In January, The Banker invited senior FIG bankers as well as some major FIG clients – Swiss Re and HSH Nordbank – to a round table discussion on market trends and developments. These experts foresaw increased capital raising in the insurance sector as firms conformed to Solvency II, and M&A picking up in the form of divesting of non-core businesses. They expressed concerns that the appetite for structured credit is not matched by an understanding of the risks. To complete this special, we interviewed Deutsche Bank’s European head of FIG, Charles Murphy, for the Agenda column; Team of the Month is JP Morgan’s complex deal for Allianz; issuer strategy is KfW’s ground-breaking uridashi exchangeable; and there are articles on longer-dated CDOs and the implications of marking to market of pension fund assets in Holland and Sweden.
CSR is a topic that no bank or company can afford to ignore. As well as a broad look at the issues, we focus on HSBC’s efforts to become carbon neutral and progress in adopting the Equator Principles.
As a backdrop to the IADB meeting, The Banker studies new initiatives in serving the needs of both rich and poor citizens on that continent. We look at how Brazil’s central bank is reaching out to the country’s unbanked and how better private banking is persuading the rich to repatriate offshore funds. We list the top 100 Central American banks and follow the debate over Bermudan independence.
For our cover story, capital markets editor Geraldine Lambe looks at the background to the bids from Deutsche Börse and Euronext for the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Why is the biggest European equity market with the most market friendly structure being taken over by smaller less effective exchanges? The problem is the LSE’s focus on equity while others broadened their franchise.
Karina’s Kolumn features an interview with Botswana’s Central Bank governor Linah Mohohlo while Viewpoint is contributed by Hungary’s former central bank governor, György Suranyi, who is critical of the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact.
In technology, we look at core banking systems, the Indian outsourcing business and our tech vision interview is with Debby Hopkins, chief operations and technology officer at Citigroup.
This month we have also prepared supplements on Saudi Arabia, Russia, Croatia and Clearing and Settlement. All in all, it’s a very busy issue.
