Western Europe

Non-banks eye new funds to triple originations; interest margins at risk across Europe.

UK regulator to examine regulatory impact as current research pricing viewed as unsustainable by investors.

As treasurers and banks grapple with the arrival of real-time payments and open banking, tech companies are looking at the next phase of payment developments.

With less than 10 months to go until the UK formally leaves the European Union, most FX venues remain content to wait for the outcome of negotiations around key issues such as financial passporting before confirming their future strategy.

Kevin Rodgers gives his personal views on the trial and conviction of FX banker Mark Johnson and its ramifications for global markets. Anyone working in banking should consider what it means for them.

Higher merchant fees are creating issues for corporate treasurers, who are concerned with the lack of alternatives in the market.

Product diversification high on agenda; bank fund relationships could change.

As they rapidly lose market share, investment banks must evolve their capital markets businesses.

AT1 contingent capital bonds are entering their second generation; issuers have begun refinancing the $200 billion asset class, but just two years ago the market looked close to collapse. What took it to near disaster? And how did it escape?

Despite the latest attempts to stymie them, Eurosceptic populists remain the most powerful political force in Italy – largely thanks to anger at a banking crisis, often fanned by the ECB. Now their approach to power is killing the last chance of fixing the banking union, and possibly the euro.

With six months to go before money market reforms are imposed on all funds in Europe, treasurers hoping to earn a return on their cash are scoping out the best options available.

A soybean trade between two arms of Cargill using letters of credit from HSBC and ING shows the R3 Corda platform is finally set to scale up.

The multiple access points for payments platforms in the UK have been brought together under one new operator

What to do when questions are being asked about the effectiveness of low-trigger CoCos? Issue higher trigger ones, of course.

Expectations of further M&A following CYBG’s approach to Virgin Money might be wildly optimistic.

The challenges of regulatory compliance and cyber protection are making financial institutions think more creatively. Machine learning and greater data sharing might be the future of digital banking security.

The Dutch bank’s future as a standalone bank is once again in question.

Core division sees sharp fall as peers rise; follows exit of key investment bankers.

Two corporate treasurers at the Swift Business Forum London 2018, taking part in ‘The future of cross-border payments – a corporate’s view’ panel, air their experiences of working with the banks and how their expectations around fintech collaboration are yet to be reached.

Soviet military bunkers in Kazakhstan and portable houses in Siberia linked up to the plumbing: Bitcoin mining is moving in some interesting directions that will become even more diverse as China cracks down on its domestic industry.

It needs to be about more than helping people to move money.

Firm buys Credito di Romagna stake; European banking licence adds to appeal.

Asset management is the hottest sub-sector in FIG investment banking in Europe. Even banks with successful in-house asset managers are thinking hard how to adapt, and must act fast.

The near collapse of Ireland’s banks during the financial crisis did little to endear them to the nation. Now, as they return to profitability, the banks find themselves involved in another political controversy; this time over their attempts to sell off non-performing loans.

Despite healthy profits, is Kees van Dijkhuizen doing enough to close the digital gap with ING – and what happens when the Dutch mortgage market turns? Are the chief executive and his team capable of forging a longer-term rationale for the bank?

More and more private equity sponsors in Europe are now comfortable using direct lenders in their deals – indeed many have done so multiple times. After a record volume of fundraising in 2017, funds are competing ever more fiercely for the mandates on offer – and in the process some are losing sight of the real risk adjusted returns that they are chasing.

Christian Sewing has been painted as the stern cost disciplinarian and man of action, so he had to unveil something decisive-sounding at his first results call — even if it smacks of tokenism

The sell side has largely realized the potential of technology to minimize the impact of FX market fragmentation, although experts suggest it could do more to extract value from the data generated by electronic trading.

Banks are proving so slow to collaborate on blockchain protocols that could reduce costs in financial markets that it almost looks as if they wish to profit from persistent inefficiency.

With an embarrassing and badly mishandled change of chief executive now complete, all the big problems still remain for Deutsche Bank.