Was the third quarter a blip or a sign of tougher times ahead? The leading names in the capital markets mostly delivered poor results and the seasonal summer lull can only be part of the reason.
Latest articles from Analysis & Opinion
Eurozone debt keeps on dancing
December 8, 2010"As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing," former Citi chief executive Chuck Prince notoriously told the Financial Times as the global financial crisis began to unfold in July 2007.
How Islamic finance can close the credibility gap
December 8, 2010The Islamic banking and finance sector risks losing a golden opportunity to demonstrate an alternative system that could prevent a future credit crunch and share risks. With the conventional banking sector slowly coming to terms with its high-profile collapses and bailouts, and the Islamic sector suffering only mild aftershocks, why are savers and investors not flocking to sharia-compliant banking? Could Islamic finance lack a certain degree of credibility? And if so, why?
The power behind Bolivia's new energy
December 8, 2010Bolivia is barely recognisable from the state it was in 20 years ago - it now has a budget surplus and a store of foreign currency, and there are even plans to make the country an export hub for electric power and natural gas. Hugh O'Shaughnessy met Bolivia's vice-president Álvaro García Linera to discuss the country's prospects.
Faith rewarded
December 8, 2010Allen & Overy kept its confidence in the securitisation market, and an expanded team has been repaid with the role of advising Nationwide on the first UK building society securitisation to be sold into the US. Writer Edward Russell-Walling
José María Roldán says don't forget Basel II
December 8, 2010The leading member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision explains some of the key concepts of Basel III, and how it relates to Basel I and II. Writer Michael Imeson
Iceland's President says the country's new banks performing well
December 8, 2010Iceland has come through a disastrous banking crisis and its president maintains that the country's new institutions are serving the economy well, despite the ban on them making overseas investments. Writer Spencer Anderson
Samruk-Kazyna: from bailout to sale
December 8, 2010Sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna became the main vehicle for the Kazakh government to rescue a distressed banking sector and ailing economy. Its CEO, Kairat Kelimbetov, explains the fund's next steps. Writer Philip Alexander
Consumer lending moves eastwards
December 8, 2010Home Credit Group, one of the largest unsecured retail lending specialists in eastern Europe, is pioneering the model in China and Vietnam. Writer Philip Alexander
Abul Maal Adbul Muhith on Bangladesh's future
December 8, 2010Bangladesh's finance minister reveals how the young nation, considered by Goldman Sachs to be a 'Next Eleven' country, can shake off the ills of nationalism, poverty and corruption to realise its much-touted potential. Writer Spencer Anderson