Organisation

OTP Bank Treasury recently announced that it would restructure its business and change its name, continuing its international money and capital market operations as OTP Global Markets. GlobalCapital talked to managing director Attila Bánfi about the opportunities and challenges that the banking group’s international presence brings.

China Southern Asset Management is in a strong position to capture opportunities in the Mainland’s rapidly growing equity fund market. The rising competition in this segment is only set to push it harder.

The securitization market has come a long way since the financial crisis. In a low interest rate world, capital markets have been an attractive source of funds for companies, who can cut their cost of funds compared to issuing corporate debt while still offering yield hungry bond buyers relatively high returns.

Has change been driven entirely by regulatory compliance or have market forces also played a role?

Clearing Houses collecting margin to manage their counterparty risks is perhaps the central tenet of the G20 plan to de-risk the derivatives market. To work, it depends on collateral moving quickly and efficiently between market participants and clearing houses. Time is tight and delays can have major consequences.

The Asean+3 governments and regulators are maintaining their drive to create standardized bond and note issuance practices. The AMBIF initiatives began in 2014 and were followed by a pilot issue in the Thai baht bond market in 2015. Although there has been a hiatus since then the impetus towards uniformity is as strong as ever.

Stakeholders in Asean+3 multilateral financial institution Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) are set to boost its capital in a significant vote of confidence for CGIF. The additional capital will support expanded deal flows as CGIF builds on its impressive track record since its first credit guarantee facility in 2013. Founded in 2011, with 13 successful deals already completed and many notable milestones achieved, CGIF will in the foreseeable future become self-sustaining as the outstanding bond issues are repaid and guarantee capacity is recycled to new deals.

Europe’s investor prospects are superficially safer due to economic recovery, but elections in Germany and in Italy, especially, present tail-risks. This is a manifestation of deeper uncertainty urging a fresh approach to risk management.

The rating agencies seem overzealous downgrading Chile, as commodity prices have rebounded from their lows and its financing problems are a temporary blip.

There are numerous risks for the government to address as the country prepares to elect a new parliament in September.

The sovereign borrower’s investment grade should be handed back, even allowing for the enforced restructuring of the food producer and retailer.