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LATEST ARTICLES
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Asian private wealth is distinct from elsewhere in the world and must be served with a different model. Entrepreneurial wealth, changing digital delivery channels and gradual engagement with socially responsible investment all present challenges and opportunities for private banks in the region.
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Private banks across the world are changing fast, placing greater emphasis than ever on a host of key factors. The best wealth managers are busy boosting inclusivity, emphasising technology and security, and ensuring they are on-point when it comes to meeting compliance needs.
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Wealthy clients increasingly need international products and services. The opportunities are clear for those who can stomach the regulatory hurdles of cross-border business and who can leverage their retail or investment banking connections. Technology investments are crucial, but the competitive landscape is opening up.
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Last year was key in the development of one of Oceania’s more unexplored yet potential-rich economies. Its inaugural $500 million sovereign dollar bond caught light and its hosting of the APEC Summit was a hit. The country now needs investment to unlock myriad opportunities in agriculture, power, infrastructure, telecoms, financial services and tourism.
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After a few years of underperformance, India’s property market is back on form. Prices are rising in commercial and residential real estate, with demand driven in large part by inward investment from blue-chip US corporates. The next big step is listed onshore real estate investment trusts, set to hit the market in 2019.
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Asia offers a unique client set of young entrepreneurs; it also offers the challenge of new generations inheriting wealth with different expectations from their predecessors. That is a great opportunity, but it requires private banks to be nimble, thoughtful and technologically adept.
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Meeting the needs of high net-worth families is more challenging and fascinating than ever. Private banks are investing in new forms of digital communication, catering to clients’ philanthropic demands, boosting fee transparency and finding ways to attract and retain the best young talent.
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Financial providers are pushing to identify new higher-margin services, while remaining relevant to corporate partners and boosting profitability in a disruptive digital age. Meanwhile, across the Middle East economies, governments want to diversify away from oil and gas, creating opportunities for multinationals, regional banks and export credit agencies.
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High net-worth families and their wealth are more mobile than ever, making private banking an increasingly global affair. The industry is changing at breakneck speed, but it is also a place where old-fashioned virtues lead to higher profits and more business from new clients.
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Bangladesh boasts some of the best economic growth in the region, but faces challenges in infrastructure development, financial inclusion and the operating environment for business. Ten of the most senior figures in the country provide the answers for the next step forward.
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The island’s geographical position has always given it a natural advantage as a trading centre. Now the country is keen to boost its private sector and draw in foreign investment.
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China’s leading lenders are opening private banking offices across the world to cater to their wealthiest clients. But all global wealth managers face the same challenges: rising regulations; the need to maximize internal resources by targeting the right markets and clients; and the rise of technology.
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The country faces many challenges as it prepares to make itself the global growth leader of tomorrow, not least in infrastructure, capital-market development and up-skilling its workforce. Part of the solution is to make itself more attractive to foreign investors.
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Turkey’s economy has been slow to go digital but increasing smartphone penetration is offering unparalleled growth opportunities for banks, mobile operators, e-commerce platforms and a host of new generation players. Striking a balance between competition and collaboration will be key as aspiring innovators face up to the challenges posed by big data, regulation and security.
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The country’s economy is going through tough times, putting a greater onus on private bankers to look after their clients’ investments. An emphasis on overseas diversification of portfolios is crucial. However, domestic investments still take up the greater share and require careful management
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The UK and UAE sailed past their original bilateral trade target two years ahead of schedule and have now set the bar even higher – to hit £25 billion a year by 2020. Banks and advisory firms, along with government-sponsored bodies and trade fairs are encouraging small and medium sized enterprises to lead the way. Euromoney gathered representatives from several of these organizations to discuss the future of this burgeoning market
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The nation’s private banking industry is blossoming, but even as it flourishes, leading players have to move fast to keep up with a changing market and an increasingly demanding and diverse client base. Euromoney gathered together a panel of private bankers, wealth managers and economists to discuss the market’s key issues in July.
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The country’s economic recovery continues to gather momentum, underpinned by strengthening domestic demand and robust exports. The government has regained access to the international capital markets and concerns about contagion have receded. There are still vulnerabilities: debt levels are high and the banking system is weak. But Portugal has a spring in its step that it has not had since before the crisis.
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The investment potential in Africa has long been discussed but finally the hype is turning into reality. Regional private equity firms are beginning to convert their local knowledge of Africa’s subcontinent into cash. But there are still many obstacles to establishing a thriving business in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Lebanon’s economy was already under pressure before the arrival of countless refugees from Syria. The IMF has flagged up serious problems in the public finances and the country itself recognizes the need for reform in many areas. Nevertheless, a stable political base and strong banking sector offer cause for optimism
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The economic ties between the UAE and India have gone from strength to strength in recent years and are set to deepen further. The UAE not only offers India the promise of investment in its creaking infrastructure, but a compelling investment environment for Indian companies and a staging post for expansion. Conversely, Asia’s third largest economy offers Arab companies growth opportunities
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Private banking clients in Brazil face challenging times, bankers concede. The economy is under pressure and the country could yet suffer stagflation. Furthermore, an unpredictable presidential race leaves markets in limbo. However, bankers are confident their well-educated client base will not over-react, and instead maintain their long-term strategies
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Turkey’s economy is growing fast and the country has a large number of infrastructure projects in the pipeline. But with its corporates also on the hunt for more funding, the country’s banks cannot meet all the demand themselves.
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While other industries have embraced technology to win clients and become more efficient, wealth management and private banking are still finding their way. Euromoney gathered leading private bankers and nontraditional wealth advisers to discuss how the industry can embrace innovation
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As Asia’s ultra-rich entrepreneurs prepare to pass on their businesses and wealth to the next generation, Euromoney asks leading industry experts to discuss the challenges and implications of wealth transfer in a region unprepared for it.
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For investors, the continent is not the high-debt, high-distress place it was a decade ago. It has come a long way in a short time. Now it is 54 countries that are generally fast growing and with single-digit inflation.
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Leading private-banking experts discuss the drivers of venture philanthropy in Asia and the opportunities for banks to intermediate such flows.
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After the World Islamic Economic Forum was held in a Muslim minority country – the UK – for the first time. Euromoney quizzed the envoys of rival centres on their ambitions.
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Bankers discuss the progress made so far and the potential for Turkey to become a vibrant financial services hub.
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Euromoney speaks to providers and users of transaction banking in the Gulf region about the market’s growing importance and the localization of expertise.
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Wealthy Brazilians’ traditional dependence on positive real interest rates for investment returns has been undermined. Euromoney’s roundtable of private bankers discusses how wealth managers are developing new investment opportunities for their clients and how those clients are responding.
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Euromoney’s debate involving leading executives in Asian financial services throws light on the Chinese currency’s progress to full international status and the likely developments that will hinder and advance the process.
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The markets had another volatile year in 2012, but there are signs of green shoots for the global economy. The heads of the largest global private banks discuss how they are ensuring that their clients are well-positioned for 2013.
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Macroeconomic risks, such as the euro crisis, are increasingly impinging on cash management and increased financial regulation is a concern for corporates and their partner banks. Euromoney’s panel of treasurers and bankers examines the issues and the way they are handled.
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The country’s entrepreneurs are increasingly drawing on private bankers’ skills as they seek out new sources of income and ways to pass on wealth to younger family members.
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The eurozone crisis has prompted increasing concerns about risk among clients seeking liquidity management. But Euromoney’s debate suggests that bankers feel they have the mechanisms in place to meet customer needs for reassurance and safety.
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Brazil’s wealthy have traditionally based their investments on products tapping the country’s high interest rates. But with rates now much lower private bankers are seeking to persuade their clients to transform their strategies.
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China’s wealthy are growing rapidly in number. But the private banking industry’s capacity to cater for them is still limited, not least because of the restricted range of products on offer and the need to educate clients. In this discussion private banking experts consider prospects for wealth management development in this dynamic economy.
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Impact investing – putting money to work both for profit and social impact – is in its infancy as an industry. But it has the potential to become part of the fabric of financial markets. A group of leading wealth managers, foundations and sector specialists discuss how impact investment will develop, and the challenges they face.
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Five years ago, corporates began to expand, setting up manufacturing facilities and offices at home and around the world. As those companies buy fixed assets and trading companies across multiple markets, they need a way of linking that local entity to their group head offices back home in each of these territories.
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Russia’s capital markets remain upbeat, despite negative forecasts from the IMF. Amid the eurozone crisis, market players see an opportunity for the country to prove itself as a developed and reliable financial centre. Bankers, investors and issuers discuss what needs to happen next.
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Cash management debate: What cash management can do for corporates
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Bankers and corporate treasurers discuss what they are looking for from their relationships and the challenges of funding, the eurozone, Basle III and Sepa.
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Belgium is seen as one of the bright spots in the eurozone and competition is increasing for the assets of the country’s wealthiest individuals. For those with investment expertise and knowledge of the intricacies of the Belgian wealth market, the future looks promising.
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Middle Eastern companies and their banks are still very much open for business, despite the instability arising from the Arab Spring. But with risks rising, companies want ever more visibility and control over the way they manage their cash.
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Three leading companies and Garanti Bank discuss the country’s corporate performance and access to finance. Growth is steady and firms are expanding, but there are wider macro issues that won’t go away.
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China’s rapid expansion as a leading trading nation presents opportunities for banks to develop solutions to internal and international cash management needs. In this debate bankers and corporate clients discuss what has been achieved so far and what still needs to be done.
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Bankers and corporate treasurers discuss how best liquidity can be safeguarded in a world of wider regulation and broadening markets.
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The sector is enjoying substantial growth in assets, but converting this into profitability is a challenge, partly because of clients’ preference for low-fee, fixed-income products. And high interest rates are holding back growth in equity markets.
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Both local and international players are trying to break into a growing onshore private banking market in the Middle East. In the second part of Euromoney’s roundtable on this market, participants discuss how they are managing to attract and retain relationship managers, how they intend to grow their businesses, and how best to advise clients on risk.
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Local and international players are trying to break into the growing onshore Middle East private banking market. But dealing with the world’s wealthiest families poses big challenges. In the first part of Euromoney’s Middle East roundtable on private banking, participants discuss their individual models, and how the financial crisis has affected their clients.
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Providers and clients in the key Asian markets discuss the effects of the region’s growing influence and importance, tradeability of the renminbi and the developments that are bringing cutting-edge cash management services.
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New categories of participants, electronic trading and the use of algorithms have had profound effects on liquidity and pricing in the FX market, which now offer a real opportunity to manage macro events.
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In the second part of Euromoney’s cash management roundtable, the participants look at the effect of volatility in foreign exchange and commodity prices and how new products are giving treasurers more investment options.
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Foreign exchange traders are getting used to huge volatility in their two core markets – the euro and the dollar. But they’re still battling regulators to prevent what they consider would be a damaging move to trading on exchanges.
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In the first part of this roundtable on cash management, Euromoney looks at the increasing expectations from corporates of what cash management banks should offer. The second and concluding part will be published in the February issue.
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Corporate responses to the financial crisis are forcing banks with liquidity management services to come up with new tools and techniques. Clients are demanding more visibility, control and optimization.
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Turkey’s relatively strong economic performance looks set to be sustained if fiscal self-discipline and sound banking practices are maintained. Euromoney’s roundtable examines the factors in the country’s favour and potential weaknesses.
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The balance between centralized and local processes in cash management is a complex issue that varies according to the special requirements of particular corporates. Users and providers discuss the issues in this roundtable.
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Moscow’s attempt to develop as an important financial centre is at the core of a series of capital markets-friendly legislative changes. Euromoney talks to investors, City of Moscow officials, exchange heads and regulators about progress so far and what is to come.
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Inward investment is rising, government debt ratios are falling, and a government of national unity has ambitious plans to revitalize Lebanon’s economy. Bankers and politicians alike want to capitalize on what could be an unprecedented opportunity to transform Lebanon’s fortunes.
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In all the talk of regulation, the distinction between settlement risk and counterparty risk seems to have been blurred. The FX market survived the crisis best.
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Turmoil in banking has changed transaction services. Just as it has become crucial to extract every last efficiency from treasury, clients face new choices and new uncertainties. How should they choose their banks? How can they manage their risks? What should their treasury look like?
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Emerging Europe had a tough 2009, but as a new year dawns central bankers across the region hope it will bring back economic growth. The debate about regulation and ring-fencing capital begins here as they discuss how to prevent the region from plunging back into recession. Interviews by Chloe Hayward.
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In a cash-scarce world, electronic bells and whistles take second place to systems and partners that help clients marshal their global liquidity as quickly and visibly as possible. Maximizing working capital throughout the supply chain is now a necessity, not a luxury. Clients and banks must change.
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Despite, or perhaps because of, the changing nature of the interbank market, liquidity has returned to most corners of foreign exchange. But uncertainties remain over quantitative easing, Japan and the recovery. The panel gathered at the end of 2009 to find we are still in uncharted territory.
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Russia’s capabilities have been stretched by the global financial crisis and an economic slowdown but its dominant position as a commodity exporter can still be a strength if the necessary reform and reconstruction measures are put in place. A panel of Russia analysts discusses the key issues.
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The country’s banking crisis of 2000/01 spurred the regulatory regime that has served it so well during today’s global turmoil. But can it continue on a path of sustainable, low-volatility growth? And are investors demanding too high a risk premium for a stable credit and solid banking system?
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The post-credit-crunch environment has thrown the spotlight on intra-day liquidity facilities. Once taken for granted, these have now become a symbol of the changing relationships between banks and clients in cash management, and of the stresses still inherent in the global credit system.
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Wealth management services are relatively underdeveloped in the Gulf region. But local and foreign private banks and family offices have broad opportunities to develop their business.
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One banker contrives a metaphor to defend the universal banking model. If you set two BMW 5 Series cars to race around a track and only one makes it back, that tells you that one of the drivers made a mistake, not that the BMW is a bad car. So don’t junk universal banking, through a forced separation into utility banking, comprising retail deposit-taking and commercial lending, away from trading in securities, just to punish the mistakes of poor chief executives who drove their banks into a wall in the reckless pursuit of profits in complex instruments that they didn’t understand, using leveraged proprietary risk-taking they couldn’t control.
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The market is relatively young but it has had a brutal education over the past year as the financial crisis has swept through every corner of the financial markets. Where next for inflation-linked products?
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In the second part of Euromoney’s foreign exchange debate, which took place in late 2008, industry experts consider the future for the business. There is still cause for optimism, although inflation remains a big unknown and there are real fears of governments’ ability to sustain debt levels.
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As in all other areas of financial services, the credit crunch has made its presence felt in international cash management. Banks and corporates have found their relationships and business practices severely tested and have found out who they can, and cannot, trust in a downturn.
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Deleveraging is the key word of the moment and there is still a long way to go for banks and hedge funds. Beyond that, the impact in the real economy of the banking crisis is only just starting to appear. The tools at governments’ disposal may not be strong enough to handle the challenge. Is a raft of new regulation inevitable?
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The market is growing fast in Muslim countries and among Muslim communities. Its fuller development, Euromoney’s roundtable of experts suggests, depends on clearer views on objectives, further development of regulation and standardization of products and approaches.
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Corporates can see the potential of shared service centres for reasons including compliance and costs, increased back office efficiency and labour arbitrage. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
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Longevity risk is a continuing, ever changing problem for pension schemes, determining the assets they have to deploy to cover their liabilities. Seven specialists look at how risk is identified and the different techniques and products available to cope with it.
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Continuing problems are forcing firms to reconsider market timing, the balance between public and private funding and the importance of neglected sources such as retail and corporate deposits. Six specialists debate the issues.
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Chief executives need to lead from the front to achieve cross-company support for supply chain management projects and they need to identify the right partners to help them adopt successful strategies.
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The continent’s main markets, such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Angola, are attracting growing interest from investors. Foreign and local emerging market financial specialists analyse this change of attitude.
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The market looks set to remain buoyant, especially in the key Gulf centres, with a widening variety of access routes for investors and developers prepared to commit themselves to local contacts and a local presence.
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Prime brokers' relationships with hedge funds have inevitably be modified by the credit crunch but ultimately the brokers have to provide the full range of services funds require at a reasonable cost and without undue constraints.
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The effects of the credit crunch have spread across all areas of finance, affecting even the world’s most liquid market: swaps in euros. People still want to do business, but banks need to reorder their balance sheets and regain confidence. And that could take a long time.
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Capital markets and financial services have advanced dramatically in the past few years across Africa. In this debate, Nigerian bankers and informed foreign peers discuss the achievements and the upcoming challenges.
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The commodity price boom masks fundamental questions about the value of commodity investments in a portfolio, the choice of commodities and the most constructive use of indices. Euromoney’s debate panel grapples with the crucial issues.
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Sepa came into being in January but there is still much work to be done before the full benefits come through for banks and corporate customers. What are the main threats or opportunities of the developments? What obstacles have to be overcome? Euromoney’s debate panel wrestles with the key issues.
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The rise of alternative beta strategies seems inevitable as investors chase greater levels of diversification in their portfolios. What are the secrets of alternative beta’s success and what obstacles can still impede its progress?