The metals brokerage market is consolidating as regulatory costs rise, but the growth of Asian demand means this is still a valuable business for those with the right scale and organisation.
Western Europe
Latest articles from Western Europe
The party's over: how straitened times are affecting Europe's private equity players
June 1, 2012With banks and structured investment vehicles no longer able to provide limitless leverage to European buyout funds, private equity firms are being forced to rethink their strategy towards both financing and acquisitions.
The ties that bind commodities players
June 1, 2012Emerging market growth is changing the strategy for the commodities business at the same time that tighter regulation is altering the relationship between banks, merchant traders and investment funds.
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Money laundering: a global solution to a global problem?
May 28, 2012As money-laundering is a cross-border problem, banks and regulators need to take a global approach to control the risks effectively.
Eurozone crisis: a case of failure by design
May 28, 2012A critical design flaw in the euro project meant that problems were inevitable.
Convertible bond feeds Dialog's growth story
May 1, 2012A convertible bond enabled technology company Dialog to raise funds fast, while significantly broadening its investor base and keeping dilution within fixed limits.
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RBS hits a high with Center Parcs securitisation deal
May 1, 2012After deciding that a pure high-yield deal was prohibitively expensive for UK leisure company Center Parcs, RBS helped investors get comfortable with a whole business securitisation structure that other banks were giving a wide berth.
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Barclays looks to make the most of debt dominance
May 1, 2012Barclays built a multi-asset execution platform out of the Lehman acquisition, and the debt specialist in the bank’s two-man management team for global finance in the EMEA region is relishing the opportunity to deploy that platform if merger and acquisition activity picks up.
Buoyant Turkish banks eye regional expansion
May 1, 2012Turkish banks are following the lead of the country’s vibrant export sector and expanding into new regional markets, but their strategies vary widely.
Portugal's slow recovery continues
May 1, 2012Unlike their counterparts in Ireland and Spain, banks in Portugal are the victims rather than the perpetrators of the country's debt crisis. This should put them in a good position to recover, but limited access to funding and increasing capital ratio requirements are forcing them to change their previously profitable business models.