Central & Eastern Europe

RUSSIA/CHINA
The recent raft of Chinese investments into Russia following president Putin’s May visit to Shanghai might look like a rapid response to counter Western sanctions.

MILESTONES: EUROPE
African success story M-Pesa dials up Europe.

DEAR READER
The return of growth in most of Europe and the renewed leadership of the US in economic advancement should not distract from critical developments in some of the major emerging economies.

MILESTONES: RUSSIA

The region battled continuing recession or, at best, slow growth, a tightening regulatory environment and country-specific banking taxes or fines for past misdemeanors.

Mergers and acquisitions involving Russian companies, including Morgan Stanley’s planned sale of its global oil-trading unit to Rosneft, are threatened by Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

Although hit hard by the global financial crisis, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia recovered quickly. The three countries are building ever-closer EU ties to separate themselves economically from Eastern neighbors.

An escalation of sanctions on Russia stemming from its actions in Ukraine could pressure Russia’s overall economic growth. Some companies, particularly those perceived to have close ties to president Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, may have difficulties tapping the international capital markets for funding.

Financial markets may initially have reacted well to the reelection of the AKP and prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but his success belies deep-seated political and economic problems.

Slovakia has known rapid and unexpected changes in its political fortune in its 20 years as an independent country.

In our 21st annual survey, Global Finance identifies the best banks in 150 countries and eight regions. The winners are not always the biggest banks, but rather, the best—those with the qualities that corporations should look for when choosing a bank.

Inflation in the eurozone slipped to 0.5% at an annual rate in March, its lowest level since 2009. The persistence of low inflation prompted policymakers to discuss quantitative easing (QE) and a negative deposit rate, putting some downward pressure on the euro.

ANNUAL AWARDS: HIGH-OCTANE YEAR Global investment banks will face a tremendous challenge as they strive to continue running their underwriting businesses at the elevated levels they reached in 2013. Many of the largest banks on Wall Street reaped a windfall ...

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS   By Gordon Platt   The European Central Bank’s refusal to ease monetary policy in the face of below-target inflation boosted the euro to its highest levels of the year in March, while the British pound rose ...

MILESTONES By Justin Keay Not long ago, it would have been almost impossible to get the leaders of the various Western Balkan countries [Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania] together in the same city—let alone the ...

LOCATION: LONDON, UK Global Finance held its Best Trade Finance Banks 2014 ceremony during the BAFT global annual meeting in London in January. Corporate and financial leaders from around the world were present to accept their awards and honor other ...

GOLD STANDARD By Rebecca Brace and Anita Hawser Global Finance presents the winners of its annual Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers awards. Global multinational corporates may have come out of the 2008 global financial crisis better off than the ...

REGIONAL FOCUS
​The countries of the Caucasus region (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia) continue to march down very different economic paths, despite their proximity and sociocultural connections.

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS By Gordon Platt China and Russia have returned to the global equity capital markets, following a lengthy absence. China led in the number of capital raisings using depositary receipts last year, with 14 of the 51 transactions ...

STAR PERFORMERS By Anita Hawser Over the past six years transaction banking has been one of the best performers in an otherwise lackluster banking sector. Even in the midst of a global financial crisis, suppliers and salaries still need to ...