North America

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Gordon Platt   As the tide went out for natural gas prices, it revealed that the seamy underbelly of the energy-trading business hasn’t changed a great deal since the days of Enron.   McClendon ran a hedge ...

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES / CHINA   By Gordon Platt   The Federal Reserve gave its seal of approval to China’s system of bank regulation and unanimously approved the first-ever takeover of a US retail bank by a state-owned Chinese bank.   Photo ...

NEWSMAKERS: CANADA   By Luca Ventura   On March 29, telecoms company Research In Motion posted its first loss in seven years.   Tough road ahead for RIM chief Thorsten Heins Photo Credit : REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ It was not what shareholders had ...

By Thomas Clouse, Jonathan Gregson, Antonio Guerrero & Gordon Platt NORTH AMERICA North America’s banks are well along the road to recovery from the financial crisis, amid signs of improvement in the US and Canadian economies. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Gordon Platt   Kenneth Feinberg, the Boston-bred lawyer who oversaw the process of paying out billions of dollars to victims of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, was relieved of his duties last month, ...

Global Finance Announces the Best Banks by Region 2012 NEW YORK, March 20, 2012 – Global Finance magazine has announced its annual awards for the World's Best Banks in Developed and Emerging Markets. The list of regional winners is on ...

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES   By Valentina Pasquali   Struggling with a sagging real estate market and a weak economic recovery, the US has been revamping its efforts to attract foreign investors. For example, the current administration is pumping new life into ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Valentina Pasquali   When social-networking giant Facebook filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in February to raise $5 billion in one of the most anticipated initial public offerings of recent times, the talk ...

Global Finance names the Safest Banks in North America: April 2012 NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 — Global Finance magazine ( GFfmag.com ) has named the top 10 “Safest Banks in North America: April 2012” in an exclusive survey to ...

Global Finance announces a half-yearly update World’s 50 Safest Banks: April 2012 NEW YORK, March 1, 2012 – Bank stability is an ever-more pressing concern for the world’s corporations and investors. It is within this context that Global Finance announces ...

MILESTONES: UNITED STATES   By Gordon Platt   The Federal Reserve has found a new way to communicate its intentions to the markets. It will publish forecasts for the federal funds rate, the key short-term interest rate under its direct ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Paula Green   Will Wall Street miss US Congressman Barney Frank, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) and architect of the 2010 legislation aiming to avert another global financial disaster?   Frank ...

MILESTONES: US/GERMANY   By Gordon Platt   Facing a $4 billion breakup fee, AT&T is working hard to make its proposed merger with T-Mobile a reality, despite regulatory stumbling blocks.   Deal to create the largest US wireless carrier is in ...

MILESTONES: TORONTO   By Erik Heinrich   Canada’s financial capital is on track to become one of the largest global banking centers—overtaking London in the number of banking jobs by 2017, according to Moody’s Analytics.   Toronto to overtake London in banking ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES   By Gordon Platt   Jon Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey and once a US senator, believes that a man’s word is his bond.   Fallout from MF Global raises concerns over CFTC watchfulness When ...

NEWSMAKERS: CANADA   By Joel Kranc   In late September, the international financial community was abuzz with the news that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, had publicly chided the head of a central bank over his views; views that ...

NEWSMAKERS: US/GLOBAL   By Gordon Platt   US regulators moved closer last month to adopting the controversial Volcker Rule, which could force big banks to hold on to some trades for two months and to limit their investments in hedge ...

The Americas Argentina Mercedes Marcó del Pont Grade: D When Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner appointed political ally Mercedes Marcó del Pont to head the central bank in February 2010, there was little hope the move would lead to ...

When the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have their annual meeting in Washington DC at the end of September, the atmosphere will most probably be very tense...

MILESTONES: US/EUROPE   By Anita Hawser   As governments in the US and Europe embark on a program of austerity measures, they are more eager than ever before to claw back millions from undeclared offshore accounts.   Swiss banks reach deal with ...