While fintechs have been thriving in Brazil and throughout Latin America, the region’s local stock exchanges have failed to attract IPOs.

Three-quarters of a century ago, the state of Israel didn’t exist. Today, it is a leader in technologies ranging from plant-based meat to cybersecurity. Huge sums of new wealth are being created by ambitious entrepreneurs, much of it recycled into new ideas by risk-taking investors.

Brazil’s agribusiness sector is booming on the back of sky-high commodity prices. The public banks that have long financed the sector now face a wave of new private-sector competitors.

Qatar has spent 12 years and more than $200 billion preparing for the World Cup, which kicks off on November 20. What happens when the games end and the tourists leave?

The Brazilian world of digital banks has it all: billionaire unicorns, sub-brands created by the incumbents and completely new disruptors. But one player has been quietly growing under the radar to become the country’s second-largest digital player.

DBS, JPMorgan and Japan’s SBI combined to launch a groundbreaking decentralized finance trade stewarded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It was a great deal of work, but to what end?

Vocal members of the US political right are not happy, creating new laws that ban state investors from backing companies with an ESG agenda. Several fund managers have been quick to take up their cause.

European banks have raced far ahead of their US peers on sustainability. But the continent is now facing an energy emergency, creating pressure from some corners to reverse investment declines in oil and gas. Can Europe’s banks remain frontrunners in sustainable finance in today’s fragile geopolitical environment?

The biggest IPO in Europe for a decade has not generated the kind of excitement that might have been expected in calmer times. Porsche’s flotation was solid enough, but its structure and unusual nature make it a poor proxy for the broader equity capital markets business, which is on its knees.

Geopolitical and economic turmoil has taken its toll on cash management strategies during 2022. Leading transaction banks emphasize the value of investment in technology as they navigate a choppy market environment.

The UK’s humiliation after bond investors rejected its mini-budget and sparked a liquidity crisis threatening the country’s pension funds holds two lessons for the rest of the global financial system. First, more markets will break down thanks to rising rates. Second, the battle everywhere between central banks fighting inflation and governments seeking to sustain economies and manage the cost of vast stocks of public debt will define finance for years to come.

Growthfund was formed six years ago as a steward for Greek state-owned enterprises in the hope of improving and extracting value from them. As chief executive Gregory Dimitriadis explains, its ambitions now include investment, emission reduction and enabling the flow of capital from the Middle East.

UK pension fund hedges have failed the first real stress test in a new era of rising interest rates. Bankers are surprisingly relaxed about the implications for other threats to global systemic stability.

Demand for carbon offsetting credits on the VCM has intensified as corporates look for solutions to reach net zero. But as more and more institutions look to tap this market, can the existing infrastructure cope?

Kotak Investment Advisors, the special situations arm of Kotak Mahindra, could have $9 billion under management by early next year. It is led by Srini Sriniwasan, who has applied skills learned at Goldman Sachs to develop the business to where it is today.

Amitabh Chaudhry seeks to elevate Axis from its strong position in India to a premium one. The purchase of Citi’s consumer finance business will help – but only if it can keep Citi’s customers.

The launch of an SRI-linked sukuk framework this summer is a blueprint for others to follow.

The French bank has continued its string of direct investments in fintechs this year and is looking for more with VC fund Anthemis.

As the cost of debt nudges higher than potential yield, real estate investors are re-evaluating their exposure to the sector.

Not long ago, correspondent banking was as basic as finance got. These days it is compliance and cost-heavy and in the crosshairs of aggressive and powerful regulators. Little wonder that so many banks are exiting small or fragile markets – actions that help their bottom line but hinder efforts at financial inclusion.

Fossil fuel assets were set to become obsolete in the transition to net zero. But the war in Ukraine is forcing European governments to secure alternative energy sources and driving demand for coal, oil and gas back in the wrong direction. With the global energy transition seemingly pitched against national energy security agendas, banks are trying to navigate a difficult path through the turmoil.

Issuing bank debt used to be easy. But with many banks now crowding through the same narrow issuance windows, even high-quality issuers have barely covered the books on some deals. And as non-performing loans look set to rise, investors are worrying that the boon from higher rates won’t last.

As European and Chinese banks scale back in Africa to cut costs and redeploy capital to core markets, Middle East lenders are happily jumping in to fill the gap, buying assets and putting more boots on the ground as bilateral trade between the regions increases.

When Margeir Pétursson bought Bank Lviv in 2006, he had much to learn about operating a bank in a country permanently in Russia’s crosshairs. Talking to Euromoney six months after the invasion, he says there is opportunity among the chaos in this key Ukrainian city.

Despite the Russian bombs pounding Ukraine, there have been no wartime bank runs, no bank collapses or even the suggestion of a systemic wobble. That is largely thanks to the work of former National Bank of Ukraine governor Valeria Gontareva. She tells Euromoney that the time for further reform to the stricken country’s banking sector is now.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative is as controversial now as it was a decade ago. Yet its legacy endures. Even as Beijing cuts funding to debt-saddled BRI states, the West is emulating Xi Jinping’s flagship development plan. The BRI is not dead but is quietly mutating into something much bigger and – whisper it quietly – perhaps better.

The IPO market has all but closed as rates rise and stock prices fall. But even as they mark existing holdings down, private equity investors will still provide big volumes of new capital to young companies seeking to scale up. The key factor? That those firms are focused on green energy and dealing with the climate crisis. Freed from the noise of public stock markets, these big funds are happy to back their own long-term views of the most promising growth businesses.

In previous years, the outflow of foreign portfolio investment that characterized the first seven months of the year in India would have caused a market collapse. This time, it didn’t. The difference: Indian retail finding its voice.

Where once Indian companies went overseas to seek technology, brand and scale, today – thanks to the strength and ambition of private capital – better opportunities can be found at home.

India’s refusal to take a side over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is typical of a geopolitical approach that aims to keep everyone onside – to India’s advantage. Doing so helps the country to keep inflation in check, the one threat to an exceptionally powerful domestic story that is enticing the banking sector.