March 2007
all page content
all page content
Main body page content
LATEST ARTICLES
-
Click here to download Technology in Treasury Management (PDF)
-
Recent visitors to BNP Paribas’ London headquarters have been greeted by placards in the entrance hall that urge staff to "Be smart".
-
In the our last issue in the Islamic finance awards section we incorrectly stated that Dubai International Bank had won the best Islamic bank in the Middle East award. It was in fact Dubai Islamic Bank.
-
Merrill Lynch has appointed John Crompton as managing director and head of equity capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
-
Last year’s rush by UK pension funds to de-risk, either via interest rate and inflation swap overlays or by switches out of equities and into fixed income, was headline-grabbing. Yield curves remain inverted but the headlines have gone. Roger James finds out why.
-
-
"Brazil and Mexico explain Latin America. The rest is beautiful places for a holiday"
-
Sarah: "I would just like to check some figures with you, if that’s ok?"
Allan: "Figures, I bet you’ve got a lovely figure" -
Citi has carved out a non-mortgage-related ABS business line called global securitized products.
-
The final outcome of a much-rumoured rebranding exercise was not much of a surprise.
-
Sberbank, Russia’s largest savings bank, launched an $8.8 billion equity issue last month.
-
Colombia’s president, Alvaro Uribe, has appointed Oscar Ivan Zuluaga as his new finance minister following the resignation of Alberto Carrasquilla.
-
"The company could run very well without me" -Jim Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies
-
Your average banker’s insatiable thirst for blood is one of the main reasons for the spectacular growth of financial markets in recent years. Now complementary industries are cashing in on this wolf-like appetite for the flesh of the departed.
-
According to lawyers, the Singapore Stock Exchange has issued an RFP for an adviser to rethink its efforts to attract hedge fund listings.
-
Vietnam’s reforming bank market is learning the lessons of its northern cousin. Foreign banks are lining up to pour money into local banks, hungry for a position in what will be a lucrative, if crowded, domestic market.
-
Peter Epstein has worked out what the hedge fund manager has missing in his/her life.
-
Dan Zelikow has joined the Inter-American Development Bank as its new chief operating officer.
-
Citi has unveiled the management structure of its recently created fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) business unit.
-
Brad Craighead is returning to JPMorgan to run asset-backed origination in Europe. He will report to Oldrich Masek, head of the European securitization product group at the US bank, and will be responsible for the bank’s relationships with issuers.
-
Aeon Credit Service, a credit card issuer, became the first Japanese company to tap into the growing market for Shariah-compliant debt when it began issuing under an agreement signed with joint lead arrangers, managers and bookrunners Aseambankers Malaysia, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and CIMB Investment Bank.
-
On January 30, the leading names in the Islamic finance industry gathered at the Royal Garden Hotel in London for Euromoney’s fifth annual Islamic Finance Awards dinner.
-
Posit Now is the latest newcomer to European equities trading venues.
-
Barclays has announced the appointment of Matt Barrett as head of distressed debt and special situations investing. He is joined by two more new hires to work as managing directors in the same department, as Barclays looks to substantially increase its power in this market.
-
Nick Munns, David Frist and Chris Morrison are all believed to have left JPMorgan’s foreign exchange proprietary trading desk in London.
-
Status boosted by the February decisions of EBS to list it on its screens and of Euroclear to accept it as a settlement currency.
-
The search for yield has resulted in an increase in overseas investment. But according to a recent research note put out by State Street Global Advisors, fund managers might have been lulled into a false sense of security by the low volatility environment.
-
Foreign investors are starting to return to Argentina’s capital markets just five years after the country’s severe economic crisis. However, their confidence has been shaken following the government’s apparent manipulation of the inflation rate for January.
-
Rated sovereigns in the Middle East and Africa are expected to show net borrowing decreases in 2007 because of large debt repayments, according to Standard & Poor’s.
-
ABN Amro launched the third SME loan securitization under its Smile programme.
-
Cairn Capital is on the road marketing the first managed constant proportion debt obligation. The deal, which is structured by JPMorgan, seeks to offer investors an improvement on static CPDOs and is proof of the rapid evolution in the product.
-
Brazil specifically – not Latin America – is one of ABN Amro’s four core markets. And there’s every indication that the Dutch bank intends to keep things that way. Felix Salmon reports
-
Turkey’s open-door approach to foreign investment is paying dividends, with international banks helping to boost balance sheets and widen the range of products and services in the sector. Guy Norton reports from Istanbul.
-
On February 1 the leading lights in the global wealth management industry gathered at the historic Christchurch in London’s Spitalfields district to celebrate the winners in Euromoney’s fourth annual private banking survey.
-
Market expectations of interest rate stability fly in the face of growing signs of inflationary pressure and the likelihood of a move by the Federal Reserve.
-
We are repeatedly told that financial markets are awash with liquidity. That is now less true and the ingenuity of modern finance means that liquidity is little more than a mirage.
-
The region’s rapid growth is changing the investment banking landscape beyond recognition as the fee pool grows. How are the major international firms tackling the opportunities, and which new products are creating the biggest buzz?
-
Event risk remains the biggest threat to the world’s economic prospects. But globalization means that, although economic imbalances might persist, the likelihood of a major worldwide correction is low.
-
Ruling on compensation to pension scheme members for failure or underfunding will have implications for regulation and bond markets across the EU, starting with the UK, writes Roger James.
-
Brazil’s investment banks have always been strong competitors in their home market. Now, as the country’s corporates flex their muscles on the global stage, Lawrence White reports on whether banks such as Itaú and Votorantim see themselves as international contenders.
-
As Latin America’s local markets develop strongly, banks are still figuring how best to cover them. Should they buy a target, grow organically or even consider a local tie-up? And which markets should they be present in? Sudip Roy reports.
-
The Argentine local investment bank says it wants to become the region’s number one. It’s a bold aspiration for a firm in a country still recovering from crisis. Lawrence White visits Buenos Aires to find out how the bank plans to do it.
-
M&A, privatizations and the emergence of a new group of investors have helped boost interest and liquidity in the Portuguese equity market. This is tempting some companies to raise capital on the stock exchange. However, some of the biggest potential deals from the government could go elsewhere. Peter Koh reports from Lisbon.
-
Egyptian telecoms group Weather Investments continues its penetration of European markets following the acquisition last month of Greek rival TIM Hellas. The deal comes 18 months after the company, which is 97% owned by Naguib Sawiris, bought Italy’s Wind, which was the largest acquisition in Europe by a Middle East concern.
-
"We lost more money than any other bank during the crisis because of our high profile, and if we speak to the media again at this time we could suffer again. We have worked hard to achieve a lower profile in the press."
-
As is the fate of most technologies, algorithmic trading is spreading from the developed markets to the developing. Mexican broker-dealer Finamex is the latest to catch the bug, announcing on February 20 that it had chosen US-based Progress Software’s Apama platform to offer algorithmic trading to its buy-side customers.
-
Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, has signed a deal with London mayor Ken Livingstone to supply the UK’s capital with cheap oil to help run the city’s buses.
-
Credit Suisse has promoted Ram Nayak and Darren Walker to head its emerging markets group within its fixed income division in London.
-
Blackstone used a rapid-fire trading-style approach in its recent record-breaking LBO. But can we expect disasters comparable to those of the early 1990s?
-
Once the ugly duckling of the FX market, the retail segment is now seen as offering rich pickings from those who position themselves correctly.
-
Some dealers have already suffered from the widening of spreads on the ABX index. Will the problems spread?
-
Sberbank rights issue leaves the market dazed and confused.
-
In their rush to capitalize on infrastructure privatizations, lenders are pushing their risk criteria to the limit.
-
Should prime brokers be supervising their hedge fund clients? Yes appears to be the message sent out by New York bankruptcy court judge Burton Lifland.
-
A shift of depositary receipt issuance to London comes at a time of soaring interest in the asset class in the US.
-
The SEC has launched a probe into allegations that Wall Street firms might be tipping off certain customers, namely hedge funds, before large trades are made by mutual funds, a practice often referred to as "front-running".
-
Investment bankers have been described as masters of the universe before. Now, according to CLSA, they are getting the chance to prove it.
-
A survey by Absolute Return magazine indicates that US hedge fund launches slowed in 2006 – the second year of slowdown in a row.
-
Kotak Mahindra, one of India’s largest financial groups, is launching a fund in the first quarter of this year that offers global institutional investors the possibility of receiving returns above the domestic stock market in a private equity-type offering.
-
It might be cause for concern rather than enthusiasm when a hedge fund goes for a stock market listing.