Nigeria’s banks may be suffering the impact of regulatory changes and monetary tightening, but the country’s robust growth and economic reforms are taking away the sting.
Latest articles from Regulations
M&A – the missing piece of the regulatory puzzle
March 24, 2014The regulation of the global financial sector should be extended to include intensive monitoring of merger and acquisition deals, which are a key source of instability.
EC weighs in on interchange fee battle
March 24, 2014Legal battles over MasterCard and Visa’s interchange fees have raged for years in various markets around the world, but now the European Commission is pushing ahead with legislation that will cap the level of the fees, which will have major repercussions for card-issuing banks and the payments market.
Risk weights – use them (wisely) or lose them
March 24, 2014With investors claiming that Basel explanations of risk weighting models are indecipherable, confidence in these measures has been lost. If it is not restored, capital may have to be regulated using much harsher methods.
Will 2014 bring an end to Spain's pain?
March 3, 2014There is an optimistic feeling among the CEOs of Spain's leading banks, as profits and domestic conditions improve. With the European Central Bank's imminent asset quality review expected to be passed with flying colours, the country's lenders are now looking beyond survival and towards growth, both domestically and internationally.
Jordan's banks defy regional unrest
March 3, 2014Political instability in the Middle East has taken a toll on Jordan’s economy, but those on the inside maintain that the country remains politically and economically stable, and open for business.
MINT banks face fresh challenges
March 3, 2014If the early 2000s were all about the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, now attention is shifting to the up-and-coming countries of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey – the MINTs. And with rapid economic growth predicted, retail banks in these countries will be under enormous pressure to keep up.
A fine frenzy! How banks are paying the price for the subprime crisis
March 3, 2014Over the past two years banks have been hit by a huge wave of litigation relating to residential mortgages, interbank rates, consumer insurance and money laundering. Though lenders have largely managed to absorb the costs fairly easily, it seems that the regulators are not quite finished when it comes to dishing out fines.
EU tightens grip on national financial regulation
February 24, 2014The Court of Justice of the EU's rejection of British attempts to appeal against a European short-selling ban could signal a new degree of harmonisation on financial regulation.
PSD2: playing with firewalls
February 24, 2014The European Commission's proposed update to the Payment Services Directive will allow third parties to penetrate banks' security firewalls, which is leaving banks understandably nervous.