Latest articles from Viewpoint

The right tools for the unbanked

January 2, 2008

As banks seek growth in segments of the world’s population among whom penetration is low, Kris Gopalakrishnan explains how technology can help them achieve a return on their investments.

Holding off on IRB implementation

January 2, 2008

Recent turmoil shows the internal risk models of many banks are inadequate, underestimating the degree of risk exposure. The Basel Committee must therefore conduct further study before allowing banks to use the internal ratings based (IRB) approach for calculating regulatory capital, says Harald Benink.

Time for Regulatory soul-searching

January 2, 2008

Regulators should worry about incentives, liquidity and the perverse impact of past regulations, and seriously re-examine their approach in the light of the incoming evidence of culpability for the credit crisis, says Raghuram G Rajan.

A window on the financial crisis

January 2, 2008

The issue of transparency is pivotal to the present financial crisis, writes Jacques de Larosière. He shares his thoughts on the source of the crisis and what action needs to be taken to restore investor confidence.

No quick fix to a crisis

January 2, 2008

Regulators and governments must not make the mistake of responding in haste to recent crises, such as German bank failures, the Northern Rock debacle and liquidity problems, advises Howard Davies.

A significant test of emerging markets

November 5, 2007

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.

The Europe 2.0 opportunity

October 1, 2007

Remaining competitive in the global marketplace requires that Europe lead the second phase of the internet, which will be driven by collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies, says John Chambers.

What the economists say

September 3, 2007

With the subprime crisis in the US causing worldwide reverberations, we asked a group of leading economists to consider whether a soft or hard landing was in prospect. They also considered sovereign wealth funds, the renminbi and the roles of the IMF and World Bank.

The risks of severe, infrequent events

September 3, 2007

Too little is made of the fact that financial market institutions have been underprepared to measure, manage and price high-impact risks; indeed decision makers are actively rewarded for underestimating risks associated with low-probability events. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (left)and George A Martin (right) explain.

The spectre of latin american inflation

September 3, 2007

Felipe Larraín assesses whether policies by certain Latin American populist governments could undermine present price stability and usher in a return of the high inflations of the 1980s.

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