To meet the demands of hedge funds for over-the-counter instruments, a new and hugely lucrative prime brokerage service has emerged. Natasha de Teran examines OTC intermediation.

With many European banks facing a profitability squeeze in their payments franchise, the decisions they make now will affect the future of their own payments business, relationships with clients and the future of the market.

Peter Miller and Liz Oakes explain what the fuss is about when it comes to improving corporate customers’ service using real-time data.

Eastern European countries that are joining the EU at this stage have the advantage of having the latest banking transaction technologies already in place. Heather McKenzie reports.

In the world of payments and cash management, there are three elements spurring on change: regulation, technology and customer requirements. Cath Henry explains how these elements are operating in the face of that relentless march towards globalisation.

Any combination of factors will be considered before a financial institution makes the decision to outsource, says Heather McKenzie. But cost and efficiency are basic requirements.
When it comes to outsourcing, definitions are as varied as the deals that are done. The simplest definition is the handing over of processes for a third party to run.

Retail investors are crying out for better yielding investments and bankers are rushing to design structured credit-based solutions in answer to their demands. But are retail markets ready for them? Natasha de Teran reports.
Strict regulations and desultory market conditions have tested banks’ ability to develop and deliver attractive products for retail investors. Years of lacklustre performance have driven the consumer end of the market away from traditional equity markets towards evermore diversified investments, and bankers have rushed to develop new products to attract them, based on commodity, rate and other multi-asset pay-offs.

In recent years, most innovation in cash management has been in online banking, driven by telecommunications and desktop computing technologies, says Lakshmi Balasubramanian of Infosys.

As companies dealing in cash management come under greater scrutiny from the new IAS 39 accounting standard, the fundamental issue for them will be fair valuation of their assets, and whether to put them on balance sheet, writes Jules Stewart.

With its voracious appetite for raw materials and a shift in focus towards high value goods production, China is emerging as a trade giant. Bruce Alter, Aster Saleh and Zeno Chow examine how banks can participate in the country’s phenomenal growth by facilitating import-export flows.