North America

European bank mergers should be of more interest to European than US investment banks.

The spectre of collusion may not hang over the US wealth industry for much longer.

Initiatives designed to attract investment to conservation got a boost at the end of the year.

Primary debt capital markets have been remarkably slow to embrace technology. Vested interests are at play: lucrative underwriting fees will not be wrested from the banks without a fight. But automation is coming, partly driven by regulators looking into dysfunctional allocation.

Blankfein still needs to fix FICC, but the firm has other challenges

No one doubts JPMorgan's global influence, but it still needs to fill some holes in its corporate bank

US firm is firing on all cylinders - even if its returns are nothing to write home about

Under Brian Moynihan, responsible growth is starting to look exciting

Stock buybacks are a landmark moment in Citi's resurgence

Canada's leading bank is increasingly leaning over its neighbour's fence

Outgoing chief executive was determined to leave HSBC without the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) continuing to loom over the bank’s entire business and reputation.

Innovation and price transparency around market data remain a bone of contention among FX market participants, although data providers insist they are working to reduce costs.

It has been over 10 years since the start of the global financial crisis, which means we are overdue another one.

It won’t be long before banks are going to be answering to the public about their role in advising clients on tax avoidance.

Jon ‘Mystic Mac’ Macaskill looks ahead at possible highlights for markets in 2018.

Investor Access, the electronic book-building initiative run by US-based fintech Ipreo, celebrated its first year of operation in early November with some healthy usage statistics.

After a surprise move to make reports more transparent in the US, investors will finally have the chance to scrutinize some auditors’ decisions

The 2017 US proxy voting season was historic: the world’s two largest asset managers backed shareholder resolutions on climate-risk disclosure. BlackRock and Vanguard, with $10 trillion in AuM between them, are becoming more transparent about their voting. They will play a crucial role in the future of ESG.

The Goldman Sachs chief shows how less can be much, much more.

WisdomTree Investments is the latest acquirer of an ETF specialist looking to boost its credentials in smart beta, even as analysts urge end-investors to question the validity of this new so-called asset class.

Hard-ball US-style activism is unlikely to succeed in Europe.

SEC action just delays a final reckoning on the rules.

Fragmented liquidity has helped make financial extranets fundamentally important tools for global FX market players, but traders need to do their due diligence in picking the right fit for their strategies.

Banks face lawsuits over pay inequity as regulators now take diversity into their own hands.

The conviction of former HSBC trader Mark Johnson for front-running a customer FX order could transform the way dealers hedge client trades – and how they communicate with each other.

Banks’ third-quarter results show fixed income trading still depressed and CIB revenues mostly down, but UBS is looking remarkably perky, especially in equity capital markets. What’s up?

Bankers see European capital markets union as more needed than ever to help drive growth in the region, but are fretting about slow progress and a scope some feel is too narrow – however, an EU official attending the Institute of International Finance meetings in Washington defended the bloc’s approach.

From integration to level playing fields: the discussions at this year’s IIF meetings in Washington were dominated by talk of combating divergence. Other familiar complaints were still present, but the overall tone was less fearful than in 2016.

Cryptocurrency architects have unveiled Bitcoin Gold, a new currency based on the bitcoin network set to begin trading in December, which attempts to resolve what some see as the excessive influence miners have on the bitcoin network.

Co-location providers are getting a boost from higher levels of electronic trading, the ambitions of Asian brokers to grow their businesses in Europe, ongoing concerns over cybersecurity and regulatory factors.