Charlie McCreevy, EU commissioner for the internal market and services, tells Karina Robinson of his fight against growing protectionism.“Oh God, she definitely wants to get me sacked!” exclaims the European Union commissioner for the internal market and services, covering his blushing face with his hands, on being asked whether the EU would be better off without France.
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gives Karina Robinson a glimpse of the tenacity that is now keeping her in power.“She has a PhD in politics,” says a top official about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines, when discussing whether the youthful 58-year-old with a 1985 doctorate in public finance is a technocrat or a politician.
Political life is seldom dull in the Philippines. Two past presidents – Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada – have been brought down by popular demonstrations. Now President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is fighting to stay in office and carry out essential reforms. “I must do what has to be done and damn the torpedoes for a while,” she told The Banker’s senior editor, Karina Robinson. For an understanding of the various contradictory forces that make reform such a challenge in this troubled country, see this month’s Karina’s Kolumn and the article on the Philippines that follows.
Banco Popular’s competitors may be gaining ground but the bank is still an attractive acquisition target. Chairman Angel Ron talks to Karina Robinson about strategies for SME and consumer finance business and why he is betting on staying independent.
The coalition government of Manmohan Singh is determined to transform India. Karina Robinson reports from New Delhi on the progress so far. The measured interventions in the Lower House of India’s Parliament had come to an end. The wood-panelled chamber of the Lok Sabha slid into orchestrated chaos as the opposition benches emptied and its gesticulating members surrounded the speaker, enthroned in his chair.Dressed in saris, white dhotis, turbans and Western-style trousers and shirts, the parliamentarians raised their voices about a crisis in the Jharkhand state Parliament.
SocGen CEO Daniel Bouton talks to Karina Robinson about the sense and synergies of cross-border mergers.Once I got over the disappointment of having lunch in the utilitarian Société Générale tower in the conurbation of La Défense, rather than in a superb Parisian restaurant such as Pierre Gagnaire, it was awfully pleasing on the food front.
Private equity looks like providing an escape for overburdened listed companies. Karina Robinson examines the pros and cons of going private.Who would be the CEO of a listed company these days? The downsides loom ever larger. The weight of regulation would put Atlas to the test. The expense, far from negligible, is increasing and the press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) subject the company to a scrutiny that is often negative.
Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister of the Russian Federation and The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year, talked to Karina Robinson in London about the challenges facing the Russian economy in what looks like a defining moment in its path towards becoming a liberal market economy.