Global Banking

COUNTRY REPORT | TAIWAN
Taiwan’s bright fundamentals are underpinned by a revival in both export and import demand, but could a housing bubble be on the horizon?

TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT | REAL-TIME PAYMENTS
A delay in the rollout of the China International Payments System looks to be only a temporary hiccup in the renminbi’s unfolding internationalization.

UNITED STATES
In its 2013 report to Congress, the Export-Import Bank of the United States says that its “overriding mission is to create and sustain American jobs by supporting US exports.” But that very mission is under threat, with House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling, among others, seeking to abolish the bank.

In this first installment of a two-part series, Global Finance identifies the top online corporate and consumer banks by country and then by region, according to product or service category.

TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT | WHO'S WHO
Global Finance ’s annual list of Who’s Who in Treasury & Cash Management

THE BRICS
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa now have something more in common than rapidly developing economies that have recently stalled. In July they gave life to the New Development Bank (NDB), the first multilateral institution controlled by developing countries.

SIBOS SUPERSECTION 2014 | THE INNOVATORS
Global Finance presents its second annual look at some of the key innovations over the past year within the transaction services space. We make use of the OECD’s Oslo Manual of Innovation, along with submissions, key research and the input of experts, to evaluate those banks and service providers that stand out in terms of innovation over the past year.

GCC REGIONAL SUPERSECTION 2014 | INNOVATION
Attempts to drive innovation in the Gulf are still at an early stage. But as countries increase R&D spending, the results could have a huge impact on non-oil growth.

SIBOS SUPERSECTION 2014 | COLLATERAL  MANAGEMENT
Treasurers are warily eyeing the impact of new regulations on the amount of collateral they must hold against hedged positions—and these new regs will affect their ability to manage and forecast cash.

DEAR READER
Geopolitical instability seems to be everywhere these days, whether we look to North Africa and the Middle East or Eastern Europe, to Southern Asia or Southeast Asia, and it weighs on financial markets and policymakers worldwide.

COUNTRY REPORT
With strong underpinnings for reform now in place, Portugal is seeing signs of economic improvement. But now that it has increased exports, will greater vulnerability to global trade winds haunt growth?

SIBOS SUPERSECTION 2014 | INTRODUCTION
The Sibos financial services conference—sponsored each year by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)—will be held in Boston this year in September and, according to organizers, is likely to have a record turnout of attendees and media.

Ebenezer Essoka, a native of Cameroon, is vice chair for Africa at Standard Chartered. He sat down with Global Finance to discuss African trade and the need for African policymakers to ensure that foreign investment deals are in the best interest of all stakeholders.

 

GCC REGIONAL SUPERSECTION 2014 | BANKING SECTOR
Banks in the GCC are leveraging the latest technologies to keep pace with a customer base whose members are increasingly demanding, wealthy and tech-savvy.

SIBOS SUPERSECTION 2014 | THE INNOVATORS
Treasury solutions still don’t provide much business intelligence as they lack good integration with ERP systems. But banks and vendors are starting to close the gap.

UNITED STATES
After steering American International Group (AIG) during the financial crisis and putting it back on a sounder footing, president and chief executive officer Robert Benmosche is handing the baton over to Peter Hancock.

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

MILESTONES: EUROPE
The ECB grows up as it takes on bank supervisory powers.
 

COVER STORY: CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Still in their infancy, cryptocurrencies could change the way that companies manage payments for the goods and services that are the essence of global trade. As the bitcoin surge picks up momentum, corporate financial executives are wondering what it means for their business and how they can manage the risk of adopting—or not adopting—digital currencies.

Upcoming stress tests for Europe’s 124 largest banks will have more credibility than they had previously, but some analysts argue that banks may need far more capital than regulators demand to withstand a crisis. And any hoped-for international standardization in terms of stress testing is out the window as there is little comparability between the upcoming European and recently completed US bank tests.