Search results for

David Knott, the current chief executive of the Dubai Financial Services Authority, argues that Ian Hay Davison's account does not represent the status of the regulator, which is well placed to play an important future role in finance in the Middle East. Here he sets out the DFSA'S position

As customers become increasingly sophisticated in trading FX options, banks and other providers are enhancing electronic offerings to tap new markets

Central and eastern Europe's leading institutions have been quick to praise UniCredit's acquisition of HVB, which creates the region's biggest bank. But, they warn, it had better stay on its toes, as rivals will look to profit from any loss of focus that the alliance brings.

Greater transparency is essential for ABS to be used as repo collateral

Movers and shakers

>

Croatian oil company INA will undertake a 15% initial public offering by the end of the year. Existing 25% shareholder and Hungarian peer MOL is keen to raise its stake to enhance its strategic position in the region.

Research points to declining returns and greater risk as hedge funds grow older

SocGen's move on big local player signals confidence in the run-up to Egypt's first open presidential election

The Unico network of cooperative banks is nearly 30 years old. As it approaches middle age, can it persuade European debt issuers that the concept of a Unico deal that reaches both big and small investors across the continent is more than a neat branding ploy?

Mexico has long been known for its big public companies: Televisa is the world's biggest broadcaster of Spanish-language programming, and wireless telephone group America Móvil has a reach that criss-crosses Latin America. But, with an illiquid stock market, Mexico falls short in providing financing for start-up firms that could be the region's Amazon.com or Apple, undermining the country's economic potential and shunning venture capitalists that are some of the most important providers of funding for small companies. "Mexico's problem is not a lack of capital or a lack of ideas, but a lack of local investors willing to take the necessary risks," says Howard Wallack, the recently appointed director of the Latin American Venture Capital Association (Lavca). "Mexico needs good business plans with the right people to execute them."

In just two years, Nigeria's finance minister has helped to transform foreign perceptions of her country. Her crowning achievement was the Paris Club deal, but her reforms have much greater implications for Nigeria's economic future.