February 2018

On a recent visit to the Russian central bank on a wintry day, Euromoney’s eye was caught by a chap holding a large and surprisingly professionally produced billboard.

February 2018

Blackstone-owned GSO Capital’s provision of financing for building firm Hovnanian, on condition that it defaults on debt in order to trigger a payout on default swaps, highlights the reputational risks for investors as they supplant banks in setting the agenda for the credit markets.

UK court freezes former shareholders’ assets; new CEO appointed by supervisory board.

Cap on French banks’ corporate exposures could be transferred across Europe; household leverage outpacing corporate.

The recent disclosure that rare wine worth more than $1.2 million was stolen from Goldman Sachs co-president David Solomon, allegedly by a personal assistant, raises questions about which other Wall Street titans may have suffered the indignity of losses they would rather not discuss.

If everyone else is keen on consolidation, why aren’t shareholders?

Tax changes are likely to boost their performance far beyond US domestic markets.

Investors can support their local lenders by preparing to sell them.

The collapse of Carillion has raised perennial questions about PPP.

Like many truly bad ideas, state ownership of banks is a concept that refuses to die.

Banks are learning the damage that being on the wrong side of environmental issues can cause.

The forex market may have had a quiet 2017 with no big market dislocations, but liquidity is not as deep as it once was, while the buy side is becoming more discerning, driving changes in trading behaviour.

More than 2,000 private banks took part in the 2018 Euromoney private banking survey. See who’s up and who’s down globally, regionally and by country.

While other parts of finance splinter and specialize, in wealth management it looks like bigger really does mean better: UBS wins Euromoney’s Private Banking 2018 survey yet again and the big global franchises continue to take the lion’s share of the industry.

…and how wealth management can have a brighter future.

A cost-cutting drive and a dearth of deal making at home have made for a turbulent few years at RenCap. But now the Russian economy is recovering, the investment bank is rediscovering its appetite for expansion – at home and abroad.

The region is a vital part of the world crypto community, mostly as investor and miner. But Korea and China have turned against virtual currencies, though Japan, despite recent setbacks, may have the answer.

A bitcoin conference on a Thai beach, part of a cryptocurrency cruise, is quite a thing. Libertarian in outlook and cool in attendee, these are bitcoin’s true believers. But as the price of bitcoin tumbled in January, why were they still partying like it’s $19,999?

Banca Carige pulled off a recapitalization last December that even chief executive Paolo Fiorentino thought difficult. It raised more than four times its market cap, just ahead of an ECB deadline. Euromoney asks how he did it and how the bank can reward its investors.

With just under half of Bank of America’s staff reporting to her, Cathy Bessant is one of the most powerful people in banking. She sees technology now developing faster than banks’ ability to implement it – or work out what to do with it – and believes cyber security to be the most important challenge of all.

Equities is a business where only the top handful of banks traditionally make money. It is also a sector with shrinking volumes and revenues. So why are two banks outside the top tier – Citi and HSBC – trying to boost their franchises?

As chief executive of Westpac, Gail Kelly was a trailblazer for women in finance. She learned the hard way about the battle for equal pay. Now she is trying to use her experience to encourage others.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia appoints new CEO.

The good, the bad and the insidious in Asian high yield bonds.

While tax reform charges make a bad year worse for US banks, the timing of the law sets the scene for better results in 2018. But the fundamentals may not change: trading is bad, financing is good.

As GSO’s controversial Hovnanian refinancing ends up in court, the wider credit default swap (CDS) market is the loser.

EU-regulated exchange to launch a new blockchain platform for initial coin offerings (ICOs) and token trading.

Converting boardroom dialogue into a corporate FICC franchise is not as easy as it sounds – even for Goldman Sachs.