Indonesia's minister of finance discusses the country's efforts to achieve a sustainable growth path. Budget reforms and fiscal stimulus have already been pushed through. But to tackle the question of poor infrastructure, the government needs more than increased investment.
Iran's potential – with its abundant natural resources, young and educated workforce, advantageous geographical location and emerging status as a tourism hub – can now be realised with the sanctions imposed against the country dropped. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, writes Ali Taiebnia, the country's minister of economic affairs and finance.
Without help from balance sheet repair and structural reforms, easy monetary policy will not restore economic growth after a financial crisis – and may even make things worse, writes Jaime Caruana, the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements.
The success of an investment is increasingly defined not just by risk and return but also its impact on society. Silvia Pavoni talks to the investors that demand purpose along with profit, and that are bringing about a revolution in the process.
The formation of a European banking union should have helped ease Greece's economic woes, but far from putting European banks on an even footing, the so-called union left Greece out in the cold, writes former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
Regulatory compliance has become a high-priority topic on the agenda of many senior managers. Marcus Sehr, global head of cash management financial institutions, product, and Ulrich Goeres, global head of anti-money laundering and anti-financial crime, at Deutsche Bank discuss the current challenges facing banks and correspondent banking services in particular.
Traditionally reliant on neighbour Spain for their customer base, Andorra’s banks have been forced to reassess their strategies in light of the country’s – and the rest of Europe’s – economic malaise. Instead, they are targeting the Latin American market, as well as disillusioned clients of Swiss banks, attracted to a national banking sector renowned for its discretion and stability.
Despite being the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia's growth story is often overshadowed by that of its Asian peers, China and India. The country's potential has not been lost on the international banking community, however, which is slowly but surely upping its presence in this vast and highly unbanked archipelago.
The proposals by the UK's Independent Commission on Banking are likely to change investment banks’ business models in the country fundamentally. The biggest effect could be to increase their funding costs, which might force more UK companies to turn to bonds instead of loans. But plenty of questions remain unanswered.
As the US and the EU focus on regulating different areas of the financial services industry, there is a temptation among financial institutions to relocate certain operations in order to evade strict new rules coming into play in certain jurisdictions. So is over-regulation posing a threat to the traditionally dominant international financial centres?