Central clearing counterparties and enhanced use of collateral are supposed to reduce systemic risk from the derivatives markets. But the cost and complexity of overhauling collateral management and banks’ increasing need for collateral to fund themselves threatens this

There are a host of ETFs that investors can pick and choose from, but some experts believe consolidation will be the next stage

Next year sees a slew of key political elections representing nearly 50% of global GDP

The boom in US shale-gas production is likely to support its gas exports, economy and dollar

Decoupling the country’s economy from inflation will take a long time and prevents long-term credit from developing.

US ratings agency Moody’s has announced it is buying a majority stake in Copal Partners, a provider of outsourced research and analytics to institutional clients.

Politicians and market participants, seeing investors turn their backs on the EFSF and abandon the European government bond markets, are pressing the ECB to save the day and increase its buying. That will require a dramatic change of heart. And could an already stressed ECB balance sheet even cope with the demands that such a programme would entail?

Talk of a Chinese property bubble and potential crash is misleading. The country’s real estate sector is as varied as China itself. But what unites Chinese property investors, and the government, is concerns about the pace at which building continues, prices are falling and the extent of exposure in a growing shadow banking sector.

The demise of MF Global shows that, more than three years after Lehman, financial watchdogs remain miles off the pace. But there is a solution.

As a seventh bank is taken under state control, Spain faces a race against time to deal with its bad real estate assets before they contaminate the entire banking sector. A bad bank could be the only solution, despite opposition from bankers and politicians.

There is no solution to indebtedness and the inevitable and painful process of deleveraging, so lean back and protect yourself like Muhammad Ali and the US Congress.

Microfinance has become one of the mainstays of the World Bank’s International Finance Corp arm and a passion of its Swedish chief executive Lars Thunell.

Universal banks need retail revenues more than ever as investment banking profits plummet. The US industry is facing its biggest challenge as some 7,000 banks battle to make their business models work. The main battleground: deposits.

Microfinance has its problems, but it can drive the economies of developing nations. So what if it wasn’t there? To find out, Euromoney went to the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to meet its lenders and clients.

Euromoney Skew takes a quick look at this morning's ratings news, including the European banking review from Moody's

News that financial firms are stress testing systems in case of countries leaving the Euro, comes nearly three weeks after Euromoney exclusively reported that one of the UK's largest banks is doing the same.

Safe havens are in short supply these days. But even in this market they can be found in some unlikely places.

One answer might be for the European Central Bank to begin quantitative easing in the name of monetary policy transmission to stave off deflation, rather than of capping government bond yields or anything else that smacks of financing governments

MF Global's collapse exposes systemic risks in short-term funding markets

Is it time to reassess the blame and mistrust placed on ratings agencies and analysts, and instead focus on the power that banks have over these entities?

Odd notion at face value, but could bumping up financial transaction costs be the right route for ebbing out riskier market participants through lower liquidity?

UBS to pare down investment banking and concentrate on wealth management.

A “less capital-intensive investment bank” will have people working in much of UBS’s FICC business looking for the exit.

Sergio Ermotti has been confirmed as chief executive of UBS. This is a banker who, less than a year ago, wasn’t considered good enough to be the chief executive of UniCredit.

US ratings agency Moody’s announced on Monday it is buying a majority stake in Copal Partners, a provider of outsourced research and analytics to institutional clients.

Italy’s situation seems shakier than before, despite hopes that the prime minister’s departure would boost market confidence

The world’s biggest cities are locked in a fight for the funds that will secure their future, whether it is to improve transport and infrastructure, create a greener economy or simply to cope with urbanization. Laurence Neville looks at the companies intent on helping them.

The word infrastructure conjures up images of roads, trains and buildings for most people. However, a large part of cities’ spending –and consequently their potential savings – relates to the provision of services: therefore an important element of smarter cities is smarter service provision.

In common with city authorities worldwide, the city of Murcia in southeastern Spain has invested heavily to improve public transportation and reduce congestion caused by traffic. Line one of the Murcia Tramway – which runs 18 kilometres and has 28 stations – was constructed from July 2009 to February 2011: more than 5.5 million passengers are expected to use the 11 trains during the first year of operation. The €263.80 million project is based on a model concession for the construction and operation of the line over 40 years. The concession was awarded in early 2009 to FCC and Comsa (the second-largest unlisted infrastructures, services, engineering and systems company in Spain). The work was financed through equity provided by the two companies and also limited-recourse bank debt.

Air quality is a taxing problem for developing cities