Boutique investment bank StormHarbour was created in 2009 with the intention of reviving a more tailored and less conflicted approach to serving clients. The idea is attracting a growing number of heavy hitters.
Euro aspirations down but not out
April 2, 2012The sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone has had little impact on the euro’s exchange rate against the dollar. However, it has delayed the process of reserve diversification.
World
/ Asia-Pacific
/ China
Foreign exchange still in everyone’s sights
April 2, 2012Higher volumes than before the financial crisis and a growing number of heavyweight currencies are attracting investment banks, but the global foreign exchange pie may not be large enough for everyone to have a slice.
World
/ Western Europe
/ Spain
Basel risk weights leave banks with unequal burdens
March 26, 2012The process of risk-weighting assets will become even more crucial to calculating bank capital adequacy under Basel III than it is already. Which is why there is growing dissent about the unexplained discrepancies between how different banks are measuring the same risks.
Serbia searching for new financing model
March 1, 2012Corporate banking in Serbia remains under pressure from excess leverage, legal shortcomings and the absence of a capital market.
Europe's banking sale of the century
March 1, 2012Regulatory pressure and the high cost of capital are driving a radical change of asset ownership in Europe. But most banks could take years to sell their non-core assets.
Europe’s sovereign-linked issuers adapt to the new normal
March 1, 2012The eurozone sovereign debt crisis has not just affected national treasuries, but also European supranationals and government-related entities. Philip Alexander hears from a range of larger and smaller borrowers across the eurozone and beyond.
How lower bank capital requirements could boost the economy
February 23, 2012
In response to the suggestion – put forward by bankers and central bankers in the UK – that a temporary cut in capital adequacy requirements would stimulate new lending and economic growth, The Banker has simulated how a 1% lower Basel requirement might affect various major world economies.
Who loses in CEE as Alpha cools on Eurobank deal?
February 9, 2012
Alpha Bank has warned that its potential merger partner Eurobank is more exposed to a Greek sovereign haircut, but the picture among both banks' foreign subsidiaries is a little different.
Kosovo's banking sector finds advantages in isolation
February 1, 2012Kosovo’s highly capitalised and liquid banking sector has benefited from its relative insulation from international markets, but its banks must develop and diversify their activities in order to put their funds to work.