Western Europe

HSBC launched its green deposit account in the first week of February with a deposit from a building materials company.

Margin pressures on buy-side clients such as asset managers have prompted increased interest in outsourced FX solutions, but firms must know exactly what they are paying for.

New CEO Thomas Gottstein will change neither the strategy nor the structure at Credit Suisse, but rather focus on growth in every division.

Christine Lagarde’s strategic review should usher in new targets and new tools at the European Central Bank, as the risks to growth rise and negative rates become counter-productive.

Geopolitical concerns are pushing corporates in Asia to work with European transaction banks.

The ouster of Tidjane Thiam has caused more shock outside Switzerland than within, where the insiders who needed him to fix Credit Suisse have been quite ruthless in expelling him now the job is done.

There were many things declared at Davos this year that would lead us to believe that sustainability is now embedded in every decision a bank or investment manager makes. Here are some great examples that show 2020 is starting on a positive track.

Across the UK, Legal & General has invested over £22 billion in affordable housing, homes for the homeless, clean energy, life sciences, creative industries, and technology and infrastructure. Is this the institutional-scale impact model we have been waiting for?

If the reversal rate is lower elsewhere, Italy and Germany can’t blame the ECB.

Banks have benefited from negative rates, but EBF president Jean Pierre Mustier says the downsides are increasing.

As the howls of anguish at negative interest rates reach a crescendo, central bankers and prominent economists are still convinced that Europe’s financial sector would be even worse off were base rates above zero. Banks are increasingly vocal in their opposition to the policy. Are they right to believe the systemic risks are growing? And could a move away from negative rates hurt banks more than if the ECB kept them?

Markets need more sophisticated measurement criteria to cope with the surge in demand for ESG integration.

Some organizations, drawn in by irresistible fees, can’t resist working with high-risk clients – but technology might offer a solution.

Dealmakers are optimistic about a pick-up in large deals and outbound M&A from Europe this year, but the need for regional consolidation is more urgent.

Banks must prove to the increasingly impatient regulators that they have got Libor transition under control, or face costly consequences down the line.

Cryptocurrencies have a specific use-case in countries where local currencies are in crisis, but elsewhere they remain a volatile speculative investment and will struggle to take off as a means of payment.

The traditional debt specialist is aiming to round out its growing European franchise with an equity capital markets advisory business.

Former PwC executive Robert Swaak is a 'safe pair of hands', but a money laundering investigation and negative rates heighten existential doubt at ABN Amro.

Lender lures China Merchants Bank’s head of private banking to oversee the Swiss bank’s onshore wealth management ops.

Welcome to the 2020s.

Spain’s biggest bank is moving further away from its deal-making past, instead seeing a way forward for its troubled US and UK banks in payments and cloud technology.

BNP Paribas will reach the end of its three year ‘transformation’ plan in 2020; how has it fared?

Investors have rewarded cuts but restructuring may soon recommence, sparking fears of collateral damage in businesses it still cherishes.

Returning money to shareholders was an important milestone; building revenues and controlling costs remains the key task.

Being the world’s leading wealth manager presents challenges in this market environment. UBS is coping relatively well.

As the bank finally grapples with the restructuring it has needed for years, there are reasons to be optimistic.

The senior management team at HSBC looks increasingly chaotic. It needs to fix that, before it can fix the bank.

While many European peers languish, Barclays’ transatlantic pivot is paying off – and helping it build elsewhere.

With falling rates in Europe and the US, and Turkey still in trouble, only Latin America – especially Mexico – can keep up BBVA’s spirits.

‘Business as usual’ has been tough for the Swiss bank to achieve over the last 12 months. Management faces a challenge to show the bank will not just survive but thrive.