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LATEST ARTICLES
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Disagreement over where US interest rates are going has split opinion on overall prospects for emerging market currencies.
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While the impact on energy is centre stage, the war in Ukraine is also wreaking havoc on soft commodity prices and trade routes. Trade in agricultural commodities is taking a hit. The pool of banks financing these commodities is already dwindling, while the risks for those that remain are growing.
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Without Russia, Raiffeisen will be a different entity – one focused on safer countries in the former Habsburg heartlands. The low home-market profitability that Russia once served to mitigate, however, will be more evident than ever.
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The fiscal deterioration of Latin America’s former totem has more than just the pandemic behind it.
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The hard truth is that in much of the developing world, climate change still ranks well below more immediate concerns such as unemployment, disease, poverty and political unrest for households and businesses.
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Policymakers in Moscow are finally promising to tackle climate change. Will the Russian private sector follow suit?
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Chilean corporates can now sell through Euroclear, following the sovereign’s successful experience.
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Payments company prices above range as it shrugs off regional valuation constraints on Nasdaq debut.
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Naysayers were swift to condemn Lithuanian involvement in the German scandal.
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Emerging markets have regained some of the buoyancy lost during the early months of the coronavirus crisis, but analyst opinions hint at the difficulty of identifying which EM currencies investors should favour.
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The saga of Poland’s Idea Bank has finally been resolved with a forced takeover by number two player Pekao. But questions remain over the role of the state.
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A new book concludes that the rules for trading EM FX and fixed income have successfully survived Covid.
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In a year of shocks and surprises, it’s hard to say where Mexico’s economic and financial performance ranks – but it’s up there.
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The Dominican Republic’s banks, which were supported by a swift series of measures when Covid-19 struck, are now being asked to fund the government until fiscal reform can be enacted.
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While the FX non-deliverable forward (NDF) market has demonstrated its resilience in the face of a spike in spreads during the early stages of coronavirus, there are concerns over its capacity to destabilize onshore markets in emerging economies.
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Credit Suisse has hired several big guns in the battle for the banking market in Brazil. Chief among them is Ilan Goldfajn, ex president of the central bank of Brazil.
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The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency had already set itself ambitious goals even before Covid-19 hit the world. Its new head argues that the pandemic makes its mission all the more relevant.
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How can quantitative easing best alleviate the financial fallout from Covid-19? Unconventional monetary policies make investors in emerging markets uncomfortable – especially in Latin America. Little wonder that central banks are treading a cautious path.
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The markets have been very relaxed about emerging markets adopting quantitative easing – and that, in itself, could become a problem.
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Does the investment manager’s decision to shutter its Hong Kong office and relocate to Shanghai matter?
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And the joint global coordinator is C█████ Sui███?
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Euromoney Country RiskThere is seemingly no easing of risk for the two countries, despite the anticipated third-quarter economic improvement.
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Joseph Poon is group head of DBS Private Bank, one of Asia’s leading wealth managers. But the event that drives him today, informing his values and his views on investing and risk management, was stepping aboard a rickety raft in 1976 to flee an impoverished and divided Vietnam.
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Euromoney Country RiskEuromoney asked its panellists to rescore Lebanon’s risks in the aftermath of the port tragedy on August 4, with investors left pondering what’s next for a country now desperately in need of aid and finance for reconstruction.
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The government’s resignation this week could pave the way for reform – and unlock essential IMF funding – but is the will to change there?
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As expected, DBS and UOB reported dramatic year-on-year declines in profitability, but both were protected by their range.
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Euromoney Country RiskAnalysts can see through the economic and fiscal shock to observe a country with its underlying strengths intact.
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The managing director retires in October. RBI has three names to contemplate as his possible successor.
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Najib Razak’s 12-year sentence on corruption charges is a landmark for Malaysia. But he also tried to drag in former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and AmBank managing director Cheah Teck Kuang.
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Local scepticism over proposed debt offer rises as bid to include GDP warrants rejected.
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Rather than just handling payments, one mobile-phone technology entrepreneur wants to extend small lines of short-term credit to the financially excluded.
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The sovereign wealth fund is withdrawing to cash, has seen a once-in-a-generation drawdown and is positioning defensively.
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The Goldman Sachs arrangement with the government of Malaysia over 1MDB only draws a line under part of the scandal. There is more to come – and questions to answer.
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As Iran’s currency crisis deepens, observers fear that far from improving the situation, state intervention will do further damage to a country that was in economic turmoil even before coronavirus.
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Unquantifiable risk as a result of Covid-19 made the complex deal unworkable.
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Private sector digital adoption is surging because of the pandemic. The resultant efficiencies will partially offset pressure on profitability at the bank.
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The Singaporean investment company made a loss – but an impressive one in the circumstances.
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A backdrop of buoyant economic growth, falling unemployment and rising consumer confidence gave Serbia’s banks a welcome boost last year.
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A quick reaction to warning signs in Asia meant Atlantic Natural Foods was better positioned than some to deal with Covid-19 – but it still needed flexibility from its bank
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Attorney Mel Georgie Racela runs the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat in the Philippines, one of two agencies tasked with getting to the bottom with the country’s involvement in the Wirecard scandal. He talks to Chris Wright.
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The country’s response to the scandal is a chance to show good governance.
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Investors should stop pretending to care about ESG risks.
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It has become almost fashionable to write off the city. There are important reasons to believe it will endure.
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The Covid-19 crisis will accelerate monetization in the Gulf and see Abu Dhabi companies take equity stakes in the emirate.
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The New Development Bank, born in Shanghai 2015 to help the five ‘Brics' countries, has had a good pandemic, disbursing $4 billion in emergency funding and printing a maiden US dollar bond. Its future plans: more capital, more members and a better credit rating.
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The awkward truce in Brazil between XP Inc and Itaú broke down in a very public way in June.
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Social distancing and government payments are turbo-charging digital bank’s growth.
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The country is losing the war on the coronavirus, as well as wasting the ensuing digital payments opportunity eagerly grasped by others in Latin America.
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Experienced mobile money market participants have given a cautious welcome to Ethiopia’s plans to liberalize its telecommunications market, but warn that the emergence of new transaction providers is far from certain.
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As the US turns its back on China, US-listed mainland firms are rushing to complete secondary share sales. For all the challenges facing Hong Kong, this week’s market debut by JD.com and Yum China’s $2 billion beauty parade, are signs of a market in rude health.
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Emerging market currencies look set to continue their bumpy ride over the coming months as the potential for a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks weighs on Asian currency sentiment.
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Mainland Chinese firms invested $72.2 billion in Africa between 2014 and 2018, much of it through the Belt and Road Initiative. Now that Covid-19 has struck, there is a growing sense of unease in Beijing over calls to write off debt to stressed African states.
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African governments and SOEs owe China more than $150 billion and Covid-19 is limiting their ability to repay. Will this usher in debt-trap diplomacy or are Chinese lenders playing a longer game?
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Will forcing all foreign firms to comply with US audit standards be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in Beijing?
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A new law prohibiting the return of banks to their former owners will unlock international funding for Ukraine. But is it really the game changer some are claiming?
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China has moved closer to approving its first onshore real estate investment trusts. When tax and gearing issues are overcome, the market could overtake the US to be the world’s largest, bankers say.
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Collapse in Brazilian equities places a question mark over recent growth in retail investment.
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Tinkoff Bank’s virtual assistant is good for eating out, but not food for thought.
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Foreign capital is flooding into Chinese bonds, but investors would be wise to scrutinize the myriad ways by which issuers can wriggle out of meeting their obligations. China’s bond markets are vibrant and attractive, but – all too often – unruly.
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India's national ID and financial inclusion system creates the rails on which food and financial aid can reach some of the most vulnerable in society. But its rigidity in a crisis is a weakness.
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The six exchange-rate system is now untenable, with the currency losing more than 50% of its value since October, but analysts say floating the currency will cause more pain without IMF support.
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The bank reports record profits, loan growth and no advance provisioning while Bradesco and Itaú focus on risks ahead.
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Co-founder Sergey Khotimskiy says the coronavirus crisis could help Russia’s private-sector banks fight back against state dominance.
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Private creditors and the Paris Club have agreed to collaborate on a debt standstill for low-income countries, but the process must be handled with care to avoid being more punitive than helpful.
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Debt relief will free up essential funds but could be more punitive than helpful.
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Profit pressure is a threat to every bank, says Qatar Islamic Bank’s group CEO Bassel Gamal, discussing how Qatar’s robust and well-capitalized banking sector is navigating the twin shocks of lower oil prices and coronavirus.
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Breathless reporting of the details of the Argentine government’s offer to bondholders tends to presuppose there is doubt in the outcome.
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Peru’s laudable coronavirus emergency measures won’t prevent its banks from taking a substantial hit – so what does that mean for less-well-run economies?
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Four months after the start of the coronavirus outbreak, financial assistance from the World Bank’s pandemic bonds is about to find its way to poor countries to help them fight Covid-19.
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China is pushing back against claims it could have done more to combat Covid-19; it could help itself by being more open about who owes it money – and clamping down on corporate shenanigans at home.
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Global banks are finally getting full access to China’s capital markets. Regulators will let them own joint ventures outright as they roll out a host of services from forex to advisory to wealth management. For Beijing it’s a final frontier – and there’s no going back.
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When corporates needed access to credit as the Covid-19 crisis ravaged Brazil’s markets, the big banks baulked or raised their costs dramatically. Is this the price of such a consolidated market, one that also provides much-needed stability in times of turmoil?
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Piyush Gupta, head of Singapore’s DBS Bank, tells Euromoney that scrapping dividends now is a mistake, discusses the mental stress of working from home, and says a multi-year recovery will hit banks hard and lead to mergers and job losses.
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The coronavirus lockdown turned WiMi’s IPO roadshow into an all-digital affair – although that may have done the augmented reality firm a favour; the Beijing-based AR specialist is now eyeing expansion into southeast Asia.
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Citi’s chief executive for Kenya and east Africa tells Euromoney how Kenya’s banks have come together to buy ventilators; how Covid-19 will accelerate the adoption of digital banking; and why the removal of the interest rate cap is more important than ever for Kenya’s SMEs.
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Shanghai’s new Nasdaq-style bourse has done more IPOs and raised more capital than any Chinese exchange – including Hong Kong – during the Covid-19 crisis. Questions remain, but so far the Star Market has been a resounding success.
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Risk that high leverage in global corporates could spark 'new global financial crisis'.
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Euromoney Livestream with special guest: Mahmoud Mohieldin, Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda, United Nations
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In 2008, China unveiled a huge stimulus package that staved off recession. Its uneasy ‘halfway-stimulus’ approach to the Covid-19 crisis is a tacit admission that Beijing just cannot afford to turn on the taps again.
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Dubai raises funding amid perfect storm of Covid-19, economic slowdown and falling oil prices.
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Bank scraps share buyback and postpones dividend decision as COO Arana warns lack of fiscal response from the government risks deeper decline.
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Relief for corporates reeling from the coronavirus will be the bank’s top focus for some time, says its global head of transaction banking.
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The country’s financial system has been transformed over the last decade, and the Viet Kieu has played a crucial role in that; Euromoney speaks to some of its leading lights about what they are doing and why.
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They seemed to be emerging, blinking, into the light of a normal financial system under former president Mauricio Macri, but that moment has gone; the new administration has sent real rates negative, while economic and credit growth look to be years away.
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The IFC’s Africa and Middle East head, Sérgio Pimenta, tells Euromoney that a fast response and private-sector support are essential in the battle against Covid-19.
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The head of UnionBank of the Philippines tells Euromoney that Covid-19 will spell the end of cash and boost the prospects of banks that offer customers the best digital banking services.
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Loan growth can return to double digits in second half of 2020, says deputy chief executive.
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The chief executive of Taiwan lender E.Sun, Joseph Huang, tells Euromoney that banks are responsible for helping not just customers but the whole of society, as Covid-19 pushes countries into lockdown.
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As Egypt ramps up measures to contain the coronavirus, CIB chairman Hisham Ezz Al-Arab tells Euromoney how the 2011 revolution has left the bank well prepared to deal with the current crisis.
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Recruited to set up a national payments system, the central bank’s Olga Skorobogatova has overseen initiatives to protect consumers and promote competition in Russia’s banking sector. In her first interview with international media, she talks sandboxes, blockchain and the challenges of regulating bank ecosystems.
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Vladimir Verkhoshinskiy says Covid-19 crisis offers opportunities for leading Russian private-sector banks.
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Corporate treasurers are doing everything they can to keep businesses running as smoothly as possible during these challenging times. How do their relationships with bank partners hold up in times of stress?
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Previous crises led to consolidated, profitable sector that should be able to weather coming storm.
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The ADB’s policy chief tells Euromoney the Manila multilateral is ready for the worst, but wonders what world will emerge from Covid-19, as sovereign states balk at funding needs, and commercial banks step back from funding infrastructure.
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Dealing room challenges, loan forbearance and short board meetings: CEO John Hollows describes the impact of Covid-19 on the Czech Republic’s largest bank.
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Coronavirus Covid-19 knows no borders, but the economic support packages being put in place sadly do.
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‘Inadequate’ stimulus package could leave banks on the hook as Covid-19 pushes Poland towards recession.
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It might be too much to say the country was bouncing back before Covid-19 struck, but it was beginning to look a bit better. Not now though.
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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank president tells Euromoney that Asia’s global development bank is stepping up to help member countries in the face of coronavirus.
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The new government’s decision to go after Mercado Libre has the sector worried.
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The Gulf’s largest economy is facing unprecedented challenges from the coronavirus Covid-19 and oil at $30 a barrel. Has diversification under Vision 2030 done enough to help Saudi Arabia weather the storm or will it be forced to abandon its dreams of diversification?
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Lebanon’s banks are on the brink as the country looks to restructure its debt. Could rich depositors, who have for years enjoyed inflated interest rates, be called on to take a hit?
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Paraguay has achieved a lot in the last decade. A raft of laws to underpin the management of its economy – such as inflation targeting and the fiscal responsibility law – created a stable macro-economic environment just before the commodities bust that sent other economies in the region into a downward fiscal spin.
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While the West is consumed by its own mounting panic, it is easy to forget that China, where coronavirus began, is still in all sorts of trouble: growth rates are tumbling and stimulus is a certainty. Now Covid-19 is making landfall in southeast Asia.
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The fall in the oil price will benefit oil-importing countries such as Kenya, but the benefits may be lost because of the African continent's over-reliance on trade with China.
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Slovenian market leader eyes further regional expansion after the purchase of Serbia’s Komercijalna Banka.
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In giving aid to the US, the Jack Ma Foundation has an important message for Trump: close borders to contain a virus, not to contain China.
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Africa’s oil exporters are feeling the pressure after the crash in the oil price and fears of the coronavirus Covid-19, as investors pull money from international bond markets.
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A double shock of Covid-19 and falling oil prices brings the spectre of recession to the Gulf, while efforts to diversify economies are being derailed.
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China is opening its market for distressed bank debt to specialist foreign investors, with LA-based Oaktree the first to set down roots. The market is big and growing, and for the first time, regulators and foreign funds need each other just as much.
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The recent collapse in the oil price and Nigeria's (lack of) reaction to it echoes the way the country dealt with the crisis in 2015. Repetition of the same mistakes will only cause harm for Africa's largest economy.
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Bank of East Asia and activist investor Elliott have long bickered about the weak share performance of Hong Kong’s last family-run lender. A strategic review led by Goldman Sachs and backed by both aims to offer guidance about its future.
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There are legitimate criticisms of pandemic bonds, but the lunatic conspiracy theories online amid the coronavirus panic are damaging; the World Bank’s failure to refute them clearly is a mistake.
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The economic fallout from the virus is beginning to impact regional currencies and growth forecasts.
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In June, Singapore’s regulator will hand licences to three new wholesale digital banks in a bid to better serve under-banked SMEs. Euromoney talks to Arival Bank, a fintech firm aiming to snag a licence and use it to fuel its global ambitions.
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Retail banking has been disrupted. Now comes wholesale’s moment, as banks shift into a higher gear to meet the increasingly onerous demands of digitally connected corporates. Only the best and most adaptable firms are likely to survive.
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Expo 2020 showcases economic and business opportunities in Dubai. Bankers hope it will lead to a boom in areas such as SME lending and infrastructure investment, but worry that a short-term lift will not be enough to dispel broader concerns about the country’s economy.
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UPDATED March 23: The initial 12-week period ends today, meaning that the bonds could be triggered in two weeks' time
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The government’s response to the lack of financial inclusion is to build thousands of new banks throughout the country, but it faces a big challenge in weaning potential customers away from the black economy.
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The new aid is targeted at developing countries; demand is already seen in all regions.
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Four years after Scotiabank last took its investor day on the road, the bank put on a show in Santiago in January to highlight the advances it has made in its international banking strategy.
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Brazil’s changing macroeconomic environment is shaking up the investment industry – and there has been no bigger winner than XP Inc. In his first post-IPO interview with the international media, CEO Guilherme Benchimol explains the firm’s competitive edge over banks.
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Political instability could delay the long-awaited revival of Romania’s stalled privatization programme, as hopes for early elections fade.
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The gravitational pull of Latin America on Santander has resulted in the move to appoint Santander Brasil CEO Sergio Rial to the bank’s board as executive director.
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A snack food firm from Wuhan has completed its $70 million IPO in Shanghai, the first out of the gate since Chinese New Year. Its canny bankers helped get regulatory approval by promising to fund the fight to stem the epidemic.
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Turkey’s strong private-sector banks are its biggest asset – undermining their profitability for short-term political gain will prove counterproductive.
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DP World is planning to delist from the Nasdaq Dubai in a move that directly contradicts the UAE’s efforts to improve liquidity and diversity in its domestic exchanges.
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HSBC launched its green deposit account in the first week of February with a deposit from a building materials company.
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The rhetorical battle between Argentina’s government, the IMF and bondholders is heating up but the bigger – largely ignored – issue appears to be the country’s looming financial collapse.
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As the death toll rises, China’s big state lenders are being forced to shutter branches and Beijing has reacted by disbursing loans to afflicted companies – but the sector is also hit by slowing credit growth and a sharp rise in NPLs.
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The country needs to raise up to $4.5 billion in the international markets this year – and it won’t be easy.
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XP has been outperforming even its most optimistic analysts’ projections in recent quarters.
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In 2016, China’s currency seemed on target for global reserve status. These days, the renminbi appears stuck in reverse, with Beijing looking on passively as its status shrinks and it slides down the global rankings.
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Woori Bank’s investment in Parasite has paid off handsomely, as punters around the world flock to see the first foreign language winner of best picture.
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DBS evacuated 300 employees from Tower 3 of Singapore’s Marina Bay Finance Centre, after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. It comes as banks across the region re-examine worst-case scenarios as the pathogen spreads.
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Euromoney's latest coverage of how Beijing is seeking to globalize the renminbi, through currency swaps and trade-financing facilities; the rise of the offshore bond market; and how fee-hungry banks are salivating at the prospect of the RMB’s growth.
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Across Asia, the coronavirus is hampering banks’ ability to run roadshows, and even hold meetings, and some business continuity plans are starting to kick in.
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As birth rates fall and the UAE government looks at ways to spur population growth, private equity firms see opportunities in IVF.
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It has made waves with an IPO and by building a strong retail banking platform. Less well known is how the firm is gatecrashing the country’s thriving wealth management industry.
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Should spirituality be one of the lenses through which the wealthy manage their money? Faith-based investors certainly think so. Euromoney talks to funds and wealth advisers who believe that positive energy or religion-driven strategies can bring enhanced returns.
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With Santander Brasil registering record profits and Santander Mexico promising the same, the outlook for the group looks Latin. As its European business stalls, how will the bank be affected by Latin America’s shift from engine of growth to core business?
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A draft law in the United Arab Emirates will see more family-run corporates listing, while pension reforms will create a huge pool of investable assets.
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Some organizations, drawn in by irresistible fees, can’t resist working with high-risk clients – but technology might offer a solution.
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Report says they must cut costs by 10%; years of 20%+ ROE are coming to an end.
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The partnership will boost Alipay’s control of money flowing into China and increase its status abroad.
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The process of financial digitalization has been a challenge for journalists covering Brazil’s banking sector.
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It may still be months before the latest coronavirus outbreak in China reaches its peak, so timing is everything for capital market practitioners in the region.
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Stand-off in Slovenia highlights politicians’ failure to tackle retail lending boom.
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Social housing bond comes just two weeks after mid-January economics report.
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Does the state of a smallish provincial lender signal the onset of a full-scale banking crisis in China?
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FX market participants are responding to Singapore’s desire for physical location of matching and pricing engines in the city-state.
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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.
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The former head of communications for Greater China at HSBC opens a consultancy in Hong Kong.
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Kenyan property developer Acorn Holdings has issued a small but smartly structured bond programme, which will remove barriers to entry for local market bonds as local currency bonds retain appeal.
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Dianrong’s founder is the host with the most… interruptions.
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In the heat of Hong Kong’s protests, rumours swirl that capital controls are imminent and banks are out of cash. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ventured onto social media, proactively quelling the gossip. New HKMA head Eddie Yue tells Euromoney how.
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Banks in emerging Europe are touting their fintech programmes and credentials, but is the enthusiasm reciprocated by the startup community?
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Lender lures China Merchants Bank’s head of private banking to oversee the Swiss bank’s onshore wealth management ops.
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Mindspace hopes to raise more than $150 million in IPO slated for the end of March; more Reit sales to follow in Mumbai during the next 18 months.
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Israel has taken orders of $20 billion for its first Eurobond of the year, despite the deadly strike on an Iranian general that threatened to push simmering Middle Eastern tensions to boiling point in early January.
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Investors are buying into ICBC’s business growth in diverse areas such as asset management and investment banking.
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If Brazil does well, Bradesco does well. Its management is confident there are good times ahead.
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Analysts think that FAB has the best potential platform of any bank in the region. Can its management deliver?
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The bank may be at the peak of its value creation, as the government looks to promote greater competition in Brazilian banking.
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The Chinese bank is making a big push in areas such as financial inclusion as it targets sustainable ways to build its business and support the Chinese economy.
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The Qatari bank is investing at home and abroad, growing its loan book and building strong operations in Egypt and Turkey.
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Despite tough conditions at home and globally, DBS keeps delivering.
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Ethiopia’s IMF deal is a notable step towards addressing its external imbalances and to opening up the country’s economy.
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The nation has become synonymous with 1MDB, much to its new leadership’s frustration. It needs to close the chapter on this scandal and begin a new narrative with the global financial community. Malaysia’s prime minister-in-waiting tells Euromoney what would help.
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Itaú retains 49% stake, now equivalent to 10% of the group’s market cap, as rapid growth leads to runaway valuation.
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It’s 2020: welcome to the decade of low-cost Brazilian banking.
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In 2014, a $1 billion bank fraud nearly bankrupted the tiny state. It came through in better shape thanks to reformist policymakers, an IMF bailout and the sale of big banks. But a Russia-leaning administration now threatens to undo those reforms.
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The need to raise funding in international markets comes at a bad time for a sector facing uncertainty over Swiss franc mortgage litigation and rising levies.
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Sustainable financing is gaining ground in corporate Russia as firms look to improve their environmental, social and governance policies ‒ but can the country’s notorious polluters really go green?
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The Lebanese authorities said that they met a $1.5 billion bond payment in late November, but with the country rapidly running out of money and in the absence of any clear ability to enact reforms, Euromoney looks at its options.
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Reformers in Kyiv and Dnipro come under fire as the battle for PrivatBank heats up.
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Emerging markets are more exposed than ever to booms and busts of the world’s largest economies, prompting the IMF to rip up its orthodox policy rulebook as it re-thinks its advice on non-standard monetary policy measures.
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The first deal under new 19C listing rules will raise $12.9 billion if greenshoe is exercised.
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A deluge of negative transatlantic headlines overshadows the achievements of Ukraine’s reformers.
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A new sport in southeast Asia banking circles is guessing how much it will take for Goldman to settle with the Malaysian state over 1MDB.
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The country’s positive real interest rates shine like a beacon for international banks.
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BayanPay, a digital payments company owned by London-listed Finablr, has received regulatory approval to operate its mobile money platform in Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom looks to a future without cash.
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The bank will open a new office in New York to capture the US market in Africa.
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Brazil’s currency hit an all-time low nominal value on November 18, closing trading at R$4.20 to the dollar.
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The former consumer finance specialist focuses on collateralized lending and sustainable finance ahead of its planned IPO.
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Egypt’s equity market has been slow to recover to pre-revolution levels, but liquidity is returning and companies are lining up to list.
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The country’s Supreme Court overturns a curveball decision from July, to the benefit of distressed debt investors.
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UBS’s country head refuses to comment on whether Banco do Brasil has been given a ‘call option on the bank’s Brazilian IB business’.
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Consolidation and new entrants attracted to the country’s winning GDP streak.
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The sale of Asiana Airlines is an emotional one for the Kumho conglomerate and its home city of Gwangju, but ties with the South Korean southern city will continue.
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It was a bold call to launch a specialist credit business in Asia in 2009, but SC Lowy celebrates its 10th birthday as an established figure in distressed debt and high yield not just at home but also increasingly in Europe. Events in India, however, where the firm holds a position in Essar Steel, are testing its patience and resolve.
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Itaú overtakes state-controlled Banco do Brasil to become the largest lender.
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Kenya’s parliament passes a law to lift an interest rate cap that has hampered credit growth and economic development, in a move that may pave the way to a new agreement with the IMF.
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Russia’s leading private sector lender looks to mortgages to maintain pace of loan growth.
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Saudi Aramco’s intention to list aims to clear up any doubts wealth managers may have about investing on behalf of women, but it also draws attention to the fact that, despite reforms, the full inclusion of women in Saudi society is still a distant reality.
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A number of contentious political reforms under president John Magufuli have weakened investor enthusiasm for Tanzania in recent years.
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As the number of financial technology startups in Brazil balloons, there is a growing sense that the pin to puncture their growth is one critical area of operation: credit. Full service in the digital age is a serious, long-term challenge for new entrants and traditional players.
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$140 million green bond funding used to build… a petrochemical refinery.
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While the IMF highlights mispriced corporate debt as a systemic danger, so too is misvalued unlisted equity.
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Brazil should be careful of learning the wrong lessons from Chilean protests.
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Mohamed Maait says that Egypt is committed to implementing the much-needed reforms to drive growth, and is pressing ahead with the sale of several state-owned companies, as it looks to agree new terms with the IMF.
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Life goes on, but with extra security, incongruous graffiti and smashed ATMs.
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Riad Salamé says that Lebanon has the tools it needs to stave off default, but with protestors demanding fundamental change, analysts question whether a radical overhaul of the country's economy is what is really needed.
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New plans to clean up Soviet-style banking sector will see underperforming legacy loans transferred to state fund.
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IMF conversations positive but with a streak of caution.
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Lower local rates have increased price and increased demand onshore.
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Critics says IFC's standards lack rigour of World Bank’s 2018 Environmental and Social Framework; Bank accepts it has made many mistakes, caused environmental and social damage in the Amazon.
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Many thought the trade war would have derailed the promise by the CSRC to let foreigners fully own their mainland securities operations.
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VTB has long lagged state-owned rival Sberbank in terms of profitability, but with sanctions limiting access to capital the pressure is on to close the gap – chairman Andrey Kostin explains why digital transformation and aggressive retail growth hold the key to success for Russia’s second-largest lender.
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The former treasurer at the Chinese multinational technology company says: 'Banks should be concerned.'
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The bank's group head, global transaction banking says: 'We want to open up the transaction banking landscape.'
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Tiny Bhutan has a claim to fame as the first and only country that can claim to be not only carbon neutral but dramatically carbon negative. Conservation is wrapped in with the national ideal of ‘gross national happiness’, a pillar of the country’s constitution and fundamental to national planning.
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The Latin American nation has gone all-out to rebuild its natural environment over the last three decades, with great results – now it needs the rest of the world to pay attention.
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Using a model of up-front financing for large one-off projects, project finance for permanence may be the mechanism that can help reach the goal of 50% of the planet’s natural areas being protected in perpetuity.
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The Seychelles was the first country to issue a debt-for-nature swap to protect its marine environment; it was also the first to issue a blue bond, raising capital to finance sustainable marine and ocean-related projects. But can it overcome the teething problems and provide a model other island nations can follow?
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Deforestation – and the cattle farming that largely drives it – has caught the world’s attention. While some environmentalists suggest punitive measures to make Brazil a better steward of the forest, there are already more constructive, private-sector responses to the challenge. Can they scale quickly enough to save the Amazon?
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When renewables private equity group Equis Energy was sold to GIP for $5 billion – $3.7 billion of it equity – investors walked away with well over double their initial investment. The founders of Equis made around $800 million. But why was more than $500 million of the proceeds ringfenced into a vehicle called Equis Renewables, in which the underlying investors did not participate, while the general partners got it all? The story of how those assets got there casts a light on the curious inner workings of modern private equity.
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To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean up water supplies, prevent the loss of biodiversity, mitigate fire and flood risk and meet the nutritional requirements of a growing population the world must improve its regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices – new tools and support from the financial services industry are needed to fund that transition.
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The Seychelles will need to tackle its drug problem head on if it wants to develop a thriving blue economy and pay back debt raised from the first ever blue bond.
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Korea’s first two digital banks have had very different starts: one, kakaobank, is a clear success story; the other, K Bank, badly needs funding but is caught up in a problem around its would-be-biggest shareholder. Korea’s regulator is in it for the long haul and is inviting new digital banks to join them.
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International investors remain cautious, despite a strong performance in deal activity this year.
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Advocating ESG while investing in one of the world’s largest oil companies is an uneasy truth.
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The race is on: not Formula 1 but environmental challenges.
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Fintechs, banks and government are working together to build clever new digital services and boost financial inclusion in a country where millions are unbanked. For now, collaboration is the name of the game.
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It might not happen, but if the US president were to stop Asian firms listing in the US, it would help a sector that has watched business slip through its fingers.
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The country’s risk scores have lagged its central European neighbours since the financial crisis. Is overspending in the mid 2000s entirely to blame, or should the Fidesz government take some responsibility?
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Three-quarters of fund managers that responded to a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey think that Mexico is going to lose its investment grade status.
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Road testing the likely economic and financial policies come the October general election.
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Applications to operate banks in Saudi Arabia show that consolidation has not shut the door to new entrants.
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Saudi Arabia is pressing on with capital markets reform and its planned IPO of Aramco in spite of drone attacks on its oil facilities that briefly spooked markets. Virginia Furness reports from Riyadh.
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One country showed the way forward for Latin American sovereigns nearly 35 years ago. Many have tried to follow. Have they succeeded?
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Singapore’s emergence as a global financial hub is no accident, and has not happened overnight. The key, according to Ravi Menon – the managing director of financial regulator the Monetary Authority of Singapore – is to plan well, act decisively and, above all, listen.
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Some uncomfortable conclusions arise from a close look at Euromoney’s country risk data for Asia since 1982. India’s opening has been rewarded with a dismal decline in its score, while the overthrow of local dictators doesn’t appear to do much for economies either.
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Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.
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When the Philippines needed a new central bank governor earlier this year, no one expected the president to pick an outsider for the job. During his first months in office, Benjamin Diokno has promised – and started – to deliver measures to spur expansion.
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Investors expect a radical transformation in Brazilian financial services in the next five years: this enthusiasm is depressing incumbent stocks while driving strong valuations for start-ups.
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After the challenges of Asian and global financial crises and the 1MDB scandal, Zeti Akhtar Aziz is back in the top echelons of Malaysian influence again. She tells Euromoney about her achievements as central bank governor – and what she knew and did about 1MDB.
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Despite being a global leader in IT and semiconductors, Taiwan has long been a digital laggard. The regulator has just issued the island’s first digital banking licences, but is it a simple case of ‘too late’ rather than ‘better late than never’?
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The bid by HKEX for the London Stock Exchange is bold and has scale on its side, but faces regulatory barriers – and the fact the LSE has a different idea of what an exchange should look like.
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It’s not long ago that Kurdistan was on the brink of accessing the international markets. Then came ISIS, strained relations with Iraq and the challenge of being shackled to a state from which the population wants independence. Is Kurdistan ready to approach world markets again?
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In the landlocked nation, credit is in short supply and few have bank accounts. Foreign lenders, development banks, microfinance institutions and fintechs want to solve its woes – it’s just not clear that Laos wants them back.
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The country’s poverty is in marked contrast to the relative affluence of its neighbours. It needs access to finance beyond disaster relief. But can banks make a business case for a nation in such poor repair?
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It is 11 years since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, and even now, only about half of the UN recognizes it as a free-standing sovereign state. That lack of international validation – not least the absence of a credit rating – is holding back a strong economy.
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For many international investors, Liberia isn’t relevant. It offers little in terms of natural resource, while global banks find doing business there too risky and its young and poor population offers little commercial opportunity. Can China help turn this around?
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A properly functioning financial system has long eluded the country. As it moves on from Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s 20-year leadership, can the financial system finally overcome its many problems?
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Countries fall off the global financial grid for a host of reasons: political obtuseness, lack of sovereign recognition, the departure of correspondent banking relationships, even Ebola. But we make a mistake if we think of these places as distant and uninteresting curios
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Singapore has everything a market hub needs, but has not built on its regulatory environment.
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Banorte CEO says market will be 'surprised' by what comes next for the bank; fintech growth unlikely to impact bank growth in the short-term.
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A move from Jakarta to the island of Borneo might not be all that it seems.
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Introduction of the GST and demonetization mean Jaitley had a far bigger impact on Indian finance than his single term as minister would suggest.
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Argentina is about to default; again. It will be the ninth time in the past 200 years, and the Latin American sovereign is about to test its ability to survive beyond the ascribed mortality of cats.
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Danske Bank’s compliance head Philippe Vollot is on a hiring spree, but parts of its international network might still be too risky.
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When Mauricio Macri won the last presidential election in 2015, the future for Argentina’s banks looked rosy: a spate of international debt and equity deals confirmed the optimism. No one who participated in those deals – including Galicia’s CEO Fabián Kon – thought the country would soon be back to square one.
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The gradual erosion of institutional credibility could prove more damaging to Turkey than economic and political shocks.
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Israel has become one of the world’s most important fintech hubs, attracting millions in investment from some of the biggest global brands and venture capital funds. Can its start-up culture now evolve to grow large fintech businesses at home?
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Bradesco’s digital bank start-up has grown rapidly and is already looking to leave the bank’s existing corporate structure.
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The lifers are being cleared out at a bank traditionally known for the long service of its senior management.
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Success for pensions reform in the Congress – the long-held litmus test of Brazilian recovery – has buoyed asset prices and led to a flurry of activity.
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The rapid fall in interest rates in Brazil, from a peak of 14.25% in 2016 to 6.5% in February 2018, created expectations among analysts that the biggest banks’ famously high net interest margin was finally about to be eroded.
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Banks in emerging Europe are riding high on the back of rampant retail credit growth – but how long can the party last?
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A higher score, and tier, in the Euromoney Belt and Road Index shines the spotlight on Russia’s participation this quarter.
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UOB is run by three generations of the Wee family, with a fourth in the wings. It is conservative, cautious and stable. But a bold new digital strategy seeks five million customers across the region. Is it coincidence that change is coming just as the bank’s elder statesman retires at 90?
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The insolvency and bankruptcy code is supposed to do wonderful things for India, but a leftfield decision on creditors this week will have a number of unhelpful side-effects.
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Anshula Kant’s background at SBI means that she is uniquely prepared for her new job.
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Despite the headwinds for region’s banks, there were some outstanding performances that demonstrate what can be achieved without macroeconomic support. The best example of this was Santander Brasil, Latin America’s best bank.
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Digital banking brings opportunities – especially so for startups. Unencumbered by bricks and mortar branches – as well other fixed costs associated with the traditional banks – many purely digital firms have achieved impressive growth.
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The firm has done well at home and in the region. Part of that is down to its ownership structure, and the rest is because growth is part of its DNA.
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Ukrgasbank is one Ukraine’s largest banks, serving 900,000 retail customers in addition to small and medium-sized enterprises and corporates.
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If China is to have a leader in banking on the global stage, it is likely to be the internationalist Bank of China.
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This year, the region’s best investment bank is BTG Pactual. It climbed back to leadership in its domestic market and grew strongly elsewhere in the region.
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Banco do Brasil wins the award for the region’s best bank transformation.
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Divestments at the Singaporean sovereign wealth vehicle tell a story of a tough investment environment.
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Should an institution with all that scale and ability be delivering more than this? The problem with long-term numbers is they still reflect issues from 20 years ago.
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Arthur Hayes felt the golden days of finance had gone by the time he got started in investment banking in Hong Kong – until cryptocurrency gave him the opportunity to establish platform BitMEX, now one of the most successful bitcoin exchanges in the world.
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This year Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) wins best bank for corporate responsibility in the Middle East.
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Funding for small and medium-sized businesses remains largely deficient across the Middle East. The region’s economies could grow by a further 1% each year if access to finance improved for SMEs, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde said earlier this year.
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Perhaps the greatest sign that a merger has been successful is if it motivates others to follow suit. That has certainly been the case with the formation of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the Emirati financial institution which we recognise this year as having effected the best bank transformation across the Middle East.
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In a career in banking that spans more than four decades, Michel Accad’s talent for making the best of bad situations has earned him the overwhelming respect of his peers.
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Argentina’s politicians have played their cards for the coming presidential election – Cristina Kirchner surprised everyone by lining up behind Alberto Fernandez.
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The exodus of staff from CLSA is gathering pace.
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Will a good Shanghai tech board be bad for Hong Kong?
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Is China heading for a Lehman Brothers moment? No, but that doesn’t mean its debt position isn’t a mess, and it’s going to get worse.
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$2.5 billion deal makes bank more profitable and a purer ‘Latam’ play; CEO says still huge upside on valuations, and revenue growth to come.
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A UBS economist made an innocuous comment about swine flu in China, and five days later a belief among Chinese speakers that he used a racist term has led to him being suspended, UBS apologizing and it disappearing from a key Chinese bond mandate. Now what?
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HSBC wants to triple both onshore and offshore revenues, profits and ebitda in Brazil within five years.
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The Euromoney Belt and Road Index (EBRI) reveals the Middle East leapfrogging Africa, with its economic and investor climate improving for the first time.
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Frustration is building quickly in Brazil. What was supposed to be the beginning of a credit cycle – and a structural improvement in long-term economic growth – is becoming just another false dawn.
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HSBC, JPMorgan and Mizuho lend Mexico’s oil company $8 billion after investors show no interest in non-deal roadshow – and that’s the least of the firm’s problems.
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A case by Hong Kong’s ICAC against an individual on bribery charges is another example of Asia-Pacific regulators targeting the person as well as the institution.
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OUE real-estate investment trust (Reit) merger follows Viva-ESR; hope is to create better liquidity in stocks.
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Move adds offshore platform for private clients; bank argues BAC Florida Bank deal adds to its story as the momentum play in the market.
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The bidding for Pakistan’s power plant privatization shows that the country’s problems aren’t putting off foreign bankers.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.
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Africa has the largest number of refugees of any continent – in Uganda, many of them are economically active, while others are excluded from accessing basic banking products. Euromoney finds out how integrating refugees into the formal financial system could benefit the country.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.
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Last year was key in the development of one of Oceania’s more unexplored yet potential-rich economies. Its inaugural $500 million sovereign dollar bond caught light and its hosting of the APEC Summit was a hit. The country now needs investment to unlock myriad opportunities in agriculture, power, infrastructure, telecoms, financial services and tourism.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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András Simor became chief executive of Creditanstalt Securities in Budapest in 1989. He was chairman of CA-IB from 1997 to 1998 and head of Deloitte Hungary from 2003 until being appointed governor of the Hungarian central bank in 2007. Since October 2014, he has served as CFO at the EBRD. He will retire from the bank in May this year.
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Leszek Balcerowicz served as minister of finance in Poland from September 1989 to December 1991, and again for three years from October 1997. He was governor of the National Bank of Poland from 2000 to 2007.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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Viktor Gerashchenko served as chairman of the Gosbank from 1989 to December 1991 and head of the central bank of Russia from 1992 to 1994 and 1998 to 2002. He was chairman of International Bank of Moscow from 1996 to 1998 and Russia’s IMF representative 1998 to 2000. He was elected to the State Duma in 2003.
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Herbert Stepic joined Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich (RZB) in 1973. In 1978, he took over the group’s international banking division and from 1986 led its expansion into emerging Europe. He stepped down as chief executive of RZB’s legal successor Raiffeisen Bank International in 2013.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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Ivan Miklos was minister of privatization for Czechoslovakia from 1991 to 1992. He was minister of economy of Slovakia between 1998 and 2002 and minister of finance 2002 to 2006 and 2010 to 2012. Since 2016 he has served as adviser to the Ukrainian government.
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Petr Aven served as minister of foreign economic relations for the Russian Federation between 1991 and 1992. He was president of Alfa-Bank Russia from 1994 to 2011 and is currently chairman of the board, a position he also holds at ABH Holdings, Alfa Group’s financial holding company.
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Ilhami Koç started his career at Isbank in 1986. He was chief executive of Iş Private Equity between 2001 and 2002, before returning to Is Investment as chief executive in 2002. Since November 2016, he has been chief executive of Turkish insurer Anadolu Sigorta.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May CEE focus.
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The alphabet soup of multilaterals in the region has become hard to understand during the past decade, so Euromoney tries to read between the acronyms to assess what impact they will make.
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In a rare interview, chief executive Lim Chow Kiat explains the investment discipline that underpins one of the world’s most influential and sophisticated funds – and his fears over the impact of a polarized political world on global investment.
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Over the last 12 months, the New Development Bank has gone from concept to fully fledged lender. It says it wants to be differentiated by its nimbleness and focus on sustainability. Where does it fit in a changing multilateral landscape?
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International IBs pride themselves on the diversity of their business in Asia Pacific, but a bank without a decent China business in this region is nowhere. It is the engine of both regional and global growth.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus..
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus..
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Asia focus.
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The investment landscape is shifting rapidly as falling returns on sovereign fixed income assets force investors to look elsewhere for returns. Retail investors in particular are playing an important role in the transformation of local capital markets.
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New regulation would see top-12 banks adopt open banking second half of next year; central bank hopes better risk management will lower cost of credit, spur growth.
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The 100-day mark of Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has recently passed; no one – not even the government itself – pretended the time had been well spent.
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The phony war has been long, but the first real battle has now begun in Brazil’s fintech space.
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Commercial International Bank has opened a representative office in Ethiopia, implementing its programme of expansion into east Africa.
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The deluge of bids for the debut issuers shows how reliant investors have become on primary allocation.
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Lower interest rates point to lower NIMs this year; Growing competition from newly regulated fintech sector will lead banks’ costs to rise.
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Fred Hu, former Goldman rainmaker extraordinaire, now runs one of the most exciting names in Chinese investment. He explains to Euromoney what makes Primavera Capital different and what the trade war means for business.
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Closure of second investigation brings embarrassing episode to an end.
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Protectionism is undermining an otherwise moderate global outlook as growth continues, labour markets tighten and geopolitical crises calm.
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After so long, private bank clients and even retail investors are no longer happy with the returns from government bonds; instead, they are searching for yield and pushing up the value of risk assets.
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Launched in January, Fuliza has already attracted more than four million customers, and Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, hopes the product will reach all 21 million M-Pesa customers in Kenya.
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New chief executive says ‘smart simplicity’ hold key to success for Russia’s largest privately owned bank.
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Lifting restrictions on foreign investors and encouraging local corporate bond issuance top list of priorities for head of new capital markets agency.
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The argument that India will be the first cashless society doesn’t take into account the country’s most vulnerable people and the cultural attachment to cash.
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The government is pushing structural reforms despite the economic crisis; new tax regulations aimed to bring money onshore.
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There are key differences between the growth outlook for Argentina’s banks today and that of Brazil’s banks from 2003 to 2008.
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Monetary policy is now much more effective in Brazil and it’s having some interesting consequences.
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The performance of the share price in Sea was unusually strong; part of the reason is the magic name Tencent on the shareholder register.
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The 50th anniversary issues of Euromoney are forcing journalists to take a broader sweep of the issues we cover than the usual month-by-month perspective.
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Argentina is on a precipice, Venezuela has a humanitarian crisis and Brazil is just exiting its worst-ever recession – so far, so Latin America. But some countries have shown a path to sustainable growth and others are now grasping the nettle of reform. In a series of articles to commemorate 50 years of Euromoney, we speak to architects of previous recovery plans and to today's heads of the region's top banks and investment banks and ask: could an end to Latin America's long history of boom and bust finally be in sight?
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While the region has proved its economic and financial resilience in recent years, it’s time to look ahead and become competitive for whatever the next 50 years will bring, says former Colombia finance minister Mauricio Cárdenas.
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Since Roberto Setubal became chief executive of Itaú Unibanco in 1994, the bank’s growth has been spectacular – but the next stage is harder to target.
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After decades of trying, have LatAm’s central bankers finally steadied the ship? Mexico's Agustin Carstens, one of the monetary policy stalwarts of the region, takes stock.
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The region’s leading banks produce some of the best numbers in the global industry, and success in retail banking – and a hard-learned approach to risk management – are core; could the growth of digital banking bring a new era of change?
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Macro and monetary policy factors are affecting some currencies more than traditional commodity triggers.
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There is much fanfare about the decision to increase the weighting of A-shares in MSCI indices. It is a welcome step, but let’s not overstate it.
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The country is now in default on almost all of its foreign currency bonds; investors need to think ahead about the debt renegotiation to come.
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Results week showed record profits at Singapore’s banks – but all three institutions had footnotes in the numbers that we should pay attention to.
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Accepting payments from customers in Russia is not always a straightforward process, although interest in the area is growing.
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Handing Ukraine’s largest bank back to its former shareholders would amount to economic suicide – but speculation is rising that leading presidential candidates plan to do just that.
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State-owned brokerage buys number two lender as total bill for bailouts tops $10 billion.
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Euromoney spent a day in February in Jakarta with Bank Mandiri executives past and present as they approach the bank’s 20th year of existence. In our own 50th anniversary year, it was a useful reminder of just how much things can change in a relatively short space of time.
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Fitch sounds the alarm over unsecured consumer lending boom as household incomes stagnate.
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Can the combination of core banking system replacement and a pioneering fintech programme help re-privatized lender MKB Bank leapfrog its rivals in the Hungarian market in the race for technological supremacy?
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Tan Su Shan has led DBS’s efforts to become the leading home-grown bank for wealth management in Asia, during a decade in which the number of billionaires in the region has soared.
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For many private banks that set up in Asia in the last decade, the cost of doing business kept them locked out of the vast expansion of wealth in the region; those that didn’t leave are settling into a more mature industry, but they are a long way from being able to relax.
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Financial services group CreditEase runs an app through which its private banking clients can be connected to needy women farmers in China’s rural interior. It’s a remarkable initiative taken up by 200,000 farmers and shows what can be done with low-level credit. But how does the risk management work?
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A recent criminal trial in London has revealed how banking negligence enabled a multi-million dollar fraud at the now defunct oil company Afren. Read on for a guide to Olivier Holmey’s feature in the February issue of Euromoney examining the errors made and what the financial sector can learn from them.
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A string of due-diligence shortcomings enabled the international fraud that sapped investor confidence in once-booming London-listed oil firm Afren – and has also now led to jail time for its two top executives. What lessons can the banking industry learn from the failings laid bare in the court proceedings?
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The pieces are starting to shift on the board of Chinese investment banking. There have been signs of progress, frustration and new strategy since last April’s announcement that foreigners would be allowed to take majority stakes in securities joint ventures on the mainland.
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India’s first real estate investment trust is being fast-tracked to IPO before the end of February. Bankers expect the primary offering to raise more than $1 billion, giving a much-needed fillip to the country’s capital markets.
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To get out of a funk, the ousted PM sings soul, brother.
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UniCredit regional division head says the UK crashing out of the EU is one of the main external risks to CEE this year.
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Multiple positive factors point to outperformance of Brazil’s banks in EM, but pensions reform risks remain.
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They aren’t making headlines – for the right reasons.
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I can’t seem to stop worrying about Argentina in its election year.
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Volatility in China and increased onshore access means a greater need for hedging; Singapore also building offshore rupee traction.
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New numbers suggest there could be trouble ahead for Asian high-yield issuers.
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New penalties from China’s bank regulator suggest a firmer stance on trying to bury bad debts, but it’s not just a bludgeoning.
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Telcos allowed to provide limited services, helping financial inclusion in the country.
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Itaú is performing well, but faces challenges in its corporate banking unit.
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Numbers are solid and money is flowing into the system, but ICBC must avoid the temptation to drift from its conservative approach to risk.
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Regional difficulties have tested QNB’s resilience, but the bank has managed to consolidate its position at home and maintain its international strength.
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With its focus on SMEs, the bank is well set to grow with the Brazilian economy
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Profits are up, but the markets hits it – for good and bad – for being the bank/tech hybrid Gupta has modelled.
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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.
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Every reported number in 2018 from CCB was impressive. But maintaining this momentum in the year ahead will require exceptional management.
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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.
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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.
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A swingeing new bank tax in Romania is inequitable, misconceived and just plain dumb.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Court of Appeal backs holdouts in debt restructuring, while investors eye potential for jurisdictional arbitrage.
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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.
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Local banks shrink FX loan books as recession starts to bite; municipal elections raise fears of further market volatility.
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Santander’s Brazilian bank took lots of deserved acclaim when Santander released its global third-quarter results, but keep an eye on Mexico.
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Judge throws out claim in English court; lender on track for first full-year profit since nationalization.
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The decision of Singapore regulators not to allow Noble to re-list wrecks a 19-month restructuring process and points towards insolvency.
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Covalent Capital’s OMAS platform seeks to digitize primary bond issues; the MAS is a backer.
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The landmark corporate governance (CG) report raises renewed concerns about dual-class structures – which is a bit awkward given CLSA underwrites them.
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The last thing Russia’s state bank VTB needs is another African mishap.
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A lower-profile announcement caught Euromoney’s eye after the bluster of the G20 meetings in Buenos Aires.
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There's been a stay of execution, but for how long?
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The Trump administration has begun the process of ostracizing Iranian finance. Bankers there are hanging on to some rare good news, but how long will it be till they are back to square one?
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Euromoney's feature on Hillhouse Capital lifts the lid on a style of investment that we all need to understand more clearly.
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The continent is implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to boost intra-regional trade, economic growth and industrialization, but can 54 countries overcome so many obstacles and ratify the agreement?
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The corporate titans that have dominated Hong Kong’s economy for decades are slowly handing over the reins of power to the next generation, but will they prove as loyal to international investment banks as their parents have been?
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Euromoney investigates how the relaxation of western sanctions on Iran – dubbed the world’s most lucrative closed economy – will jump-start trade and capital flows from Europe to the Gulf, and plots a vision for the country's banking system and economic transformation, more generally.
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Bankers believe that Vivo Energy’s dual listing in May has opened the taps on the IPO pipeline in Africa, but with primary equity markets suffering globally, is the continent really an exception?
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Capital markets could be in for a bumper year in Brazil in 2019, with bankers hoping that a strong economic inheritance and a market-friendly policy agenda will prompt a jolt of activity.
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Developments in the Gulf’s markets are increasingly being driven by the presence of Asian – and especially Chinese – banks, so no wonder rival financial centres in the region are competing for a bigger slice of the pie.
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It is worth over $50 billion and its deals are among the most important and influential in Asia, it is at the vanguard of Chinese private equity and yet it talks to nobody, but market participants in Asia and beyond need to understand it. What goes on inside Hillhouse?
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Planned changes to the country’s fintech licensing regime could halt the growth of a burgeoning market.
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Two borrowers beat US pressure by tapping into demand with euro and renminbi sales.
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Concerns over president-elect Amlo could see investors rethink their Mexico exposure.
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Slovenian, Kazakh governments deliver on privatization promises, while price concerns scupper listing plans of Belarusian retailer Eurotorg.
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The fund is deploying $1 billion of the Chinese group’s money into digital medicine and fintech around the world, but profit is not its main ambition.
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Buyers and sellers need to show some discipline.
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UOB responds with announcement of Grab alliance.
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Central bank taking further action to lower credit costs through competition; Banco Inter’s post-IPO growth shows digital banking opportunity.
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Santiago Peña helped secure Paraguay’s relentless upward trajectory while minister of finance – now he has switched to the private sector and has the perfect perspective to judge the outlook for the Mercosur countries.
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Five years ago it was a niche player specializing in consumer loans for the elderly – today Sovcombank is one of Russia’s largest privately owned banks, with a clutch of new shareholders from China and the Gulf. What lies behind its remarkable rise?
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Another financial crisis has rocked the country. As it slips into what could be a deep recession, time is running out to achieve the recovery that could create the conditions for a pro-market candidate to win next year’s presidential elections.
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They are used to dealing with a crisis, but they can usually see one coming. Does the shock of the IMF bailout leave local firms vulnerable?
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It was always going to be a tough year for debt capital markets in Latin America. A turbulent election calendar in three of its biggest economies and rising US rates had been expected to dampen issuance volumes. But few anticipated the drop-off would be so severe.
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Few firms have seen change quite like CLSA. It is now owned by Citic Securities and incorporates the Hong Kong (and international) arm of the mainland business. As such, it is Citic Securities’ international bridgehead to the world.
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The charge sheets against former Goldman Sachs employees also appear to identify a senior figure who is still at the bank; they also spell out the circumstances of Goldman’s 1MDB bond mandates in uncomfortable detail.
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Vast infrastructure initiative taking shape, minister says; insists PPP will be used, not just Chinese soft loans.
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Its capital markets are dominated by mainland-backed houses, but don’t think of them as a homogenous group – each firm has its own quirks, strengths and character.
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Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor recently gave international banks a clear signal that they will not be punished by a loss of fees for avoiding an investment conference in Riyadh due to public outrage over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Ken Moelis lived up to his nickname ‘Ken of Arabia’ when he showed up at the Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh in late October in his brave pursuit of future fee income despite the risk of international opprobrium.
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The murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has sparked condemnation of the kingdom’s leadership the world over, but as the dust settles after the Future Investment Initiative, what are the real-world effects, if any, of this crisis on Saudi Arabia’s banking ties?
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Britain’s Conservative Party has been at pains to distance itself from the mainstream of European politics in recent years, but seems remarkably comfortable in its murkier shallows.
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Jair Bolsonaro's election today as Brazil’s next president could well spell more market upside, but the nationalist protectionism that is likely to follow should give investors pause
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If Argentina’s financial crisis is going to turn into a banking crisis, as it did in 2001, that transmission will first be identifiable in the deposits data.
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You wait years for a Balkan bank privatization and then three come along at once.
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All eyes will be on the next Brazilian president’s first steps towards a much-needed fiscal adjustment. That will likely be Jair Bolsonaro – who is well ahead of Fernando Haddad as the final round of voting approaches on 28 October.
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With new US sanctions looming over Russia and the effects of higher oil prices largely already priced in, will the Russian rouble sink or swim as we approach the end of 2018?
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In a country with twin deficits and a 13th bailout in recent memory, one might wonder if former JPMorgan banker Muhammad Aurangzeb regrets becoming Habib Bank CEO – but instead he sees a path to a better outlook for his country.
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Why is nobody in Asia worrying about trade wars and rate hikes?
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UBS’s path to China JV control raises questions for others.
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Six months after Polish debt collector GetBack went into default, shockwaves from the event continue to shake the country’s financial sector.
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$500 million bond was third attempt since 2013; makes Credit Suisse loan commitment look shrewder.
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Two of the world’s most advanced cryptocurrency markets agree to exchange notes on blockchain regulation.
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No one is surprised by the money-laundering revelations from the Baltics.
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The resignation letter of Luis Caputo, until September 25 the president of Argentina’s central bank, is effectively the IMF’s receipt for the purchase of the country’s monetary policy.
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SC Ventures launched in Singapore; combines internal accelerator with venture capital.
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It is unusual for a Taiwanese bank: owned by foreign institutional investors rather than bankrolled by a tycoon or controlled by the state, it’s also on a roll, investing heavily in digital and expanding fast around Asia… but can it last?
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GoPay is southeast Asia’s answer to Ant Financial. Its CEO comes with a background in the most micro level of finance: empowering village housewives to buy things to cook with. How will he build a business backed by the biggest names in global private equity?
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After a tumultuous decade, the country’s leading investment banks have finally recovered their confidence – and are bursting into new markets and products.
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Veteran investor launches financial services firm to capitalize on reforms in Uzbekistan, while HSBC banker tapped to drive sovereign Eurobond debut.
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The prospectus for the forthcoming Hong Kong IPO of Bitmain, which dominates the market for cryptocurrency mining hardware, unveils the highs and lows of businesses linked to bitcoin. It will cause crypto ideals to collide with institutional expectations about business transparency.
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Cipla Quality Chemicals’ share sale is good news for Uganda’s capital markets, but is still something of a rarity. Investors have little choice when it comes to picking stocks: government borrowing remains high and puts the focus on bonds, while family-owned businesses tend to be wary of opening up to outside investment.
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With global liquidity conditions tightening, local currency bond markets have a more important role to play in financing African governments and companies. While Ghana and Nigeria are leading the way, other markets are still in the early stages. Poor transparency and liquidity, and a multiplicity of legal regimes are holding back foreign investment.
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As the central bank awards its first new banking licences in 20 years, the big four will find it harder to justify the fees that have underpinned their profitability. The newcomers promise technology will facilitate cheaper banking services and tackle inequality.
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Senior management at Société Générale sees a unique opportunity for growth in Africa, including east Africa, Nigeria and the lusophone countries. The aim is to be much more than the only French bank left standing on the continent. Instead, the bank is courting regional clients by building local markets and structured finance platforms, while its investment in mobile money could be the seed of a much bigger African consumer business.
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Egypt’s private-sector banks have traditionally been wary of lending to SMEs, but now a combination of new technology and central bank pressure is driving some of the country’s most sophisticated lenders to take a fresh look at the segment.
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The west African state has reclaimed its status as the most attractive francophone market south of the Sahara. International banks are rushing to do business there.
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Following in the footsteps of Egypt and South Africa, Nigeria has signed up for a currency swap deal with China, but are swaps all they are cracked up to be?
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Even though the banking sector remains off-limits, foreign investment in other state-owned enterprises will support infrastructure development.
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Investment bankers hope for an autumn thaw after a spring freeze.
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Credit scoring changes could be the key to breaking Brazil’s interest-rate burden.
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Finally, some progress in Indonesian infrastructure – but familiar battles remain.
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For the first time since HSBC’s acquisition of a Mexican bank in 2002, its franchise is enjoying positive momentum. Country chief Nuno Matos says more customers and a new culture are key to getting the bank’s market share back.
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Banks have found it hard to lend to Mexico’s large SME segment, but persistence is beginning to pay off for those with the requisite focus – and skills.
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With presidential elections and the threat to Nafta hanging over Mexico, international investors pared risk to the country and deal flow slowed. Finally, clarity is returning and the prospects for capital markets activity are looking better. But could Amlo’s presidency change prospects?
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In early 2016, the Middle East’s two largest countries looked set to become the world’s most vibrant frontier markets. Two years on, many bankers doubt that either Iran or Saudi Arabia can live up to these expectations.
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As Chinese bond markets are set to be included in indices for the first time, a big change is coming to the global financial system. Chinese government bonds could become the new Bunds in portfolios, but Xi Jinping might have bigger targets in his sights.
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Islamic finance has become too focused on getting arcane structures to be technically Shariah compliant, but a new initiative in Malaysia attempts to make Islamic finance socially positive once more – and to measure its success.
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The transition to capitalism has brought prosperity to much of emerging Europe but left large sections of society struggling to catch up – now Austria’s Erste Group is going back to its roots to bring prosperity to the region through social banking.
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Autumn bank refinancing round under scrutiny; analysts warn of US sanctions tail risk.
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Over 20 years after microfinance first arrived in Kyrgyzstan, the largest players are transforming into banks to lower funding costs and increase financial inclusion. Can they convince the country’s farmers to put their cash into banks instead of cows?
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The Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility aims to source projects that transform lives and environments, and to securitize the project loans into bonds that will be sold to investors through the MTN markets. It all starts with a rubber plantation in Sumatra.
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President Tsai’s flagship foreign policy aims to redirect bank lending and investment away from China and towards southeast Asia. Taiwan has tried to diversify twice before and failed – will it work the third time?
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Can Kazakhstan create an international financial centre in the middle of the steppes or is it just the latest central Asian pipe dream?
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The informal economy in effect blocks growth, so why is no one proposing tax and social security reform to bring workers and companies into the formal sector?
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The southeast Asian FX market is on fire and it is set to get a further boost thanks to a combination of political and economic turbulence, a regulator committed to facilitating infrastructure investment and increased interest from non-bank market makers.
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Recent growth puts Banorte ahead of its 2020 targets; strong cash generation expected to lead to greater 2019 dividends.
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Regulatory changes to Brazil’s positive credit bureau open way for fintech start-up; better data predicted to lead to lower cost credit and GDP growth.
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Investors hoping new president adopts pragmatic approach; proposed referendum raises more questions than answers.
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President-elect cuts pay, uses new level as public-sector ceiling; BNP Paribas expanding in Mexico.
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Delusional clients are complicating the business of collecting fees for advising on mega trades for customers such as Saudi Aramco and Tesla.
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Traders have been staying away from the Turkish currency this year as they watched a steady decline in its value against the dollar, but the recent deterioration of relations between Turkey and the US sent the currency spiralling into a full-blown crisis.
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The choice of Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund as the next head of the country's sovereign wealth fund is intriguing for both institutions
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Singapore bank announces new digital banking offering; Claims it will be the first to truly engage – but is it?
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Cryptocurrencies are still not legal in Russia for now, but that isn’t stopping businesses from preparing to take hold of the future.
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Any slowdown in the economy of the country that consumes so much local output will bring short-term pain and should be a long-term warning.
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The country has the right to join, yet EU leaders are stalling.