Western Europe

Despite concerns over recent regulatory changes, synthetic risk transfers remain a key driver for business lending in markets where private investment is underdeveloped.

New platforms that underwrite and process invoices due from large creditworthy payers may encourage bank and institutional financing for small and medium-sized enterprises.

New FX platform MillTechFX reckons that rather than cannibalizing existing trading activity, it can generate new flows for its counterparty banks by undercutting standard exchange rates.

That distant sound is the warning bell as bond investors’ desperate search for yield leads them down ever-risker paths.

The French lender’s wealth management university, introduced in 2017, is central to its ability to train private bankers to reach out and serve the high-net-worth clients the bank cannot afford to lose.

Fintechs are caught in a brutal competitive squeeze between losses on businesses they are good at and the urgent need to offer new ones.

More fintechs are selling out to big incumbent banks, but the German pair would rather merge to achieve their vision of savings as a service.

The European Commission keeps pressing, but a consolidated tape for bonds is not yet realistic – and firms should use AI analytics to create a quasi-tape.

The past year has shown how building a corporate and investment bank more equivalent to its standing in retail could be a vital prop to Santander’s earnings, especially in Europe. Does divisional head José Maria Linares now have the backing to match his ambitions?

What worries the wealthy most? It is a question that provides answers the rest of us would be wise to heed.

When Stephen Williams joined HSBC more than 20 years ago, the bank was a backmarker in Asian debt markets. When he retires next month, he leaves it top of the heap.

We are at the peak of the hype cycle for central bank digital currencies, now being touted as one of the most fundamental innovations in the history of central banking. It is time for central banks and governments to be honest with unenthused populations. CBDC can’t deliver all the many promised improvements. As we come to design choices, there will be trade-offs. We might get improved payments but less credit. We could see greater financial inclusion but will lose privacy. Are the few benefits really worth the risk of disrupting the financial system?

Buying robo-adviser Nutmeg is a bold and telling first step for the US bank’s new digital banking venture in the UK.

With margin requirements rising sharply, banks must do a much better job managing surpluses and shortages of collateral across all their businesses.

Scandinavia’s biggest bank is at last outperforming European banks in the way that smaller Nordic lenders did in the 2010s. The jury is out on whether or not this can continue when its more nationally focused Nordic peers regain momentum.

HSBC’s new global wallet offering is the latest in a line of services enabling businesses to make and receive international payments from a single account.

Barclays has long wanted to rebuild the European ECM franchise it got rid of in 1997 with the sale of BZW, but has often struggled to do so. With a foundation of corporate broking in the UK and hiring in continental Europe, it’s finally making some progress.

Since Jes Staley took charge of Barclays at the end of 2015, he has faced constant questions over his ability to reposition the firm as a credible force in investment banking. Sticking to his guns in the face of activist shareholder pressure, he now looks vindicated, but growing from here presents a new challenge.

Corporate insolvencies are poised to rise sharply once pandemic-related state support is removed. In the UK, companies must familiarize themselves with new insolvency regulations as the deadline for the removal of protections looms.

BBVA is relying more on its Latin America business. And the countries in that region are relying more and more on the global bank in turn. BBVA’s global head of country monitoring, Jorge Sáenz-Azcúnaga, explains how he expects this symbiosis to evolve.

Most speakers at Isda’s annual meeting avoided mentioning the Archegos Capital Management blow-up. IOSCO head Ashley Alder didn’t get the memo.

Basel’s latest effort to improve market resilience is expected to accelerate the development of clearing solutions – but it won’t leave everyone better off.

Other funds have shown how shareholder activism can work in financial stocks, especially in Europe.

The implosion of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management focused attention on family offices, a fast-growing, lightly regulated and ill-defined investor group. Greater oversight is surely inevitable, as is the evolution of the sector away from small, standalone entities into truly global multi-family wealth managers.

With Greensill and Archegos, António Horta-Osório has more on his plate than a medieval King. But Credit Suisse’s new chair could do something that would placate doubters and please investors: pivot firmly to Asia.

Most open-banking solutions introduced to date have been focused on retail users, but the pandemic is driving demand from corporates for new application initiatives.

The bank’s new CEO signals openness to M&A, while flagging investment fees as a key profit driver this year.

Regulators have set high conduct standards for banks in assisting particularly smaller corporate customers with the impact of the transition away from Libor.

Utility and energy companies have tapped strong demand for hybrid bonds to protect their ratings.

While doubling of profit at the investment bank stood out, it was not the bank’s only strong performer.