The UK’s Barclays is investing close to £3bn in South Africa to get control of that country’s biggest retail bank, Absa – the biggest foreign purchase ever by the British group. The deal has been approved by regulators and has the support of sufficient shareholders to be successful, after almost a year of behind-the-scenes talks.

SocGen CEO Daniel Bouton talks to Karina Robinson about the sense and synergies of cross-border mergers.
Once I got over the disappointment of having lunch in the utilitarian Société Générale tower in the conurbation of La Défense, rather than in a superb Parisian restaurant such as Pierre Gagnaire, it was awfully pleasing on the food front.

Deutsche Bank’s successful euro issuance for Brazil helped the dollar market to rally, setting the stage for it to do subsequent dollar and euro deals for a diverse range of issuers. Sophie Roell reports.
The Greeks may have won Euro 2004 but the Germans are firmly in the lead when it comes to euro issuance out of Latin America.

Deutsche Bank and Saudi Arabia’s Al Azizia Commercial Investment Company (ACIC) signed a joint proposal, in mid-April, for the establishment of an investment banking joint venture.

Banca Intesa, Italy’s largest bank, has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 75% stake in Russia’s Small Business Credit Bank (KMB), a leading provider of lending and leasing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Investment banks that are starved of corporate business have looked to project finance as a source of growth but middle-market corporate lending is looking up and they are getting ready to grab their share, reports Peter Wise.

Having been left in the dust of other countries racing to be at the economic forefront of the EU, Portugal is fighting back to reclaim its rightful place among the leaders in global investment, says Peter Wise.
Since 1993 more immigrants, most of them from the Ukraine and other east European countries, have been arriving in Portugal each year than emigrants have been leaving.

The appointment of Paulo Teixeira Pinto as chief executive of Millennium BCP ended speculation about the succession to one of the most prominent positions in Portuguese banking.