Brazil produces 20% of the world’s ethanol, much of which goes towards fuelling the country’s cars. However, in recent years a combination of poor harvests, gasoline subsidies and the global financial crisis have seen investment in the industry grind to a halt. Will it be revived by the elimination of trade taxes on sugar cane ethanol in the US?
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Qatar plays in the banking big league
June 1, 2012Qatar's infrastructure development projects – set to be worth $255bn over the next decade – and its hosting of football's World Cup in 2022 are set to provide a boon for banks already operating in the world's richest country by GDP per capita.
The party's over: how straitened times are affecting Europe's private equity players
June 1, 2012With banks and structured investment vehicles no longer able to provide limitless leverage to European buyout funds, private equity firms are being forced to rethink their strategy towards both financing and acquisitions.
The ties that bind commodities players
June 1, 2012Emerging market growth is changing the strategy for the commodities business at the same time that tighter regulation is altering the relationship between banks, merchant traders and investment funds.
Money laundering: a global solution to a global problem?
May 28, 2012As money-laundering is a cross-border problem, banks and regulators need to take a global approach to control the risks effectively.
Georgia's local regulation in a global economy
May 28, 2012The governor of the National Bank of Georgia has to tailor his maintenance of local financial stability to a banking sector with high levels of foreign ownership and aspirations to expand across the Caucasus region and beyond.
Kenyan banks swerve interest rate cap
May 28, 2012Most African governments are keen to liberalise their financial sectors. Kenya’s would have sent a clear signal in the opposite direction had MPs passed proposals to cap interest rates earlier in 2012. For now, such a move seems off the table. But looming elections could change that.
Eurozone crisis: a case of failure by design
May 28, 2012A critical design flaw in the euro project meant that problems were inevitable.
Ethanol shakes up the energy mix
May 28, 2012With oil prices rising ever higher, interest in ethanol as a green fuel is growing, with the world's largest economies – Brazil, China and the US – already involved in production.
Nigeria's First Bank faces fresh competition
May 1, 2012Competition among Nigeria’s biggest banks will become even fiercer in the coming few years thanks to the creation of two new top-tier lenders in the wake of the country’s financial crisis. But the head of First Bank, the largest lender in Nigeria, is undaunted by the emergence of these rivals.
