Governance, Regulation & Compliance

Central & Eastern Europe | Emerging Markets Regional Review
Central and Eastern Europe has come a long way in the past 25 years, but the region must overcome some significant obstacles in 2015—particularly as Russia’s conflict with Ukraine continues.

Foreign Exchange | Capital Markets
How to take the gaming instinct out of foreign exchange traders has become the order of the day, following last month’s imposition of $4.3 billion in fines on six global banks for manipulating currency benchmarks.

Capital Markets | Mergers & Acquisitions
Global cross-border mergers and acquisitions totaled $1.1 trillion during the first nine months of 2014, more than double the level of the same period a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters.

Newsmakers | Argentina
Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in early October triggered the resignation of the head of the country’s central bank, Juan Carlos Fabrega, by criticizing him for not reducing manipulation of the country’s currency. His replacement, Alejandro Vanoli, formerly the head of the country’s securities regulator, CNV, doesn’t look likely to set Argentina on a better path.

Management | Compliance Risk
Corporations are stepping up their efforts to mitigate execution risk in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as growing numbers of regulators worldwide are becoming more stringent about enforcing antitrust and anticorruption laws.

Newsmakers | United Kingdom
After a bumpy ride, the UK’s candidate, lord Jonathan Hill, has been confirmed by the European Parliament as commissioner for financial stability, capital markets and financial services.

Trends | CryptoCurrencies
There are potential benefits that bitcoin or bitcoin-like technology­—as opposed to the cryptocurrency itself—could bring to the derivatives marketplace.

Banking Regulation
The globe’s financial systems are still vulnerable to contagion. Critics say regulators are unlikely to fix the problem unless they shift gears.

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.

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.

NEWSMAKERS | POLAND
Tony Elumelu, former managing director and CEO of United Bank for Africa, returned to the bank in late August as chairman, following his appointment by the shareholders.

The central banker’s job today is certainly difficult. But it had better not be impossible.

Global Finance sat down with Brian Loughman, Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services (FIDS) Leader, EY Americas (formerly Ernst & Young), to discuss how greater regulation and increased efforts by countries to fight fraud are leading to greater demand for services by corporations around the world.

MANAGEMENT | TAX PLANNING
Gregory Wasson, president and CEO of Walgreen, says the company “concluded it was not in the best interest of shareholders to attempt to re-domicile outside the US” to cut its tax bill.

MANAGEMENT | PENSIONS
As people live longer, many companies are discovering that they have to pay pension benefits to retirees for longer than they had expected. Insurance companies are stepping in with new products that can help take this “longevity risk” out of corporate defined-benefit pension plans.

It is easy to dismiss the Yukos case as a temporary political and legal hurdle. But clearly the reality is more complex.

The sixth round of talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the United States and the European Union was held in Brussels on July 18 just as winds of political change have begun sweeping across the two continents.

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.

FINANCE & CAPITAL | MANAGEMENT: Accounting

THAILAND
When Thailand’s general Prayuth Chan-ocha seized power in a military coup in late May, he didn’t rely on the element of surprise