Morgan Stanley’s China business is highly profitable, says co-head of China investment Jonathan Zhu. He tells Karina Robinson, in Beijing, about the bank’s winning strategies. China may be slowing down as the authorities cut back on credit availability but foreign investment banks’ business is being boosted: as the government puts the brakes on credit, domestic companies are turning abroad for their funds and Morgan Stanley is one of the beneficiaries.The US-headquartered investment bank ranks number two in Chinese equity capital markets in the year-to-date with a deal value of $2589m, giving it a 19% market share, according to data provider Dealogic.
Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Henry Tang tells Karina Robinson the reasons he believes are behind the resurgence of China’s Special Administrative Region. Q To what do you ascribe Hong Kong’s economic recovery? You have upgraded your forecasts to 7.5% GDP growth in 2004.A A combination of factors. They say timing is everything and I agree. In the first quarter of 2003, when I was Secretary of Commerce, Industry and Technology, the figures were already showing signs of recovery. Unfortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel was the headlight of an oncoming train. It was a situation where a budding recovery was ruined by one quarter of [the respiratory disease] SARS. [But in addition] the Free Trade Agreement was signed with the People’s Republic of China. [People saw that the mainland government] was prepared to put money where their mouth is. It is not just one country two systems, they also support us and help us improve our situation [for example through allowing] individual travel [for China mainlanders]. Also, Hong Kong people are particularly adaptable and resilient. I have lived in Hong Kong for the better part of my life and have seen Hong Kong come through many crises.
Karina Robinson argues that, in practical terms, the policies of the Democrats differ little from those of the Republicans. At the end of the day, the US pursues the same strategic objectives regardless of who is in the Oval Office and, moreover, is prepared to go it alone.
Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz believes Malay banks are ready to face foreign competition, he tells Karina Robinson.A grey-haired man wearing a grey shirt and grey trousers is not a promising subject. But Amirsham Aziz, the unassuming president and CEO of Maybank, Malaysia’s banking behemoth, turns out to be a fan of the Havana-based Tropicana nightclub. He goes on about “the trees, the music, the sound, the acoustics, the colours”. (My emphasis would have been on the three dozen gorgeous mulatas (mixed race girls) who form the chorus line of probably the oldest outdoor cabaret show in the world, but perhaps only women can say these things nowadays.)
Alfonso Prat-Gay, Argentina’s central bank governor, talks to Karina Robinson about his plans for recapitalising the ailing financial system.In the run up to my meeting with 38-year-old Alfonso Prat-Gay, governor of the Central Bank of Argentina, I had met 16 top businessmen, bankers and economists who were uniformly charming and informative. So I feared for the famed trait of Argentine arrogance (the classic joke told to me by a host of locals is: How can you make a lot of money? Buy an Argentine for what you know he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth). It was with a sigh of relief, then, that I encountered Mr Prat-Gay, who has that famed trait in spades.
The dynamic Spain of today is a far cry from the backward country of the Franco era more than 25 years ago. The economic and social transformation has been remarkable and this month The Banker talks to some of the key architects of the change. Rodrigo Rato, Spain’s finance minister, explains the successes and the challenges ahead while Francisco González, president of BBVA, and Javier Valls, chairman of Banco Popular, give the banker’s perspective. And Karina Robinson continues our Spanish foray, with a broad-ranging interview with Jaime Caruana, governor of the Bank of Spain and chairman of the BaselCommittee.
Spain’s finance minister, Rodrigo Rato, talks to Karina Robinson about the government’s continued efforts in transforming the country into a dynamic European front player. ‘‘If a few years ago someone had said that Iberia would perform better than Swissair, I wouldn’t have believed it. Or that Banco Popular would be admired by all. Or that while France and Germany perform worse than others, Spain is doing well,’’ says Javier Valls, chairman of Madrid-based Banco Popular. Europe no longer stops at the Pyrenees, as that oft-used phrase had it a few decades ago. Not only is Iberia posting profits while Swissair went bankrupt a couple of years ago, but Spain also boasts world-class banks such as Banco Popular, BBVA and Santander Central Hispano, world-class corporations like Telefónica and oil company Repsol, while its adherence to fiscal rectitude – resulting in an AAA rating – has produced stronger growth than many of itsnorthern neighbours.