North America

For the past few years, Goldman Sachs has dangled the promise of something new – a diversification in its business mix that would give shareholders a reason to finally re-rate the stock. But while the firm still has the glint of Goldman on the surface, disappointing earnings are revealing something less valuable underneath. Can its second investor day now fix the legacy of the first?

While no one is willing to bet the farm on anything other than dollar depreciation in 2023, mixed messages from the Fed, and economic and political uncertainty elsewhere mean the greenback could yet defy expectations.

Banks and corporates are taking a variety of approaches to mitigating the impact of rising interest rates, quantitative tightening and economic uncertainty on the availability of liquidity.

A report by a US short-seller hammered the stock of India’s Adani Group companies just as one of them tried to raise $2.5 billion in a follow-on. It was not just Adani under attack here, but Modi’s vision of corporate India.

Some leading FX banks have struggled to stay competitive in forwards, swaps and swaptions thanks to SA-CCR rules, but compressing portfolios helps.

A decade ago, the bank opted to go long on more durable sources of income – notably wealth management. Its standout 2022 financials are a clear sign of the benefits of long-term planning.

Appetite for corporate issuance remains robust as investors dismiss recession fears and take on credit exposure.

With little likelihood of currency volatility subsiding any time soon, corporates continue to face difficult decisions when it comes to how best to mitigate FX risk.

Some issuers are grabbing the opportunities offered by a new capital markets year. Others would do well to face reality sooner rather than later.

The billionaire Winklevoss twins and DCG CEO Barry Silbert have been squabbling over $900 million of frozen customer assets. The SEC has just banged their heads together.

The regulated US bank lost 70% of its deposits in a few weeks. But while that run shows the risks of banking the crypto industry, the key lesson is how it is still standing.

After years at zero, rapid Fed hikes last year led to sharp increases in NII and NIM. But it is not all good news.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has lifted the lid on some eye-popping charges against the former CFO of a special purpose acquisition company.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces the full wrath of US authorities, as rival agencies compete to make the most hyperbolic charges against the former crypto exchange head. Death by metaphor could be his provisional sentence.

Societe Generale and AllianceBernstein may look like an equities odd couple. Leveraging Societe Generale’s derivatives franchise is key to the new joint venture, as is maintaining AllianceBernstein’s reputation for independence.

State Street’s Chip Lowry, a board member and former chair of the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association, talks to Euromoney about his new role on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s market risk advisory committee.

The chief executive of JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain business explains why it has been a long slog, and where the interest lies today after the crypto collapse.

Daniel Zelikow, chairman of JPMorgan Development Finance Institution’s governing board, on private-sector development finance, EM policy risk and funding bankable assets.

Vocal members of the US political right are not happy, creating new laws that ban state investors from backing companies with an ESG agenda. Several fund managers have been quick to take up their cause.

European banks have raced far ahead of their US peers on sustainability. But the continent is now facing an energy emergency, creating pressure from some corners to reverse investment declines in oil and gas. Can Europe’s banks remain frontrunners in sustainable finance in today’s fragile geopolitical environment?

Elon Musk is full of praise for his bankers at Morgan Stanley. It’s a shame his $44 billion Twitter deal is set to cost the bank money rather than earning a tip for good service.

The weakness of the pound and strength of the dollar has implications for companies on both sides of the Atlantic.

UK pension fund hedges have failed the first real stress test in a new era of rising interest rates. Bankers are surprisingly relaxed about the implications for other threats to global systemic stability.

David Solomon is having to field some scepticism as he changes Goldman Sachs’s approach to its loss-making consumer banking operation and restructures the firm. But nothing that has been developed is going to waste, and recognising that a business might sit better elsewhere is simply good sense.

Regulators often rely on giving relief when market participants or products fall between different jurisdictions or certification is unavoidably delayed. But one US regulator is getting fed up with having to do the same thing over and over again, and is calling for rules to be fixed instead of being endlessly patched up.

The curious case of the cows that didn’t exist.

Kotak Investment Advisors, the special situations arm of Kotak Mahindra, could have $9 billion under management by early next year. It is led by Srini Sriniwasan, who has applied skills learned at Goldman Sachs to develop the business to where it is today.

SEC chair Gary Gensler’s literally getting vibes that there’s something sus in the crypto wave.

The things that attracted Lone Star to Bank of Cyprus are present in banks in Greece and elsewhere in peripheral Europe. If other private equity-like investors take an interest, domestic political blessing could be the key to success.

Not long ago, correspondent banking was as basic as finance got. These days it is compliance and cost-heavy and in the crosshairs of aggressive and powerful regulators. Little wonder that so many banks are exiting small or fragile markets – actions that help their bottom line but hinder efforts at financial inclusion.