September 2008

Main

Top stories

Global financial crisis: Banks struggle to put their house in order ... before outsiders do it for them

CEO Roundtable: Global financial crisis, regulation, and rebuilding profitability

Banking

The future of banking: Why banks need to shape up or sell off

UniCredit: Profumo looks to exploit his empire

Inside HSBC’s plan to reconquer China

Best rated banks: Crisis? Bring it on

Credit markets

Credit markets: Why litigation is the next crisis facing the banking industry

Securitization: Can ABS survive the regulators?

Financial institution funding debate

Financial institutions funding debate: Bank funding faces up to the credit crunch

World Bank/IMF

Central Bank Governor of the Year 2008: Outstanding contribution to finance

Central Bank Governor of the Year 2008: Guillermo Ortiz, Mexico

Finance Minister of the Year 2008 Outstanding contribution

Finance Minister of the Year 2008: Xie Xuren, China

Feast and famine as food prices soar

Commodities: Investors plough a new furrow in agri-finance

Country risk September 2008: Money talks in a world of risk

Regional CEO roundtable discussions

Middle Eastern bank management: Expansion remains top of the agenda for confident bank chiefs

Latin American bank management: CEOs focus on home improvement

CEE bank management: Top bankers try to stay bullish on emerging Europe

Debates

Middle East real estate debate: Middle East real estate holds its own in unsteady global markets

African debate: Opening up Africa’s investment potential

Supply chain debate: Why senior management needs to come up to scratch

Prime brokerage debate: How to profit by keeping hedge funds happy

Middle East & Africa

Iran condemns US sanctions as "financial terrorism"

Iran: Privatization Ahmadinejad-style

Can the West Bank spring a surprise?

Middle Eastern bank management: Expansion remains top of the agenda for confident bank chiefs

Foreigners tap Saudi boom through the family

Lebanese banking: Lots more eggs, a few more baskets

Middle East boutiques: New financial institutions get a warm welcome

Syria seeks to underpin economic stability

Damascus is on the road to a stock market sooner or later

Middle East real estate debate: Middle East real estate holds its own in unsteady global markets

Sub-Saharan Africa: Where no banks have been before

Nigeria’s banks outpace political change

African debate: Opening up Africa’s investment potential

Latin America

Esteves looks for his next fortune

Brazilian banks: Santander/Real merger creates new battleground

Latin American bank management: CEOs focus on home improvement

Argentina faces up to a crisis

Emerging Europe

Turkey: It’s about the journey, not the destination

VTB: Primed to be a champion, performing as an also-ran

Russian PE: A bull play in a bear market

ENRC: Kazakh miner needs to show its mettle

Kazakh banking: Marchenko keeps Halyk on the straight and narrow

CEE bank management: Top bankers try to stay bullish on emerging Europe

CEE banking: Is the boom time on hold?

Asia Pacific

Banking: What lies behind China’s opening door?

India’s state-owned banks compete with private firms

Swan is happy, but not all Australians are so impressed

The Philippines: Teves faces up to taxing issues

Bank Indonesia seeks to restore its reputation

East Timor: The world’s most important sovereign wealth fund?

Cambodia’s growl too quiet to be Asia’s next tiger yet

Credit markets news

Infrastructure financing: Banks bridge BAA’s bond exit

Covered bonds: Storm clouds gather over covered bonds

Frequent borrowers: Higher demand for SSA, but second tier pay more

Pfandbriefe: VDP attempts normalcy in abnormal market

Legal: Quicker fix for bondholders

People: New origination role for Lee

Yen bonds: Search for liquidity heads to Japan

Credit market round up: ECB impact muted

Credit market round up: MBIA wraps FGIC

Foreign exchange news

Exchange rates: Sterling has summertime blues

India: Futures get off to modest start in India

China: Travelex gets green light

FX market round up: State Street role for Puth

FX market round up: StanChart takes McDonald away

FX market round up: CLS makes senior hire

Equity markets news

Bank Rights issues: Bradford & Bingley makes three

Exchanges: With Nymex, CME creates a global player

Structured products: Double your guess for retail market’s size

Equity market round up: Adverse market conditions hit IPO pipeline

Alternative investments news

Commodity trading advisers: CTAs put in good performance

Corporate governance: Hedge funds need independent directors

India: Double tax treaties pull private equity into India

Private equity: Lone Star shines through gloom

AI market round up: Asian hedge fund inflows fall

AI market round up: Replicators not capturing beta

AI market round up: Andor shuts down

AI market round up: Basis coughs up

Hedge funds news

Hedge funds: Regulators come up short

Hedge funds: Data

Asia news

Korea: KEB still stuck in limbo

China: Banks play down financial risks

Islamic finance: Indonesia makes Shariah funding breakthrough

Japan: Agency borrowers go their own way

Bangladesh: Telco surprises with country’s biggest-ever IPO

Asia market round up: People moves special

Latin America news

Securitization: Fewer, larger issues keep Mexican ABS markets buoyant

Investment-grade status makes Peru a darling

Brazil: Difficult times are lucrative for debt bankers

Banking: Power shift puts Brazil in the driving seat

Chávez watch: Bank of Venezuela to be nationalized

Latin American market round up: Bradesco teams up with Mitsubishi

Latin American market round up: Butterfield Bank merges with Fulcrum

EEMEA news

Russia: Reminders of the risks as well as rewards

Africa: Sub-Saharan markets lose their glitter

Poland: Private equity still strong

Infrastructure finance: Gulf houses open specialist funds

Investment banking: EFG Hermes extends its international reach

Serbia: Russians eye Serb bank market

Iran: Securitization comes to Iran

Georgia: Paying the price of integrity

EEMEA market round up: VTB adds weight in London

EEMEA market round up: Mint makes restaurant reservation

EEMEA market round up: Record Gulf rights issues

Market leaders

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout: No more free markets in the land of the free

Derivatives: Beijing grapples with an inverted world

Pakistan: Musharraf’s financial legacy

Securitization: Distressed asset buyer beware

Privatization and nationalization: Two models of state capitalism

Banking: Is change as good as a rest?

Gloom descends on emerging markets

Foreigners get Saudi access in swaps

Commodities: Remission not cure

Columns

Editorial: Failure on an epic scale

Abigail Hofman: Abigail and the Confessional

Inside Investment: Agents of change

Against the tide: Will the dollar rally persist?

Front End

Protecting your deposit base: Cash out of reach?

HSBC conference rooms: It’s good to talk, virtually

Universities challenged?

Milking an old joke

Korean networking: No clubbing during downturn, please

Off the record

Quotes of the month