January 2008
| Euromoney January 2008 Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has decreed the creation of a state holding company, roughly on Singaporean/Malaysian lines, to oversee and rationalize the country’s lucrative but inchoate collection of state-owned companies and foster corporate governance. A British corporate warhorse, Sir Richard Evans, has been hired to pull the operation together. Eric Ellis reports on a confrontation of cultures. |
Euromoney January 2008
The second half of 2007 was the most challenging period bank treasurers have ever faced. They will all be hoping that liquidity is back to normal by the middle of 2008. But many bank issuers face a looming, unexpected and until now unnoticed drain on their funding which will happen, an unlucky 13 months after the credit crunch hit. Alex Chambers reports on the $245 billion funding hole that the extendible note market has created.
Euromoney January 2008
Private banks attached to investment banks have benefited from the access to balance sheet and innovative products that the relationship provides. But with Wall Street suffering dramatic losses as a result of sub-prime mortgage exposure, will that relationship be the private banks’ downfall? Helen Avery reports.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Since the beginning of 2006, Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management business has been streamlined into a slicker, more profitable business. Total client assets have increased from $624 billion to $734 billion, and quarterly profits before tax have increased from $20 million to $287 million.
Helen Avery talks to Morgan Stanley’s co-president, president and chief operating officer of global wealth management, James Gorman, on how he turned Morgan Stanley’s wealth management business around, the firm’s plans for the future, and his thoughts on the private banking industry.
Euromoney January 2008
COO Boris Collardi explains how his bank has gained momentum by doing the little things well.
Euromoney January 2008
Growth in Latin American high-net-worth assets continues to outstrip that of other countries as the local economies boom. Helen Avery asks the region’s top-ranking private banks how they have been reacting to burgeoning demand.
Euromoney January 2008
High-net-worth investors are keen to use structured notes to profit from volatility in the equity market, and to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere. John Ferry looks at what is on offer.
Euromoney January 2008
They’re proud of their embassies in Berlin. Take a tour of the German capital and soon after passing the building shared by five Nordic countries your guide will point to three more embassies clustered together – those of South Africa, India and… Baden-Württemberg. It’s a symbol of Germany’s decentralization that is particularly apparent in its banking system. So is there room for – or even need of – a national champion? Philip Moore reports.
Euromoney January 2008
The European cash equity market’s status quo will be put to the test in 2008 when at least four new multilateral trading facilities open for business. Encouraged by the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the better than expected progress of MTF Chi-X, the newcomers promise to shake things up. Peter Koh reports.
Euromoney January 2008
In August 1998 the Russian economy looked like a busted flush. Yet less than a decade later it’s the ace in the hole for investors looking for a hedge against a US-inspired global recession. Guy Norton looks at the reasons for its recovery.
Euromoney January 2008
The CEE region has huge potential for renewable energy, but there are obstacles to its development – not least the apparent unconcern of the region’s largest nation. Can Russia be induced to get behind the drive for cleaner energy? Jethro Wookey reports.
Euromoney January 2008
In barely a decade, Erste Bank has gone from being a purely Austria-focused savings bank to a regional retail banking powerhouse. Guy Norton charts its rise to prominence and asks: where does it go next?
Euromoney January 2008
GE Money, the consumer finance and banking arm of General Electric, is growing quickly in central and eastern Europe. Sudip Roy talks to two of the firm’s senior executives about its expansion plans.
Euromoney January 2008
If you are a fund manager interested in investing in central and eastern Europe, there is a strong possibility that you will be directed towards Hungarian government debt. The country’s debt management agency, the AKK, has issued about €2 billion annually to meet the country’s budgetary deficit in recent years. With about 30% of the debt held by foreign portfolio investors, perhaps the most important influence on its price is perception of the government’s resolve to limit an unusually large deficit.
Euromoney January 2008
Rapid privatization in the 1990s in which foreigner investors took many of the best prizes has left the Budapest stock market in a fragile state. After a recent foreign attempt to acquire one of the exchange’s few blue chips, Hungary’s government and companies are on the defensive. Dominic O’Neill reports.
Euromoney January 2008
Viennese born and bred but US investment bank trained, Andreas Treichl has been at the helm of Erste Bank for the past decade as chairman of its managing board and chief executive. During that time his combination of old-world Viennese charm and savoir-faire, allied with hard-nosed new world commercial nous, has helped the bank transform itself from a venerable but dull Austrian savings institution into the retail banking champion of central and eastern Europe. A series of audacious acquisitions means that Erste Bank is now well positioned to capture the continued high-growth potential in the region, benefiting from increased political stability and rising economic fortunes. He talks to Guy Norton about his vision for the future.
Euromoney January 2008
Volatility in FX has increased because of the credit crisis but not as much as some expected. Inflation will bring more pressure and central banks face a dilemma.
Euromoney January 2008
Finding the best companies in Asia is becoming a case of deciding which ones are best placed in their exposure to its main growth market. Profits equal plaudits for our investors, as Jethro Wookey finds out.
Euromoney January 2008
Losses from sub-prime-related securities have forced many foreign investment banks to think twice about their ambitions for Japan. However, some lower-profile foreign franchises sense an opportunity to strike while rivals are wavering or cutting back. Credit Suisse’s Japan head of investment banking, Andrew Brownfield, thinks his firm is well positioned to make such a move. Lawrence White reports.
Euromoney January 2008
High-net-worth investors are keen to use structured notes to profit from volatility in the equity market, and to take advantage of opportunities elsewhere. John Ferry looks at what is on offer.
Euromoney January 2008
The global credit crunch has underlined to banks the importance of cash management and transaction banking as core businesses.
Euromoney January 2008
The credit crunch has precipitated a shift in the balance of power in the European debt capital markets.
Euromoney January 2008
Can the index provider’s expertise in equity markets translate into fixed income?
Euromoney January 2008
The priority for banks in 2008 will be shoring up balance sheets by raising capital.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
But political palliative unlikely to have big impact, say analysts.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
The limited progress made in getting this sector moving again in Europe has run aground on renewed nervousness.
Euromoney January 2008
The European Commission demands a comprehensive action plan to right the wrongs by the end of January.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Launched in 2001, Deutsche Bank’s Autobahn trading platform is a big factor in the bank’s success in the FX market.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
US regulator the National Futures Association decided not to wait to see what impact an increase in the minimum net capital requirement from $1 million to $5 million would have on its forex dealer members (FDMs).
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Trading activity quadruples in November but widening spreads on small caps becomes a concern for investors.
Euromoney January 2008
But cheer up – things might get better later in 2008.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
The US mutual fund industry might be gaining the upper hand in its fight against the country’s nascent exchange-traded notes market following a pair of rulings in December.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
More supply means more funds. But where to put them?
Euromoney January 2008
Straightforward, vanilla money market funds have suddenly become topical.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Lehman Brothers sells its stake.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the banks to the hedge funds, says Neil Wilson.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Singapore investment firm close to many on Goldman Sach’s team.
Euromoney January 2008
Pays SFr10 billion for a 9% stake in the Swiss bank.
Euromoney January 2008
Demand is high, but the volume and diversity of instruments is limited.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Japan’s three megabanks have been asked by US counterparts to contribute $5 billion apiece to the fund they are setting up to bail out cash-stricken structured investment vehicles hit by the sub-prime crisis.
Euromoney January 2008
On Wall Street the backstabbing has started, and with good reason – bonus season has arrived. While Latin American bankers watched their counterparts in the structured finance world write down billions of dollars in losses, they, by contrast, quietly brought in good profits.
Euromoney January 2008
A bull-market product that would crash and burn in the event of a credit crisis: that was the view that many critics held of perpetual bonds – a fundraising instrument that has been all the rage in the region in recent years.
Euromoney January 2008
Private equity in Latin America is set to remain buoyant next year despite global credit problems because of the lower levels of leverage that the market demands compared with the US and Europe. With the leveraged loan market still effectively shut in developed markets, investors are turning their attention to the emerging markets in the hope of locking in growth stories.
Euromoney January 2008
Local retail investors will become a bigger force in Brazilian equity offerings, according to senior investment bankers, after Banco do Brasil completed a transaction last month that attracted record interest from individuals in a single deal.
Euromoney January 2008
Pension funds in Peru are in desperate need of more investment options, according to analysts.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Investors search for regional opportunities.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Austria’s Wiener Börse is looking to steal some of the London Stock Exchange’s thunder in 2008 and break its stranglehold on international equity issuance from central and eastern Europe.
Euromoney January 2008
Market participants are confident that Scandinavian exchange operator OMX’s acquisition of the Armenian Stock Exchange (Armex) will help to boost interest in the Caucasian republic’s burgeoning capital markets in 2008.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Reprise of Glass-Steagall is not a suitable response to the market’s present woes.
Euromoney January 2008
With capital markets fragile and expensive, sovereign wealth funds are playing an important role in recapitalizing banks.
Euromoney January 2008
Weaving between the traditional three pillars can only get you so far.
Euromoney January 2008
The way in which debt assets are marked to market has intensified the liquidity crunch. Far more should therefore be done to rethink the process.
Euromoney January 2008
Vikram Pandit faces one of the toughest challenges ever seen in the banking industry.
Euromoney January 2008
Trading will continue to concentrate in the hands of the largest players.
Euromoney January 2008
Ruling Citi would be like ruling the Forbidden City. There is so much breadth to the institution that it would be hard for any one individual to span the various sectors: investment banking, consumer banking, wealth management and retail brokerage. And as for structure, I’ve had mud baths that are more transparent.
Euromoney January 2008
Eastern Europe has borrowed cheaply this decade to fund a credit binge. Now, as the global credit crisis starts to bite, the region’s economies are becoming increasingly vulnerable.
Euromoney January 2008
A US recession could be short, shallow and relatively benign for the rest of the world if oil price falls in 2008.
Euromoney January 2008
It must have been the shortest tenure ever in the most senior job in global banking.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Merry Christmas, but a not too happy new year, was the message from the head of UK private equity firm Terra Firma, Guy Hands.
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
Euromoney January 2008
2007 was a year of achievement for Islamic finance, with growth on all fronts. Yet the sector still
faces great challenges, not least in finding and training enough Islamic bankers.