Lenders struggle with bad debts; Private banks form a niche

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, knows a thing or two about banking, and isn’t afraid to share his views. He sat on the UK’s Committee for Banking Standards. Last year, he took on the payday lenders and called on the UK authorities to promote regional banks based outside London. But there was a time when he was a big fan of British banks. That was when he was the treasurer of Enterprise Oil, back in the 1980s.

Bob Diamond heads new buyout team; Partners with Ugandan IT entrepreneur

The financial landscape is changing and certain macro themes are beginning to emerge.

Privatization a “great opportunity”; Credit demand remains weak

CEO’s endorsement big boost to the City; renminbi bond issuance globally at record levels.

Deal attracts 400 bids; deficit remains a concern.

London and Luxembourg are at loggerheads to become Europe’s leading offshore renminbi hub – although they wouldn’t let you know it.

Basel revisions dilute a key safeguard; bankers are celebrating.

Crédit Agricole attracts 900 orders; when everyone is buying, aficionados suggest time to sell.

Big reorganization at StanChart; Bank may be takeover target

Central and eastern Europe is attractive for private equity houses. But they need to get their priorities right.

Vital energy reforms could provide a welcome fiscal boost.

Surveys suggest that virtual currencies look a safer bet than local stocks and property.

The markets didn’t quite ignore the rushed news of Deutsche Bank’s fourth-quarter 2013 €1.2 billion loss stemming from litigation charges, restructuring costs and weak performance in its fixed-income business. Sure, the shares fell 6.5%, but this came after a more than 20% rally from the middle of 2013. Investors might have contented themselves that, after stripping out all the accounting nonsense and the litigation one-offs, the underlying performance wasn’t too bad.

Pool of large unrated firms set to grow; Uphill battle to establish market share

African countries’ ability to access diversified funding is becoming more important. Deepening the local-currency bond markets is essential, but is the price worth paying? And are development organizations doing enough?

Georgia’s youthful finance minister, Nodar Khaduri, is committed to an open, business-friendly economy and hopes to revive foreign direct investment. A pro-western, EU-focused approach is also a central policy plank.

Limited supply boosts demand; concerns over provisions remain.

The new chief executive of Bank of Cyprus faces challenges on a scale that perhaps dwarf those he faced when restructuring the investment bank at RBS. Compelled to deal promptly with mounting bad debts, he also has to cope with the local reputational aftermath of the bank’s EU-imposed bail-in. Will his diet of “hard work and heavy lifting” see the bank through its crisis?

Hybrid investors are getting burned as the legacy of Moody’s change in methodology starts to hit home.