Emerging Europe

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

This is a new category/methodology for 2009.

When Zar Amrolia, now managing director of global finance and foreign exchange, first walked on to the then Deutsche Morgan Grenfell’s foreign exchange sales and trading floor in 1995, he wasn’t entirely sure that he had made the right career move.

Foreign exchange, money markets and rates have returned Deutsche Bank to profitability. Anshu Jain, the firm’s global head of markets, says it’s all down to applying smart solutions to relatively simple products. But don’t be fooled into thinking he’s given up on more complex business. Clive Horwood reports.

Deutsche Bank retains top position for fifth consecutive year; Highest-ever turnover and client activity recorded in Euromoney’s industry benchmark survey.

Euromoney collects data for its annual foreign exchange survey by polling named individuals at industrial and commercial corporations, financial institutions, institutional investors and state agencies. We received 12,150 valid votes this year, up 23.9% from 9,810 in 2008. Total business placed with FX providers totalled $175.3 trillion.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has launched its first domestic rouble bond in three years. The proceeds of the Rbl5 billion ($439 million) five-year floating-rate issue will finance the EBRD’s existing rouble loan portfolio. In May 2005, the EBRD was the first supranational to tap the Russian domestic bond market.

Russia: Fairy tale ending or start of a nightmare?

Poland has followed Mexico in seeking a precautionary credit line from the IMF. Prime minister Donald Tusk said that the country was interested in a one-year facility for $20.5 billion. The line was created as part of a revamp of the IMF’s lending facilities announced in March. It is a type of insurance policy for strong developing countries. Access is restricted to countries that meet strict criteria. Colombia is also hoping to gain access to the line for $10.4 billion. Mexico’s credit line is for $47 billion.

There are limited IMF funds for ailing emerging economies, available only on stiff terms, and that means serious consequences for those that have lent to them.

Higher-cost hydrocarbons and falling exports are separating the state from the economy and destroying its Soviet relics, starting with the banks. Dominic O’Neill reports from Minsk.

At least two of Kazakhstan’s leading banks are likely to seek a restructuring of their foreign debts in the near future. President Nursultan Nazarbayev has requested that the Kazakh government come up with a plan to help banks resolve their debt repayment problems by the middle of May.

Never in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s history has central and eastern Europe needed its support so much. President Thomas Mirow explains its plans to head off the threat of depression to Sudip Roy.

Herbert Stepic, chief executive of Raiffeisen International, the second-biggest lender in central and eastern Europe, remains confident that despite the short-term effects of the global credit crunch and the associated economic slowdown, central and eastern Europe will continue to offer profitable opportunities for those institutions that display a long-term commitment to the region.