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LATEST ARTICLES
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The chief executive of Newton Investment Management is a forthright believer in the power of active investors to effect change at the companies they invest in, and thinks tinkering with market rules is unlikely to boost the appeal of London-listed equities.
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Profit pressure is a threat to every bank, says Qatar Islamic Bank’s group CEO Bassel Gamal, discussing how Qatar’s robust and well-capitalized banking sector is navigating the twin shocks of lower oil prices and coronavirus.
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Colombia, more than any other Latin American country, has used the favourable winds of recent years to prepare for the rainy days ahead. But has finance minister Mauricio Cárdenas done enough to ensure Colombia stays afloat if there is a prolonged emerging market downturn?
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When seven failing cajas were forced together, it was supposed to dampen their problems, not amplify them. Despite many doubts and hard decisions, Bankia’s chief executive Jose Sevilla Alvarez has been ambitious in restoring profitability and recovering the bank
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ING’s chief executive walks and talks digital. Today he leads a stronger, freer institution – one that is using pure online banking to grab customers from incumbents. While the bank grows as a force in lending to industry around the world, it is also building up an SME and consumer-lending portfolio in some of Europe’s biggest retail markets
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South Africa is plagued by slow growth and escalating debt levels. So how can the country’s new minister of finance, Nhlanhla Nene, get the economy moving again while balancing the budget?
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Haunted by the global crisis, policymakers from the US to the UK are erecting national barriers and waging a war against too-big-to-fail banking. Vice-chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Thomas Hoenig defends the drive toward balkanization.
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In an interview with Euromoney, Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret sounds an upbeat note on the rigour of the ECB’s asset-quality review (AQR) and the eurozone’s resolution arrangements, but issues a sharp warning over banks’ risk-free treatment of sovereign debt.
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Abebe Aemro Selassie, deputy director of the IMF’s African department, urges policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to focus on making sure banking systems are robust. Rather than looking for short-term rewards of opening credit lines, he wants to see well-capitalized and regulated banks in countries where fiscal deficits are controlled.
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Mexico’s central bank surprised the market in June when it cut its base rate by 50 basis points. Euromoney’s central bank governor of the year in 2013 stresses that the credibility of the bank’s focus on inflation should not be doubted
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The longest-serving central bank governor in the world has seen it all, and even now is keeping the economy growing despite domestic political paralysis and the spillover from Syria.
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Nationality: Ghanaian
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In an interview with Euromoney, the group treasurer of South Africa-based explosives and chemicals group, AECI, shares his views on managing the company’s treasury operations, planning for international expansion, banking relationships and the prospect of adding international banks to its roster.
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In a wide-ranging interview, Ann Cairns, MasterCard’s president of international markets and resident statistics buff, talks to Euromoney about tech-sector valuations, the digital revolution, acquisitions, regulation, and a yacht called…
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Indonesia’s finance minister, Muhammad Chatib Basri, has a clear mission: to make government easier to navigate – for its people, its companies and for foreign investors. His pragmatic approach is paying dividends. So much so that he might even be asked to stay on.
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Bank of Lithuania deputy chief Ingrida Šimonyte discusses the country’s euro-adoption plans, the challenges for the foreign-owned banking system, and the asset quality review in a wide-ranging interview.
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Friedman joined UBS in March 2011, from his former role as CFO for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Strobaek joined Credit Suisse in May 2013 from a Swiss family office, where he was the CEO, the CIO and a managing partner. Between 1996 and 2009 he was with UBS.
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Moore joined HSBC in 2001 from his role as CIO at JPMorgan Chase’s personal asset management group.
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Wieting took on the role in May 2013 and was formerly a director and US economist in Citi Research. He joined Smith Barney in 1996 and became lead economist for Citigroup’s US institutional equities business in 2000.
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Madigan took on his role in April 2012 having joined JP Morgan in 2004. Before that he was head of emerging markets investments at Offitbank.
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In an in-depth interview with Euromoney, the head of the powerful Russian state lender discusses domestic bank competition, regulation, credit growth and reveals the impact of state ownership.
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In an interview with Euromoney, Bogov discusses credit growth, bank regulation, foreign dominance of the country’s lenders, and the Vienna initiatives.
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In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, governor Jorgovanka Tabaković reveals shifting sands in the Serbian banking system, efforts to boost domestic sources of finance, capital market reform, Basel III and Vienna initiatives.
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Since 2002, Ali Babacan has earned Turkey’s government the trust of markets. But what can the ruling party’s economy chief say to reassure investors now, after some government members’ attacks on the local financial sector? The answers are not all encouraging.
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Xiang Songzuo, chief economist of state-owned ABC, says China’s next raft of reforms – from retooling state-owned enterprises to tackling local government debt burdens and environmental challenges – will involve a disruptive shift in the political system.
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When did Burgan Bank decide to launch its international expansion strategy and why?
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In an exclusive interview, Riad Salamé, the longstanding governor of Banque du Liban, discusses Lebanon’s perpetual political and economic challenges, the resilience of its banks and the prospects for needed structural reform. He even ponders what he would do if he were president for a day.
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Famed for his tough approach to regulation, Czech central bank head Miroslav Singer now has his sights set on currency market intervention to reflate the country’s flagging economy. He talks to Euromoney about the limitations of fiscal policy, the prospects for Czech adoption of the euro, and the dangers of regulatory integration.
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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is convinced she can diversify the economy. But fears are growing that the end of the commodities super-cycle will imperil the growth model.
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The new head of the International Finance Corporation, Jin-Yong Cai, tells Euromoney about the need for the World Bank’s private-sector arm to take more risks and be more activist in developing policy ideas in such areas as infrastructure development and poverty reduction.
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Japanese newspapers often refer to Koichi Hamada as “the brains behind Abenomics”. During a recent visit to Tokyo, the 77-year-old special adviser to Abe spoke frankly to Euromoney not only about Abenomics, but also the character and nationalism of Japan’s prime minister.
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Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, tells Euromoney why no bank is too big to fail and why Texas has much to teach the rest of the US economy
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In an exclusive interview, Benoît Coeuré, member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, discusses the challenges that Europe faces in stimulating financing to small and medium-sized enterprises, including the creation of a truly pan-European and cross-border capital market in the region and how securitization can be used to re-establish funding to these firms.
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Finance minister Nizar Baraka says he can – and must – bring down Morocco’s gaping fiscal deficit. But after a debut dollar bond in December, how much can he change the country’s financial model in the midst of pan-Arab revolt?
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Finance minister Rimantas Sadzius reveals Lithuania’s 2015 euro adoption plan, touts the benefits of convergence and strikes a bullish – and contrarian – tone on eurozone policymaking.
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High-profile Malaysian CEO Tony Fernandes is intent on furthering his companies’ pan-Asian expansion, notably through AirAsia. He sees such international activities as The Apprentice Asia and ownership of Queens Park Rangers FC as useful publicity for his business ventures.
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With Latvia set to join the eurozone in 2014, and Moody's upgrading its bond rating this week, finance minister Andris Vilks is confident of the benefits to the country in joining the single currency – and aware of the efforts needed to convince a sceptical population.
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In an interview in his office in Riyadh, Suliman Azzabin, chief executive of Al Rajhi Bank, pours scorn on allegations that link his bank to terrorist financing repeated in the US Senate report on HSBC last year. So what is Al Rajhi Bank in 2013 really, and how is it still making so much money?
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All banks must be Basle III-proof; Regulatory avalanche stifling business
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Can Credit Suisse’s newly promoted CEO of Brazil, José Olympio Pereira, maintain his own and his bank’s high standing in equity capital markets? Euromoney interviews Olympio to find out.
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Regulators have regained their reformist muscle in the shape of Mark Carney, Bank of Canada governor and chairman of the Financial Stability Board. In a wide-ranging interview, Carney talks about recent banking scandals, the Volcker Rule, and why fears about Basle III are wide of the mark.
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Basle III proposals would hurt Danish banks; Denmark wants equal treatment in bank union
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Ivan Ritossa, who recently announced he is leaving Barclays after 10 years, has been one of the most influential figures in foreign exchange during the past decade. Hamish Risk profiles the man and charts the extraordinary rise of Barclays as a leading FX player.
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The Philippines’ secretary of finance, Cesar Purisima, has a reputation for probity that has reached street level. And he is determined to rapidly advance economic growth through the encouragement of entrepreneurship, the development of capital markets and increased regional integration.
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Andreas Ittner, executive director, Austrian Nationalbank (OeNB), discusses the challenges of regulating banks with diverse emerging European portfolios.
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In an exclusive interview, Arunma Oteh says her temporary suspension earlier this year as head of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission was just the latest in a series of attempts to unseat her. But she says she and her allies are winning the battle to stop market abuses and change Nigeria.
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With Juan Carlos Echeverry’s August departure, Latin America has lost one of its most effective finance ministers. And certainly its most combative. Just days before the news broke that he had lost his job, Euromoney met him in Bogotá to hear his uncompromising views on sustaining Colombia’s recent growth. The only unanswered question: did he know what was to come?
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For 20 years, Charles Dallara worked the corridors of power in the financial community as managing director of the IIF. Then Lehman Brothers and the Greek crisis brought his role into the glare of publicity. As Dallara prepares to step aside, he considers the changes that have taken place in the banking industry, and the role the IIF has to play in its future.
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Andreas Ittner, executive director at the Austrian Nationalbank (OeNB), talks to Euromoney about why Austrian banks are not deleveraging from the “extended home market”, how they are still on track for Basel III, and what sets the OeNB apart from its peers.
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China's army of small and medium sized enterprises struggle to access mainstream bank funding, forcing many of them to turn to the country's booming shadow banking system. In an exclusive interview with Euromoney, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, one of China's largest commercial banks, discusses the funding challenges SMEs face and how it is helping the sector access the funding it needs to flourish.
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Standard Chartered’s senior bankers admit there is something old fashioned about the way the bank does business. Even its CEO, Peter Sands, is a throwback – a banker mostly lauded rather than criticized for his performance. StanChart has consistently delivered a level of income and profit growth most of its peers can only dream of. Is its traditional approach a model for modern banking?
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The country’s banking system had a bad crisis. Cheap funding, overcapacity and poor business models led too many banks to buy rogue assets. But as it returns to health, is there now a shortage of capital to fund needed consolidation?
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Two years ago, Deutsche Bank beat a host of rival suitors to secure the services of China rainmaker Henry Cai. His task: to make the bank punch harder in the lucrative Asian equities business. Progress has been made, but does Deutsche have what it takes to reach the summit in Asia?
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Former ECB executive board member strikes a hawkish note in a wide-ranging interview on the fiscal and monetary policy tools left to save the eurozone.
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Poland's debt-management official waxes lyrical in an interview with Euromoney about how the country is riding out the eurozone storm, and the sovereign's debt issuance plans
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Saudi Arabia’s new economy minister, the former central bank governor Mohammed Al Jasser, says rapid change is under way in his country. But is the reformist energy sparked by the Arab Spring already flagging?
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Andreas Dombret, one of six members of the Bundesbank’s executive board, has reinforced the perception that the so-called shadow banking system is at the forefront of European regulators’ concerns in an interview with Euromoney.
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In an exclusive interview with Euromoney, a member of the Bundesbank executive board says shadow banking is the greatest concern to regulators, who still do not fully understand its impact on the financial system
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Economy and planning minister Muhammad Al Jasser, in a rare and wide-ranging interview with Euromoney, seeks to allay rising fears over the Saudi Arabian economy’s fiscal dependence on oil revenues while detailing his priorities for reform
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QNB became the Middle East’s biggest bank last year and is now stepping up acquisitions abroad. Can it follow Qatar’s corporate champions and transform into an emerging market-focused bank worthy of the state’s newfound financial power?
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The agency has hit the headlines with its aggressive ratings actions against western sovereign credits. But those decisions, like the man behind the agency, do not hold up against the simplest scrutiny.
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Cleantech offers limited scope for investors; Resource-efficient conventional companies top performers
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A dynamic economy is transforming the country. The central bank governor predicts good times ahead for a nation rich in resources and competitive in manufacturing.
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In his first interview as new CFO of Embraer, Paulo Penido Marques says the company is well placed to diversify and grow with its current balance sheet – but he is tempted by the rates on offer in the international debt capital market to pre-fund some 2012 capex.
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Hakan Binbasgil, chief executive of Akbank, had a busy start to his new job. “I have met 15,000 Akbankers since I began in this role,” he says. “It was a priority for me to meet everyone in the organization. To meet our ambitions we need the contribution of everyone at the bank.”
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BTMU expands FX business outside Japan; Strong yen boosts Japanese M&A flow
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In a society obsessed with maximizing profit, Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner and pioneer of microfinance through Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, has a new goal: to get business and finance to take off its ‘profit-maximizing glasses’ and think about its role in society instead
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Mary MacLeod jumped companies and cultures to join ICBC International as deputy CEO – and became the most powerful foreign banker in China, with an eye on global dominance. The pressure is on, but MacLeod isn’t showing it... yet.
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IMF senior economist Manmohan Singh says the shadow-banking system is a necessary part of the monetary universe, and therefore something that regulators and policymakers must thoroughly understand if they are to have any success in improving economic performance.
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The European Central Bank would fail European Banking Authority stress tests, but this is not the issue the European markets should be worried about, says Willem Buiter, one of the world’s most distinguished macroeconomists
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Having secured permanent capital just before the big equity market sell-off, Glencore now has the financial strength to boost production and acquire cheap mining assets. In the long run, shareholders should reap the benefits. For now, they’re still licking their wounds after the Swiss firm’s record-breaking IPO. Peter Lee tells the inside story of the deal of the year.
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Tradition has it that the head of the Federal Reserve is the most influential central banker in the world. Ben Bernanke still is. But Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, is beginning to run him close.
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Australia has struck it rich, and lucky, as it has used its natural resources to benefit from the China spending boom. But the careful stewardship of its treasurer, Wayne Swan, has played a key role in making it the best-performing economy among the world’s richer, developed nations. Not that he is likely to get much credit at home, as Eric Ellis reports.
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Henderson Global Investors' CIO, David Jacob, talks to Euromoney about policymakers creating rather than stemming market volatility, investor safe havens and how the US downgrade has affected the dollar’s future as a reserve currency
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Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer’s bid to be managing director of the IMF might have been successful, had the position been awarded on merit alone. Euromoney spoke to Fischer the day after the IMF announced it had selected Christine Lagarde.
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AIA CEO Mark Tucker talks about spending AIA’s $5 billion cash pile, the potential for acquisitions and the key business drivers in the toughest Asian markets.
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AIA CEO Mark Tucker outlines plans for AIA to catch up in bancassurance and expounds his views on the key China market and the competition in Asia
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For almost 10 years Josef Ackermann has regularly proved his critics wrong. His latest retort has been to rebalance Deutsche Bank's business mix and maintain returns within a much-changed investment bank. But can he meet the aggressive new targets he has set?
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In his career, he has helped Egypt through a time of crisis and made Ahli United Bank a regional powerhouse.
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The rise of Itaú, led by its chief executive, Roberto Setúbal, is one of the success stories of a generation in banking. Consistency and a canny approach to acquisitions have been the key to Setúbal’s achievements. And that is not going to change even as Itaú Unibanco cements its place as one of the world’s largest banks. Rob Dwyer reports from São Paulo.
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After a few difficult years, culminating in the resignation of its long-serving chief executive, Italy’s biggest lender is hoping for a fresh start. But plenty of hurdles need to be overcome if it is ever to reassume its position as one of Europe’s leading banks.
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North Korea. Zimbabwe. Tunisia. Algeria. Iraq. Pakistan. Egypt. It’s a list of the world’s flashpoints. And they’re all part of Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris’s unique telecoms empire. So when his Orascom group needed financing, and then sought a buyer, it presented Sawiris’s advisers with a unique set of challenges. Eric Ellis tells the fascinating story of corporate finance in the new world order.
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In his final interview as chief executive of HSBC, the bank he served for almost 40 years, Mike Geoghegan answers the questions that matter. Did he jump or was he pushed? Should HSBC remain supervised and headquartered in the UK? What happened to the Nedbank takeover? Will the bank list in Shanghai? And he reflects on a stellar career that mirrored the globalization of banking, and in which he was forced to deal with many financial crises.
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In an exclusive interview with Euromoney, Bill Rhodes, who played the most prominent role of any banker in emerging markets debt restructurings in the 1980s and 1990s, warns that implementing a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism in Europe would be short sighted and could worsen funding conditions for peripheral European sovereigns, not improve them.
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Russia’s finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, steered the country through the global financial crisis. The country emerged not just intact, but enhanced in the eyes of global investors. Now Kudrin faces perhaps his biggest battle of all – keeping a firm hold on spending as an election approaches. By Miriam Elder in Moscow.
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Israel’s resilience during the financial crisis and its aftermath proves that Stanley Fischer is worthy of the respect he commands at the top of the global financial community. Dominic O’Neill reports.
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Gary Gensler is on a mission to make the CFTC the world’s most influential financial markets regulator. He wields an unprecedented mandate to interpret the statute book and thereby shape the future of banking. But his former colleagues in the banking industry claim his quest for power is based on personal ambition, causing him to ride roughshod over their reasonable opinions and creating a template that will bring unnecessary hardship to the financial industry and the broader economy. Hamish Risk interviewed the man many bankers call the “most dangerous man in finance”.
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Finance minister Korn Chatikavanij has steered the Thai economy successfully through huge political and social upheaval. But his long-term aim is to connect with Thailand’s people, and not just its financial and business elite, to bring prosperity to the majority. Eric Ellis shadowed Korn as he travelled beyond Bangkok, examining the extent of the grassroots challenges Korn faces to effect meaningful change in a country ill-served by previous incumbents.