North America

China’s support for Russia is part of its strategy to reduce the world’s dependence on the greenback – might it work?

Altrata’s report is a fascinating study of the world’s billionaires and finds the 1% now has its own 1%.

By hiring two private bankers from outside the industry to power its Asia family-office business, Citi offers further proof that its peers should take its ambitious regional wealth management plans seriously.

Banks want to capitalize on the surge in green capex borrowing as corporates rush to decarbonize. Cost inflation has increased the risks involved but not the long-term benefit of carbon reduction.

As investors and dealers struggle with inflation levels not seen for 40 years, the only good news is that markets are still functioning… for now.

Markets are trading interest-rate expectations over actual rate decisions – proving the power of market sentiment.

By making Valentin Valderrabano COO of Citi Global Wealth, the US bank demonstrates its willingness to think outside the box when promoting from within.

With the US Federal Reserve apparently keen to step up the pace of interest-rate rises over the coming months, it is not just emerging market currencies that are expected to suffer.

Euromoney speaks to Benjamin Seal, vice-president of treasury at US-based Cenveo, about how accurate cash forecasting has helped to address the supply-chain challenges posed by the global pandemic.

A new approach to crypto derivatives could signal big structural shifts for traditional financial derivatives away from intermediaries and central clearing.

Euromoney hit the road in style during April, driving for eight hours in the snow to cover one story.

The US government’s case against Archegos Capital sets up a contest to guess which of the fund’s prime brokers was the most gullible at any given time. To keep the game interesting, the answer might not always be Credit Suisse.

As their involvement in fintech matures, large banks are focusing on building standalone digital businesses rather than just taking stakes in third-party startups through venture capital funds and accelerators. Can these new in-house ventures disprove the thesis that incumbent banks can’t create disruptive business models?

The first three months of the year have been tough for many investment banking business lines, but Europe’s banks are putting up a good fight against the might of the US firms.

Rate increases in major economies away from the US, as central banks battle spiralling inflation, have weakened the momentum the dollar might otherwise have garnered from a hawkish Fed.

In frozen far northern Alberta, Euromoney meets perhaps the world’s least likely sovereign wealth fund, investing compensation settlement money for Canada’s Little Red River Cree Nation. It is rigorous, disciplined and sophisticated, and reminds us that sustainable finance has been around for centuries.

Credit intelligence specialist OakNorth is working with a consortium of US banks to assess physical and transition climate risk in loan portfolios. The motivation for the banks is clear: self-preservation in the face of growing climate-related disruption.

Credit Suisse is making heavy work of meeting its obligations under a 2017 RMBS settlement with the US Department of Justice. If it wants to make real progress, it will have to bite the bullet soon.

Treasurers need to reassess their approach to interest-rate hedging as monetary policy on either side of the Atlantic continues to diverge.

Aggregate investment banking and markets revenues fell 12% at the big five US investment banks in the first quarter of 2022. Their chief executives were confident that dealflow will return, but were also united in their uncertainty over how central bank responses to inflation will play out in markets.

While Amundi’s new ECM desk seeks the best investor roles from lead banks, Bernstein Research sees the chance for a new kind of ECM business.

Global capital markets deal volumes have fallen not just from their pandemic highs but also from the start of 2019. Undaunted, bankers remain upbeat about prospects. While aggregate activity is down, the detailed picture is certainly more nuanced.

When a group of leading banks were unable to source the roubles needed to deliver in settlement of FX swaps, compression trades saved the day. The episode serves to highlight how fragile very large, complex and interconnected financial markets have become.

Sovereign wealth funds, other investors and banks will soon have to use cryptocurrencies to buy equity in companies building the decentralized web.

Explore Euromoney’s infographic on activity by special purpose acquisition companies over the last two years.

Higher yields and better protections compared with public bonds draw buyers to private placements even as investors cut duration and credit spreads widen.

The last big Wall Street broker-dealer has had a spectacular run in the last 20 years. It now wants to build ‘the best world-class global investment bank’.

Jane Fraser can front Citi’s investor day with good news about consumer divestments in Asia. It is hard to see a Russia sale now, though.

Wyoming is wild, rugged and libertarian. It is now also America’s leading crypto state, home to thriving digital asset banks like Avanti, run by Wall Street veteran Caitlin Long. Can these young firms now get much-prized master accounts with the Federal Reserve?

Energy price volatility driven by war in Ukraine could deliver a windfall to banks such as Goldman Sachs that retain scale in commodity trading. Profits from dealing can also be made without triggering ESG or sanctions-related pain.