Global Investing

BANKING CRISIS FALLOUT Colossal losses by financial institutions have prompted calls for more-effective regulation. Refining the Basel banking rules might provide the answer.     Global crisis: For the biggest names in banking there has been nowhere to hide from ...

AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic development is still constrained by a historic dearth of infrastructure investment. Private sector investors might be able to provide the hitherto missing link.       Controversial development: Dams such as the Kariba on ...

GREEN FINANCE   Despite the drumbeat of headlines about the troubled banking and finance industries, one area is coming up green.       With global financial markets languishing in the doldrums, “green financing” is emerging as a key lever ...

CARIBBEAN FINANCE CENTERS Recent changes are helping the venerable finance centers of the Caribbean stave off increasingly intense international competition.             Partly in response to the US-led assault on their opaque banking systems and propensity ...

LESSONS FROM EUROPE   Corporate comprehension of the benefits of going green is far more advanced in Europe than in the US. But America’s businesses could easily catch up.   Stark differences: Europe and the US have taken very different ...

  ANNUAL SURVEY The past 12 months have been some of the most difficult ever for investment banks, but many institutions continue to provide outstanding services to their clients.             Investment banks are still writing ...

CHANGING INVESTMENT STRATEGIES CORPORATE TOOLBOX / SHORT-TERM INVESTING Credit market turmoil has forced corporate treasurers to re-evaluate their investment strategies. They are scrutinizing short-term investments for their strength and creditworthiness and demanding much greater information from the banks with whom ...

CENTRAL BANKERS PERSPECTIVES     Central bankers deserve much of the credit for the financial world’s ability to ride out tumultuous market conditions. Global Finance asked the central bankers who were awarded “A” grades in our recent central banker report ...

A NEW DAWN     “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world That has such people in’t!” —William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act V, Scene I.       From the ...

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS With sovereign wealth funds rapidly becoming one of the most powerful forces in global finance, one key question has emerged: Should they be feared or revered? With the subprime-induced credit crunch causing stocks of financial giants such ...

SINGLE GLOBAL CURRENCY       The success of the euro has fueled interest in a plan for global monetary union that could end currency crises and boost world trade.       For decades there has been a groundswell ...

ANNIVERSARY TIMELINE     OCTOBER 19, 1987: STOCK MARKET CRASH The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) falls 508 points, or 22.6%, in the steepest decline since 1929. Portfolio insurance and computerized trading takes some of the blame for what ranks ...

ANNUAL SURVEY / BEST DERIVATIVES PROVIDERS     The fourth annual Global Finance awards for the World’s Best Derivatives Providers comes at a time when derivatives are in the mainstream news as never before. The US subprime mortgage crisis has ...

PARTY ON! PRIVATE EQUITY   Private equity has had a tough year. It was hounded by legislators for its methods during the first half of 2007. And in the second half it was hit by the credit crunch. Can its ...

ISLAMIC INVESTMENT BANKING Investor demand, banks’ creativity and deep pools of liquidity in the Middle East are driving strong growth in the development of Islamic investment banking products.     Hassoune:“Investors and entrepreneurs must  hare the risks and rewards of ...

ANALYSIS / INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING Many Asian countries desperately need to upgrade their infrastructure while cash-rich private equity funds are scouring the region for long-term investments. Is this a match made in heaven?   Nag: We can only meet a small ...

SECTOR REPORT / GLOBAL CUSTODY & INVESTORS’ SERVICES Global custodians and asset servicers face increasing competition and a more complex landscape than ever before. In order to survive, they must continue to invest in new products and staff, build infrastructure ...

TRANSITION MANAGEMENT Increasingly sophisticated clients are demanding ever higher standards from their transition management teams.   Citi's Tim Wilkinson Complex portfolio alterations require specialist knowledge across numerous fields, and pension funds, asset managers and insurance firms are increasingly looking for ...

20TH ANNIVERSARY SPOTLIGHT / INVESTMENT BANKING Investment bankers are riding a wave of profits in an expanding universe for their services.     Ivanov: There is no limit to growth Year after year the world’s investment banks have been turning ...

THE AMERICAS The US administration’s assertion that its dollar policy remains unchanged did little to clarify exactly what that policy is, analysts say. President Bush’s comments in early June that the dollar was devalued inappropriately and that the administration’s policy ...