked a surge in sovereign ratings downgrades in the first three months of this year. And rating agencies anticipate another wave of downgrades if a wider global economic slowdown materializes.

Trade finance is behind some other banking sectors in transitioning to paperless documents and digital distribution, but it’s catching up.

Corporates today need more agility to meet regulatory requirements and manage volatility, hence technology plays a growing role in treasury departments.

In April the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) commemorated a quarter-century of history, with president Suma Chakrabarti emphasizing how far the Bank had come since its first investment—to WBK Bank in Poland (now Bank Zachodni WBK).

Bank of China, the fourth-largest bank in the world, has been an ener-getic leader in expanding overseas. In an interview with Global Finance, Chen Siqing, the bank’s president, spoke about internationalization efforts and the importance of overseas growth. 

Following a record-breaking year for worldwide mergers and acquisitions, dealmaking declined to a two-year low in the first quarter of 2016.