UniCredit regional division head says the UK crashing out of the EU is one of the main external risks to CEE this year.

Multiple positive factors point to outperformance of Brazil’s banks in EM, but pensions reform risks remain.

They aren’t making headlines – for the right reasons.

I can’t seem to stop worrying about Argentina in its election year.

Volatility in China and increased onshore access means a greater need for hedging; Singapore also building offshore rupee traction.

New numbers suggest there could be trouble ahead for Asian high-yield issuers.

New penalties from China’s bank regulator suggest a firmer stance on trying to bury bad debts, but it’s not just a bludgeoning.

Telcos allowed to provide limited services, helping financial inclusion in the country.

Numbers are solid and money is flowing into the system, but ICBC must avoid the temptation to drift from its conservative approach to risk.

Regional difficulties have tested QNB’s resilience, but the bank has managed to consolidate its position at home and maintain its international strength.

With its focus on SMEs, the bank is well set to grow with the Brazilian economy

Profits are up, but the markets hits it – for good and bad – for being the bank/tech hybrid Gupta has modelled.

The UAE’s largest bank is widely considered to have made a success of its merger and is now looking to realize its international potential.

Itaú is performing well, but faces challenges in its corporate banking unit.

Every reported number in 2018 from CCB was impressive. But maintaining this momentum in the year ahead will require exceptional management.

In 2018, Montenegro was named as one of the countries most at risk from over-indebtedness to China for the €809 million Bar-Boljare highway, dubbed a ‘road to nowhere’, but in Podgorica, enthusiasm for the project is still running high.

After a few years of underperformance, India’s property market is back on form. Prices are rising in commercial and residential real estate, with demand driven in large part by inward investment from blue-chip US corporates. The next big step is listed onshore real estate investment trusts, set to hit the market in 2019.

A swingeing new bank tax in Romania is inequitable, misconceived and just plain dumb.

The opening up of central Asia’s largest market after a decade of isolation has sparked intense interest in its underdeveloped banking sector among fund managers and regional groups alike.

When Sri Lanka, a key link in the Belt and Road Initiative, sold China a deep-water port in exchange for debt alleviation, it raised eyebrows around the world – yet Colombo continues to borrow from Beijing even as its fiscal situation worsens.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is trumpeted as a ‘win-win’ for all, but is it everything it’s cracked up to be? Or are countries on its route, wary of Beijing’s motives and fearful of being trapped by debt to China’s big development banks, losing faith in the plan?

Warning sirens are sounding about the level of debt Djibouti owes to China for Belt and Road projects. The local view is that they need the money and China is the country that is offering it. But the fate of the Djibouti-Addis Ababa railway represents the financial challenges of BRI in a 756-kilometre microcosm.

Court of Appeal backs holdouts in debt restructuring, while investors eye potential for jurisdictional arbitrage.

The two Nigerian banks’ merger would form the country’s largest financial institution, but it is somewhat overshadowed by Diamond’s troubled legacy loans to the oil and energy sectors.

Local banks shrink FX loan books as recession starts to bite; municipal elections raise fears of further market volatility.

Santander’s Brazilian bank took lots of deserved acclaim when Santander released its global third-quarter results, but keep an eye on Mexico.

Judge throws out claim in English court; lender on track for first full-year profit since nationalization.

The decision of Singapore regulators not to allow Noble to re-list wrecks a 19-month restructuring process and points towards insolvency.

Covalent Capital’s OMAS platform seeks to digitize primary bond issues; the MAS is a backer.

The landmark corporate governance (CG) report raises renewed concerns about dual-class structures – which is a bit awkward given CLSA underwrites them.