Western Europe

NEWSMAKERS: SPAIN   By Valentina Pasquali   Like Greece and Italy, Spain too has a new government, tasked with bringing the country back from the brink.   Rajoy heads new government Unlike Greece’s Lucas Papademos and Italy’s Mario Monti, Spain’s prime ...

NEWSMAKERS: ITALY   By Anita Hawser   As yields on Italian debt crept above 7% in mid-November, all eyes were on Italy as the next house of cards that could come tumbling down in the eurozone.   Bini Smaghi out ...

NEWSMAKERS: EUROPE   By Valentina Pasquali   Greece’s interim prime minister Lucas Papademos was appointed in November, after much squabbling between the country’s two main political parties.   Papademos most qualified candidate for the job Papademos faces the daunting tasks ...

MILESTONES: CYPRUS   By Justin Keay   These are roller coaster times for Cyprus.   Resource wealth to benefit Cypriots But there may be very good news on the horizon. US company Noble Energy is drilling offshore close to where ...

MILESTONES: PORTUGAL   By Matt Greco   With the government of Portugal announcing one austerity measure after another to meet IMF-imposed budgetary guidelines and as the rating agencies hack away at the credit-worthiness of the country’s financial institutions, new revelations ...

NEWSMAKERS: EUROPE   By Anita Hawser   At the press conference that followed the European Central Bank’s Governing Council meeting on October 6 in Berlin, few would have guessed that it was Jean-Claude Trichet’s last meeting as ECB president.   ...

MILESTONES: IRELAND   By Matt Greco   In Ireland each day’s financial developments seem to bring either a positive surprise or a mild disappointment.   Irish four- and eight-year bond sales in September generated the greatest one-day increase in price ...

IS THE EURO CRUMBLING?   By Gordon Platt   Major reform is needed, but whether the political will is there to make large scale changes remains to be seen. The alternative may be the end of the eurozone as it ...

THE JOURNEY BEGINS   By Denise Bedell   Upcoming end-dates for Sepa migration prompt companies to begin planning projects.   Corporates in Europe are facing the inevitability of Sepa compliance in or around 2014—when end-dates for migration from domestic legacy ...

MILESTONES: GREECE   By Luca Ventura   The recently-announced merger of Greek banks Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG could breathe fresh life into the much-troubled Greek banking sector.   Tides turning in Greece with bank merger In fact, it would difficult ...

EUROPE Czech Republic   Miroslav Singer Grade: B Miroslav Singer had just been appointed governor when we published our last Central Banker Report Cards, but he hasn’t wasted any time in giving his assessment on how the euro crisis could ...

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 ...

MILESTONES: ARCTIC   By Paula L. Green   The Danish government is embarking on a precarious high-wire act as it presents an Arctic seabed claim to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.   Danish Arctic claims clash with ...

Global Finance ranks the 50 Biggest Banks China Breaks Into The Top 10 NEW YORK, September 7, 2011— Global Finance reveals its annual ranking of the World’s 50 Biggest Banks , as measured by total assets. The world’s biggest banks ...

UPHILL BATTLE   By Antonio Guerrero   Spanish banks are struggling to regain momentum in the face of a sluggish economy and the need for further restructuring.   Three years after Spain’s decade-long real estate bubble burst, the country’s banks ...

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED KINGDOM   By Anita Hawser   Xavier Rolet, the London Stock Exchange’s CEO, must have breathed a sigh of relief when the European Commission announced in early August that it would investigate the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse ...

Global Finance names the World’s Best Global Banks 2011 NEW YORK, August 22, 2011 – Global Finance magazine (GFmag.com) has announced its World’s Best Banks 2011 Awards. The annual listing includes the best bank worldwide for corporate, consumer and private ...

Global Finance names the World’s 50 Safest Banks 2011 NEW YORK, August 18, 2011 – Bank stability is an ever-more pressing concern for the world’s corporations and investors. It is within this context that Global Finance announces it’s 20th Annual ...

Global Finance names the World’s Safest Banks 2011 in Western Europe NEW YORK, August 18, 2011 — Global Finance magazine (GFmag.com) has named the top 10 “Safest Banks in Western Europe” in an exclusive survey to be published in the ...

Global Finance names the World's Best Internet Banks in Europe 2011 NEW YORK, July 22, 2011 – Global Finance has announced the First Round winners in the “World’s Best Internet Banks” competition in Europe. This is the 12th year Global ...