For now, emerging markets bask in glory as they poach quality moniker from ailing developed markets – but a bubble looms.
Marcel Rohner, the incoming UBS CEO, is inheriting all kinds of problems, most of which are not of his making.
Labour and environment sidebars are not protectionist, says Jeffrey Schott.
Taking a global perspective is vital to learn lessons from financial market turbulence and find the right approach to move forward in the future, says Jaime Caruana.
China Citic Group, the overseas investment banking arm of the Chinese government, has announced its interest in acquiring a stake in Bear Stearns, the New York-based bank that has been severely hit by the troubles in the US subprime market. The interest highlights the growing ambitions of Chinese financial companies.
Just as The Banker was going to press it was announced that BNP Paribas had taken a 19% stake in Libya’s Sahara Bank and with that stake acquired management control.
Celent study looks at mobile banking vendors while IFAD & IADB examines the burgeoning remittance market.
Ferenc Gyurcsany, Hungary’s prime minister
Ferenc Gyurcsany, Hungary’s prime minister, tells Karina Robinson how he plans to rein in public spending yet confound the polls and get re-elected .
Finance is taking over from oil as the fuel that drives the engine of economic growth in the Gulf region, reports Stephen Timewell.
The financial services sector in Saudi Arabia is benefiting from new policies aimed at attracting foreign investors, and creating a more sophisticated market, write Nadine Marroushi and Jon Marks.
The government’s reforms and privatisation plans have paid off to create a banking sector that is full of activity, writes Nadine Marroushi in Cairo.
Personal loans have been a significant chunk of the credit market in the Gulf in recent years, with volumes being driven high by oil prices. Andrew Cunningham predicts slower growth prospects for the near future.
JPMorgan’s head of equity international capital markets tells Geraldine Lambe about how the firm’s European division has transformed its equity-linked prowess into a broader platform.
Michael Ridley, JPMorgan
Europe’s corporate bond market has regained consciousness after a six-week shutdown, though it is not the same animal it was back in June. Edward Russell-Walling explains.
For ABN AMRO’s pioneering property derivatives team the value of deals is mushrooming, but it is keen that other players enter the market and create greater liquidity. Joanne Hart reports.
Ron Huggett, RBS
Funding for RBS’ share of the ABN AMRO takeover has been secured with the largest ever Tier 1 capital securities issue. RBS director of capital management Ron Huggett talks to Edward Russell Walling.
Chuck Prince has been horribly pilloried for his now infamous “we’re still dancing” comments that came in July, just before the blow up in August. But the fact is that any bank that quit a market ahead of the peak, and any major investment bank that was absent from a key sector at a time of huge build up, would be punished by shareholders for giving up profits.
Will the rescue fund for American mortgage lenders being put together by Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan make things better or worse?
Shankar Mukherjee, Citigroup
In bull markets it is easy to forget about counterparty credit risk, but recent turmoil has brought it to the fore and placed efficient management of such risk back on the agenda. Natasha de Terán reports.
Charlie McCreevy, the EU Internal Market Commissioner
MiFID’s first deadline has passed and only three EU members are in full compliance. Alan Duerden assesses whether the European Commission can realistically punish so many offenders.
Banks and insurers must adopt an integrated view of risk and align it with business strategy if they want to create value for shareholders. Michael Imeson summarises discussions at the second of three risk management round tables hosted by The Banker, this time in London.
Francisco González, the BBVA chairman
BBVA may have grabbed the headlines for missed acquisitions but a bank that posts 20% a year profits growth, that pays a top return on equity as well as being a byword for prudence cannot be all bad, as Karina Robinson discovers.
John Andrew, Eidos Partners
Italy’s economy is characterised by small and medium-sized family businesses, offering huge potential for private equity. David Lane reports from Rome .
Silvia Pavoni reports on a record-breaking wind power project financed purely on future cash flows.
Christine Lagarde,France’s finance minister
French finance minister Christine Lagarde talks to Courtney Fingar about the tax and labour reforms being pursued by the Sarkozy administration.
Jan Cienski in Prague reports on Erste Bank’s hugely successful expansion into the countries that once formed the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Diversification by banks away from industry and into retail indicates Russia’s growing banking prowess.
The controversial Polish Financial Supervision Authority is stuck in a political war with the government over who should control the country’s banks, writes Jan Cienski in Warsaw.
Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister
As Thailand prepares for elections, foreign banks are looking around for openings in a market with room for growth. Simon Montlake reports from Bangkok.
Latin American market investors’ sanguine reaction to the debt crisis shows how far the continent has come in cushioning itself through strong macro policies and solid growth. John Rumsey explains.
Africa is the new frontier for foreign investors but it must iron out risk and reward inefficiencies.
Wendy Atkins reports on groundbreaking developments taking place in the world of consumer payments, including contactless mini cards.
The CEO of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation talks to Alan Duerden on playing the volume and innovation game.
Time Wildenberg, UBS
Algorithmic trading was blamed for the escalating volatility spikes in August. Frances Maguire asks if this is a fair criticism as well as looking at how algorithms are getting smarter.
Although biology is a well-known science, there is a lesser-known science with the a deceptively similar name: buyology. I created this science for banks to deal with the new world of ‘freakonomics’, where everyone is struggling to understand the methods to get customers buying and, in its purest form, buyology is defined as: the science of understanding business relationships.
Low-value electronic payments are about to be speeded up in the UK by the Faster Payments Service. But banks are wincing at the set-up costs and the increased risk of fraud, writes Michael Imeson.
It is not just London that is taking business from New York, Asian markets are also rapidly growing in stature. Jules Stewart explains.
Arnaud de Bresson, Paris Europlace
Given the Euronext/NYSE merger, Paris now has massive economies of scale to add to its world-renowned expertise in areas including derivatives and risk-based modelling. Arnaud de Bresson explains.
Gilles Denoyel, deputy CEO of HSBC France
Gilles Denoyel, deputy CEO of HSBC France, details the advantages Paris offers over other locations including an internationally renowned school of maths and finance and its access to the Eurosystem.
MiFID allows firms to set up in one EU country and do business anywhere regardless of the rules in each jurisdiction. Jules Stewart explains how this could attract new investment into Europe.
Michael Sarris, Cyprus’s minister of finance
Michael Sarris, Cyprus’s minister of finance, outlines the ambitious plans his ministry has for the country’s future and emphasises Cyprus’s regulatory alignment with the EU.
Thierry Gigant, managing director at BNP Paribas in Cyprus
Thierry Gigant, managing director at BNP Paribas in Cyprus, tells The Banker what Cyprus has to offer financial institutions and how regulations, EU accession and joining the euro affect business.
Professor Joe Bannister, chairman of Malta Financial Services Authority, talks to The Banker about the role of the regulator and its vision for the industry in Malta.
Hong Kong has emerged as the clear global financial centre in Asia, standing alongside London and New York. Mark Michelson examines the drivers behind the city’s success.
Despite infrastructure issues and a lack of scenery, São Paulo has seen off local rivals and is emerging as the region’s pre-eminent financial centre. John Rumsey explains.
How fast is the Islamic finance industry growing? The Banker attempts to answer this question with the launch of a new listing: Top 500 Islamic Financial Institutions. The pioneering role of the listing is to provide a benchmark for the future, which can be improved on for the good of the industry. Better disclosure is expected to flow from the publication of listings such as this as greater competition puts pressure on institutions to increase transparency in this area. Stephen Timewell and Joe DiVanna report.
Islamic finance has established solid roots in the Gulf states, Malaysia and Indonesia and is set for a roll-out to the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, with all the challenges that this entails. Joe DiVanna explains.
Long-term viability and sustainability will come from increased interoperation between sharia-compliant financial institutions throughout the world, says Joe DiVanna.
The Islamic finance industry is rapidly evolving and expanding, with growth of banking assets estimated at $750bn and growing at a rate of 15% to 20% a year. Nabeel Shoaib explains.
The Top 500 Islamic financial institutions in the world have amassed sharia-compliant assets of $500.5bn according to The Banker’s first comprehensive listing of the Islamic finance industry.
The Top 25 country ranking of the Top 500 Islamic institutions clearly demonstrates that Iran, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are by far the three largest countries providing Islamic finance, with Iran’s total amounting to $154.6bn of sharia-compliant assets (SCAs) accounting for 30.9% of the global aggregate total of $500.5bn.
The Top 15 countries in the world by sharia-compliant assets (SCAs) are determined not only by the size of each country’s financial sector but also the degree to which it is sharia compliant.
Islamic finance covers many areas and in this exercise The Banker did not want to exclude any Islamic financial institution. Clear definitions of what constitutes a non-bank institution need to be improved but we wanted to include not only investment banking operations and Islamic investment companies, as distinct from banks, but also Islamic insurance operations.
In this vibrant young industry, many new players are emerging. The combination of huge liquidity in the Gulf region from oil prices in excess of $80 a barrel and the attraction of new opportunities through Islamic finance has led to a large expansion of Islamic institutions both in the Gulf and elsewhere.
How profitable are Islamic financial institutions? With Islamic instruments and different reporting standards in some cases, direct comparisons with traditional western interest-bearing instruments have often been difficult to make.
