North America

The more mainstream banks pour scorn on cryptocurrency, the greater their investing clients’ interest in new investment products for taking exposure in regulated markets.

The lead candidate, Fed insider Jerome Powell, promises continuity and investors would no doubt be relieved to see him step up, but they might swoon if Trump nominates persistent Fed critic John Taylor.

Barclays CEO Jes Staley has staked his future on the ability of four markets veterans to produce a fast turnaround in performance at the firm’s investment bank.

The level of understanding around the implementation of Payment Services Directive II (PSD2) is lacking for both corporates and consumer alike, although they are the parties that are meant to benefit.

A lack of cooperation and coordination among regulators is increasing systemic risk.

BNY Mellon and HSBC hope that, in an illiquid fixed income market with no registry of beneficial owners, their asset management clients may benefit from alerts about other counterparties wishing to buy or sell bonds.

I don’t know why at first, but watching Donald Trump tell Fox News in October that because the value of the US stock market has risen by $5.2 trillion since he became president that “maybe in a sense, we are reducing the debt” makes me feel warm inside.

Some 43% of US sub-investment grade lending in third quarter of this year was to borrowers rated just single-B. Now is not the time to revisit the 2013 guidelines.

And the big three – State Street, JPMorgan and BNY Mellon – will only be stronger.

While foundations may be known for their giving, their investment portfolios lack creativity when it comes to solving environmental and social challenges. Some are taking their missions further.

In true clickbait style, Euromoney offers some highlights from this year’s IMF/World Bank meetings.

Delegates at this year’s IMF/World Bank meetings are managing to look beyond macro concerns to present a more upbeat tone.

As more retail and high-net-worth investors embrace cryptocurrency, lightly structured delta-one synthetics now allow institutional investors to allocate to a new asset class.

Bankers might have spent much of this year’s IMF meetings fretting over where they might find growth, but the only growth worrying Washington’s cab drivers was the awesome sum being raked in by the city’s traffic cameras.

Treasurers are exploring the investment options open to them in the face of continued low interest rates and money market reforms.

The departure of SoFi founder Mike Cagney as CEO should serve as a warning against believing the hype about fintech firms without testing the self-interested assertions of their managers.

Ex-Lending Club chief poised to retry securitization; technique ‘essential’ to online lending business.

The 20-year-old investment bank has jumped up the advisory league tables thanks to high-profile hires from top firms. It now regularly takes lead roles in the biggest and most complex M&A transactions. Rising revenues are funding international expansion. Its aim for the future is to become a top-five global M&A adviser. But, in many ways, Evercore is a throwback to Wall Street’s past.

As JPMorgan’s head of markets execution, David Hudson has an ambitious mandate to bring technological innovation and a willingness to fail to the heart of the investment bank, but why is he “obsessed” with Amazon?

Banks are hopeful that the Trump administration might finally get something done.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has decided to steer clear of corporate bonds, which will help it to avoid the reputational traps that loom for some other large investors.

Hurricanes, electric cars and pollution rules are bringing volatility back to the commodity markets.

CEO lays out lessons from crisis; risk management set for test.

The big banks underestimate ‘big tech’ at their peril.

As jitters about the future of high-street retail in the US and beyond prompt property investors to pare their exposure to the sector, Brookfield Property Group, one of the world’s largest, is busy ramping up.

CLS is looking to move beyond its image as an FX market utility offering settlement plus a few extras, reorganizing itself into three distinct units – of which settlement is one – with new products announced for each.

Insanity can be defined as repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. The elites spawned by unfettered global capitalism and a market-driven financial system are still to heed the lessons from the global financial crisis and the rise of populist nationalism.

The future of climate change finance lies in its ability to attract private capital. It is a complex task, but the key to its success will be in keeping products offered to investors as simple as possible.

There is an abundance of funds seeking to channel money into climate finance projects in vulnerable countries, with the Green Climate Fund in the vanguard. But why is so little money reaching the countries that need it?

Volatility in FX and beyond remains straitjacketed by central bank policy, but many fund managers that rely on volatility-based measures of risk might be dramatically underestimating the level of risk they are taking.