North America

Carbon markets, particularly offsets, are shaking off their past and becoming a vital instrument for reaching CO2 reduction goals, protecting and conserving biodiversity at scale, as well as meeting many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They need to succeed.

Climate is no longer the only risk in town: thanks to a loud call from the scientific community, nature has finally been given a seat at the table with finance ministers, regulators and central bank governors.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean up water supplies, prevent the loss of biodiversity, mitigate fire and flood risk and meet the nutritional requirements of a growing population the world must improve its regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices – new tools and support from the financial services industry are needed to fund that transition.

As in financial advisory, so too in asset management: data scientists are the new talents Lazard is seeking to bring in alongside its portfolio managers and analysts.

The winners in M&A advisory are supposed to be the firms with the best-connected and most-knowledgeable industry experts to advise chief executives, but Lazard’s CEO wants more data scientists to help advisers upgrade their tools for predicting how shareholders will respond to takeover deals.

It was just what the regulators didn’t want: another surge in Sofr just as the timetable for transition away from US dollar Libor enters its critical phase.

Investors fearful of higher geopolitical risk and lower economic growth may be making a mistake if they consider private assets as the best way to generate returns.

It might not happen, but if the US president were to stop Asian firms listing in the US, it would help a sector that has watched business slip through its fingers.

Three-quarters of fund managers that responded to a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey think that Mexico is going to lose its investment grade status.

A presidential snub adds to Wells Fargo's woes.

Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.

It has just received a very public vote of no-confidence from non-bank liquidity providers, but concerns around transparency are yet to outweigh the perceived benefits of last look.

Europe’s banking sector’s investment in fintech and ESG merits more confidence than their exposure to negative European Central Bank rates might suggest. On these counts, the US banks may be lagging.

The US Business Roundtable has changed its statement of purpose to indicate that shareholders’ ambitions for profits have to be balanced with society’s goals, but what is it that these chief executives plan to do?

Bankers in Europe have discussed pooling resources across different institutions for some years, as the threat from bigger US rivals has become painfully obvious.

A push into the regional mid-markets, as well as the international subsidiaries of those clients, is a useful driver of market share at a time of uncertainty.

As Europe’s financial conduct authorities get tougher, banks will be even less likely to support trade between the EU and states that are small and poor.

The retirement of Goldman Sachs securities co-head Marty Chavez leaves trading veteran Ashok Varadhan looking isolated.

To date, the transformation of financial services through new technology has been a success story, but regulators are becoming more nervous.

A lack of regulation and standardization creates opportunities for businesses that can create a one-stop shop for all blockchain trade finance needs. So who is doing it?

Regulators, politicians, competition authorities and central bankers have all been outlining objections to the Libra project from the first day Facebook announced plans to let its 2.4 billion users exchange payments in a new virtual currency. Don’t be taken in. Facebook wants the burden of compliance with all those KYC, AML and CFT rules. Being able to identify what its users are paying for is a treasure trove. The banking system and the world’s central banks, as the more enlightened already see, had better gear up for new competition.

Banorte CEO says market will be 'surprised' by what comes next for the bank; fintech growth unlikely to impact bank growth in the short-term.

Establishing clear criteria, and sticking to them, are key to successful ESG investing.

Fifth Third is the latest US regional bank to grasp an opportunity to build out its investment bank, by bolting new expertise on to an area in which it already has a strong presence.

Lower yields on 10-year US government bonds than two-year notes may presage recession and further pain for equities, credit bonds and currencies.

A reluctance to dispense with legacy technology, combined with heightened regulatory oversight and changing liquidity provision from banks, has seriously complicated the execution management system (EMS) selection process for FX traders.

Consolidation is due in the fintech payments sector as new specialized companies begin to build scale.

The regulators want overnight rates to become the norm in all markets after Libor – that could be wishful thinking.

There is far more financial risk in the system resulting from climate change than we fully understand. The sooner we bring it to light, the better for all of us.

Libra is designed to improve on the slow, costly and painful process of transferring money across borders through the banking system, but Facebook faces a long fight to launch it.