The dynamic Spain of today is a far cry from the backward country of
the Franco era more than 25 years ago. The economic and social
transformation has been remarkable and this month The Banker talks to
some of the key architects of the change. Rodrigo Rato, Spain’s finance
minister, explains the successes and the challenges ahead while
Francisco González, president of BBVA, and Javier Valls, chairman of
Banco Popular, give the banker’s perspective. And Karina Robinson
continues our Spanish foray, with a broad-ranging interview with Jaime
Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain and chairman of the Basel
Committee.
Meanwhile, Liu Mingkang, the chairman of the new China Banking
Regulatory Commission, maps out the strategy for the new banking
supervisor; John Costas, chairman of UBS Investment Bank, explains the
bank’s success in the US; and John Kay questions whether financial
markets are efficient.
Also in this issue, we launch our Corporate Awards, which showcase
exceptional companies (excluding banks) across the world. The focus is
on financial soundness and growth potential, along with adherence to
technological development, sustainability and good corporate
governance. From more than 500 invitations, our panel has selected 29
companies from 29 different countries – the cream of the global crop.
In capital markets, Deutsche Bank is our Team of the Month for its role
in the $4.2bn ABB restructuring deal. We also look closely at the
growth of emerging market credit derivatives and the continued strength
of equity-linked issuance in recent capital raising. In global
securities services, we look at the economies to be gained by “pooling”
funds and in FX and Treasury we examine the phenomenal growth in the
euro commercial paper (ECP) market.
In Central and Eastern Europe, one of Russia’s oligarchs discovers the
cash cow that is retail banking, and we study the rapidly expanding
Russian real estate and residential property markets. We also consider
Russia’s manufacturing potential and its Top 50 banks. And in the
Middle East and Africa, our special supplement on Iran examines the
fundamental shift towards privatisation, especially in the financial
sector, and we present our Top 100 Africans bank listing.
In Asia, restructuring of the banking sector in Indonesia comes in for
some tough criticism and in China investment banks are set to make
profits from cleaning up ailing state bank balance sheets.
In retail, our special supplement focuses on the return to the branch
and the importance of branch renewal while we highlight the successful
strategy of Hungary’s OTP Bank.
Last but not least, in technology Capital One’s Gregor Bailar discusses the changing role of the chief information officer.
