Owning a sports team was once a guaranteed way either to lose money or to make a little by spending a lot. Today, the world’s wealthiest people are snapping up elite franchises, backed by an army of wealth managers, data experts and investment bankers. Ivo Voynov, global head of sports finance at Citi Private Bank, explains what turbocharged sports finance, and why it is such an important and profitable business for global private banks.

Citi’s US $25 billion direct lending programme with Apollo has turned heads for its size and scope. It’s a major part of Citi’s new push to grow ancillary earnings such as cash management, in an era when regulators are curtailing banks’ ability to deploy risk in areas like leveraged finance. As big banks everywhere seek new ways to work with private credit, Euromoney reveals how this landmark tie-up will work in practice.

As head of the Office for the Comptroller of the Currency, Michael J Hsu has a unique viewpoint on the US banking system. In what could be one of his last interviews in office, he speaks to Euromoney about the future of the system – and how small and medium-sized banks can survive in an era when technology spend is only becoming more important.

The success of e-CNY, despite its retail characteristics, could be attributed to a strong government push, effective collaboration with banks and e-platforms, and, most importantly, a win-win mentality that inspired the two-tier channel design.