While some are playing down the continuance of the commodities supercycle, others say pressure on prices and a shortage of resources are here to stay, with the knock-on impact on the growth rates of the developed and developing worlds.
Will ESMA succeed with the credit rating agencies?
June 1, 2011New European regulation on credit rating agencies will soon come into force. And while everyone is in agreement on the need for improvement, opinion is divided on the best way to achieve this. So will ESMA make a difference?
America's crumbling infrastructure: can private capital save it?
May 4, 2011The US is in trouble. Its infrastructure is in dire need of repair but the heavily indebted country cannot afford to pay for it. All the more surprising then that the overtures of private – and in many cases foreign – capital are being met with resistance.
US FATCA move leaves foreign financial institutions feeling the strain
May 3, 2011The US's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act puts onerous burdens on foreign institutions to capture data about US clients and any clients with ownership of US assets, and to report related tax information to the country's tax authorities. For banks, it is a huge task but they had better do it well, as this is likely to be the first of many such schemes.
EU proposals on naked short-selling will damage liquidity
March 21, 2011Since the Greek sovereign debt crisis unfolded, many European politicians have accused speculators of using credit default swaps to bet on sovereign default and thereby intensify a debt event. Research – some by the European Commission itself – has shown that this causal relationship does not exist. Yet there is significant support for action.
Asia fails to balance currency and inflationary pressures
March 15, 2011Asian policy-makers have been trying to balance currency management with controlling inflation. Rising inflation and rising currencies suggest policy makers have failed to get the balance right.
A step in the right direction
February 23, 2011The relative resiliance of Africa's financial markets to social and political unrest in the north, and to the default of Côte d'Ivoire on last year's global bond, suggest that the continent's markets have taken one more step towards greater sophistication. Investors are increasingly differentiating one from another.
Defaults down and volumes up, but some worries remain
February 23, 2011The boom in high-yield markets has continued into 2011 and money continues to flow into emerging market debt - leading some to talk about bubbles and a return to bad habits. Elsewhere in the debt markets, the financial crisis and its aftermath are still being felt.
CRD amendment captures more than securitisations
February 23, 2011Regulators hope new requirements for retaining economic risk in securitisation transactions will better align the interests of originators and investors. Bankers fear that it will hike costs and capture other transactions.
BarCap's equity franchise begins to kick
February 18, 2011Barclays Capital is most of the way through its audacious bid to transform its fixed-income prowess into an integrated investment banking offering. There are signs that the investment and effort are beginning to pay off in the equities business.