The Banker back issues from June 2007:
Comment: America's Attack-dog Foreign Policy Thrown To The Wolves - Much Work Is Required For The US To Regain A Position Of Moral Authority Required To Take On New Challenges Around The World.
Jun 01, 2007 ... A rethink on foreign policy is overdue and likely at the White House whether by this incumbent or the next. Given the poor results from the US administration's current hard line policies of confrontation, of ignoring international law and going against the consensus style of multilateral ...
Comment: China And Africa's Mutual Back Scratching - A 10-fold Increase In Bilateral Trade Means China Is Set To Eclipse Europe And The US As The Main Foreign Actor In Africa.
Jun 01, 2007 ... China's dynamic growth and thirst for commodities has transformed its relationship with Africa and has also helped revamp Africa's economic direction too. The recent African Development Bank annual meeting in Shanghai highlighted the extraordinary changes in Africa-China relations in the ...
Bracken: Tearing Up The Rules On Retirement - Institutions Specialising In Retirement Provision Are Wrong To Assume That Retirees Will Follow Their Logic, Say Monish Kumar And Andy Maguire.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MONISH KUMAR AND ANDY MAGUIRE It has been impossible to miss that millions of people around the world are heading into longer periods of retirement. Of special interest have been the 77 million US baby boomers but it is equally true in all major economies, which face ...
Viewpoint: Regulator Academy - The Establishment Of A School For Financial Regulation In London Should Attract Students From Around The World Eager To Learn About The UK's Principles-based Oversight Model, Says Mervyn Davies.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MERVYN DAVIES In recent years we have seen the increasing globalisation of financial markets as capital has flowed across borders, while companies' appetites for raising funds in the international capital markets, particularly in Asia, has steadily grown. ...
This Month: Main News - Foreign Firms Lick Lips Over Prospects For South Korea's Asset Management Business.
Jun 01, 2007 ... South Korea is attracting interest in its asset management sector due to the expected enactment of legislation in 2008 that will allow the integration of asset management with other financial services. The Capital Markets Integration Act aims to break down walls separating brokerages, ...
Karina's Kolumn: Quiet Confidence Of A Tight-lipped Brasilero - Given The Economy's Good Health, Brazil's Central Bank Governor Henrique Meirelles Can Afford To Muse On Soya And George Bush. Interview By Karina Robinson.
Jun 01, 2007 ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON Henrique Meirelles has grasped the central bank governor patter with the zeal of a convert. He has been governor of the Banco Central do Brasil for fewer than five years versus 28 years of his working life at various incarnations of BankBoston, now owned ...
Cover Story: Mobile Momentum - The Spread Of Mobile Phone Use Across The Globe Has Given New Impetus To The World Of Mobile Payments. Service Providers In The Vanguard Of This Movement Stand To Make A Fortune But Will Banks Rise To The Challenge, Asks Ste.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL When it comes to gauging trends in banking channels, CEOs just need to do the maths. By 2010 there will be four billion mobile phones globally - almost four times the number of bank accounts. There will be millions of people working overseas funding an ...
The Banker Technology Awards 2007.(Editorial)(Company overview)
Jun 01, 2007 ... - Each year, The Banker's Technology Awards gather entries from around the world and this year was no exception with more than 300 entries covering all regions from Asia, America, Europe and the BRIC economies - a record. The variety of entries has demonstrated that banks worldwide are ...
Financial Centres: Cities Of Gold - What Makes A Successful International Financial Centre? Michael Imeson Reports On The Imperfect Art Of Ascertaining Which World City Is Truly The Greatest.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL IMESON New York City is still the world's leading financial centre, according to a McKinsey report published in January. Oh no it is not, it has just been overtaken by London, says a Z/Yen report published in March. Who should we believe? The McKinsey study was ...
Capital Markets: Agenda - Jim Amine - The Co-head Of Global Leveraged Finance At Credit Suisse Tells Geraldine Lambe That The Leveraged Party Isn't Over Yet And That Targeted Investors Should Cushion A Downturn.(Interview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: GERALDINE LAMBE Since the middle of 2006, pundits have been predicting the turn in the credit cycle; a sell-off is inevitable, they say, because volumes and returns are unsustainable; and surely the leveraged sector in particular is heading for a fall. But it has not ...
Capital Markets: Appetite For Lending Continues To Bite - The Syndicated Loans Market Has Grown Rapidly In Recent Years, Driven Primarily By An Increase In Corporate Takeovers, Private Equity Transactions And Infrastructure Deals. Strong Liquidity Means T.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: JOANNE HART The syndicated loan market used to be the poor relation of the investment banking community. Considered a small step up from straightforward corporate banking, syndicated loan specialists were scorned by most investment bankers, who felt their lines of ...
Capital Markets: Team Of The Month - Tight Window Of Opportunity - A Consortium Including Goldman Sachs Won The Mandate For A Strategic Review And IPO Execution For Turkey's State-owned Halkbank. A Tight Schedule For US Distribution And A Political/religi.(Company overview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: EDWARD RUSSELL-WALLING Even if the Turkish economy could promise investors a smooth ride - and there are certainly no guarantees in that department - Turkish politics would always have a firecracker up its sleeve. Yet the recent initial public offering (IPO) of Halkbank ...
FX & Derivatives: Catering To An Appetite For Instant Gratification - With FXMarketSpace, Reuters And The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Are Targeting Traders' Need For Instantaneous Execution And Clearing. Mark Pelham Reports On The Further Opening Of The F.(Company overview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MARK PELHAM Electronic trading of FX is gaining increasing traction. Consequently, there are increasing numbers of platforms being launched to capture that activity. Most new or updated versions of FX platforms launched over the past 12 months may have hinted ...
Cash & Securities Services: Lost In Transcription - Despite Huge Technological Advances, Firms Still Issue Clunky, Non-standardised Activity Announcements - That Can Be Misinterpreted. Frances Maguire Assesses The Industry's Attempts To Automate The Proce.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: FRANCES MAGUIRE In the fast-moving securities industry of electronic trading and automated pricing, the announcement process of an event initiated by a company that affects its shares - a corporate action - borders on the archaic. At present, corporate action ...
Western Europe: Iceland - Back On An Even Keel - Iceland's Banks Insist They Have Addressed Concerns Raised Over Low Deposit Ratios, A Lack Of Communications And Their Use Of Capital Markets. Silvia Pavoni Reports.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: SILVIA PAVONI Overheating is no longer the principal threat to Iceland's economy. Economists now say that the country's biggest challenge is convincing the markets that current levels of growth are sustainable. Although prime minister Geir Haarde has expressed ...
Western Europe: Turkey - Fears Of Bubble Economy Grow - Early General Elections Are Planned To Calm A Political Crisis And The Economy Is Beginning To Cool Off, Adding To Concerns That Progress Made In Recent Years Could Unravel. Metin Demirsar Reports Fr.(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: METIN DEMIRSAR Turkey is due to hold general elections on July 22, four months ahead of schedule, in the hope of ending a political crisis over who should be the next president of the republic. The crisis threatens to derail the country's fast growing economy and cause ...
Americas: Ecuador - Pragmatism Kicks In - Elected On An Anti-poverty Mandate, Ecuador's Government May Be Clashing With Private Banks Over Microloan Fees But It Accepts The Economy Should Be Capitalist, Underpinned By A Competitive Banking System. Jane Mo.(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: JANE MONAHAN To further his government's leftwing goals, Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has no qualms about commenting on the market operations of the country's 24 commercial banks, six of which - Banco del Pichincha, Banco del Guayaquil, Banco del Pacifico, ...
Middle East & Africa: Qatar - More Than A Gas Success Story - As Its Gas Boom Continues, Qatar Is Attracting Prestigious Financial Institutions Interested In Project Finance And Local Wealth. Stephen Timewell Reports From Doha.(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL The extraordinary thing about Qatar is that no matter how large the wealth and economic potential you believe it might have, the reality is even more astonishing. Although there may have been considerable doubt at the end of the 1990s that Qatar's ...
Middle East & Africa: Qatar - Good Omens Of Upheaval - Qatar's Financial Sector May Be In For A Shake-up As The Country Begins To Fulfil The Potential Offered By Huge Oil Revenues, Writes Stephen Timewell.(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL With gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of more than 11% from 2006 to 2010, and current account surpluses of about 25% of GDP, it would be surprising if banks were not doing well in Qatar; 2006 proved to be ...
Middle East & Africa: Kuwait - Legislative Deadlock Hampers Development - One Of The Richest Gulf States, Parts Of Kuwait's Economy Are Booming, But Politics And Bureaucracy Still Hold Back Growth, Write Nadine Marroushi And Jon Marks.
Jun 01, 2007 ... Byline: NADINE MARROUSHI AND JON MARKS Kuwait's oil-dependent economy has benefited hugely from the crude price boom that has created a huge cash surplus for the government's budget and new business for banks and other corporates. Half a dozen foreign banks are now authorised to ...
Middle East & Africa: Nigeria - Pensions Alter The Landscape - Pension Reforms Are Expected To Transform The Lives Of Nigerians But Capital Markets Need To Be Transformed To Cope With The Accumulation Of Liquidity Created As A Result. Nick Kochan Reports.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: NICK KOCHAN The economics are as dramatic as the implications for structure and markets: Nigeria is set for a pensions explosion, which will throw up vast sums of liquidity. Urgent changes in the capital markets are required to absorb this liquidity. The challenge to ...
Middle East & Africa: Nigeria - Bond Markets Walk Tall - Primary And Secondary Nigerian Government Bond Markets Are Undergoing Structural Change With Bond Indices Serving As Economic Benchmarks. Nick Kochan And Dapo Olagunjo Explain.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: NICK KOCHAN AND DAPO OLAGUNJO The resurgence in Nigeria's domestic sovereign debt instruments dates back to 2000, when the Debt Management Office (DMO) was created to co-ordinate the management of Nigeria's debt. This was previously performed by several organisations, ...
Retail Banking: Retail Model Nets Cross Sales Success - By Adopting Practices More Akin To The Retail Industry, Two US Banks Are Being Hailed As Models For Boosting Cross-sales Rates. Tony Gandy Reports On Their Winning Formulae.
Jun 01, 2007 ... Byline: TONY GANDY In the late 1990s and early 2000s, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on individual customer relationship management projects did not faze big banks. The hope was that by understanding the customer better and putting this information into the hands of ...
Technology: Shaping Tomorrow - The Long Tail Of Banking - The Global Availability Of Mobile Phone Technology Means That Banks Have The Ability To Make Profits From Facilitating Millions Of Tiny Transactions By The Previously Unbanked. By Chris Skinner.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: CHRIS SKINNER Last year, there was a big buzz about a book by Chris Anderson called The Long Tail, which describes the phenomenon of internet retailing. The concept is that traditional shops have a physical limit on shelf capacity so, for example, a music store can only ...
Embracing Change: Regulations - Regulation For Harmony - Since 1999, The EU Has Been Working On Its Plan For An Integrated Market System. MiFID, A Key Part Of The Financial Services Action Plan, Is Another Step In The Right Direction.(Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: JULES STEWART In less than six months' time, another key building block in the EU's drive to create a single market for financial services will have been put in place. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), due to come into force on 1 ...
Embracing Change: SEPA - Getting Into The Right Mindset - Corporates Should Start Factoring The Single Euro Payments Area Into Their Plans Now So That Any Changes To Internal Financial Processes Do Not Need To Be Re-engineered When Europe's New Harmonised.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: NAVEED SULTAN In his book on globalisation, The World is Flat, US business writer Thomas Friedman reminds us that computers had only a gradual impact on business in the 1980s. Firms invested millions of dollars in IT systems but the returns were slow to materialise. Only ...
Embracing Change: Clearing & Settlement - Market Practice Harmonisation - Clive Triance, Head Of Securities And Fund Services And Direct Custody And Clearing, Europe, Middle East And Africa, At Citi, Tells Heather McKenzie How The EU Clearing And Settleme.(Interview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: HEATHER MCKENZIE Q. The European Central Bank says the EU lacks an efficient, integrated securities infrastructure to support the operation of a single financial market. How can such an infrastructure be built? A. There is an enormous drive among the public ...
This Month: Something Stirring In Japan's Unassuming Banking Sector.(Editorial)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRIAN CAPLEN, EDITOR With Japan's economy underperforming for so long it is easy to forget that it boasts three of the world's 10 largest banks (by Tier 1 capital) and that its regional banks are significant players in their own right. They could be even larger after ...
This Month: News - UniCredit/Capitalia Talks.(merger of UniCredit Banca Mobiliare with Capitalia Banking Group)
Jun 01, 2007 ... Italy's UniCredit and Capitalia have announced they are in talks on a possible merger. A deal would create Italy's largest banking group with a vast retail network and combined value of about 100bn ($136bn). UniCredit would benefit from Capitalia's strong presence in the south of Italy ....
This Month: The Bottom Line - US Banks Make Money As Sun Sets On The Economy.
Jun 01, 2007 ... Once again four of the top five US banks have bucked the trend with continued profit growth in the first quarter of 2007 compared with the same quarter last year at a time when the economy is finally showing signs of the much- predicted slowdown. Citi is the exception as it ...
This Month: Reports - IIF Suggests Asian Growth Has Peaked While An EFMA Report Assesses The International Domination Of The CEE Region.(Institute of International Finance Report, Central and Eastern European Banking Study 2007)(Report)
Jun 01, 2007 ... IIF REPORT ASIAN REGIONAL ECONOMIC OVERVIEW After strengthening every year since 2001 from a low of 6% to a high of 8.6% in 2006, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the leading emerging markets in Asia is set to ease slightly to 8.2% in 2007, ...
Capital Markets: Issuer Strategy - Tight Funding Levels, Higher Volumes - A $3bn Global Bond, A 5bn Benchmark Deal - And The Year Is Barely Half Started. Edward Russell-Walling Reports On KfW's Labours.(Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau)(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: EDWARD RUSSELL-WALLING As perhaps the most admired of all agency borrowers, Germany's Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) has not failed to impress with its 2007 issuance so far. It has achieved its tightest-ever funding level in euros and a record volume in one of its ...
Capital Markets: Taking Issue - China's Goldilocks Economy Could Be A Threat To The World; The Risk Of Holding PIK Notes May Be Underestimated; And Rabobank Reaps The Rewards Of A Radical Approach To Funding. Brian Caplen Reports.(payment in kind)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRIAN CAPLEN Is the private equity boom a result of the Asian savings glut? The Chinese current account surplus was $250bn in 2006 and is heading for $375bn this year. Foreign reserves hit $1200bn in the first three months of this year. This provides "a base level of ...
Western Europe: Turkey - Full Steam Ahead For Consumer Loan Sector - Foreign Investment Continues Flowing Into Turkey's Financial System, And Consumer Banking And Financing Of Small And Medium-sized Enterprises Are Becoming Major Business Lines For The Co.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: METIN DEMIRSAR Buoyed by an expansion in foreign investment, a strong local currency and an influx of external funds, the assets of the Turkish banking system increased 28.5% to a record high of Tl500bn ($350bn) in 2006, according to the Banking Regulation and ...
Central & Eastern Europe: PKO's Headache - Poland's Largest Bank, The State- owned PKO, Is Operating Without A Head While The Ruling Party Searches For A 'suitable' CEO. Jan Cienski Reports From Warsaw.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: JAN CIENSKI There is an increasingly fierce war being waged for Polish banking customers - small and medium-sized banks are battling for the booming mortgage market while banks ranging from Greece's Polbank EFG to US-based Citi are planning rapid expansion - but the ...
Asia: Japan - Fears Of A Free-for-all - Japan's Distinctly Tiered Banking System Could Change Dramatically If Local Government Reform Goes Ahead, And Regional Banks Are Worried By The Potential Threat That A Privatised Postal Savings Bank Could Pose. Char.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: CHARLES SMITH It is well-known that Japan's banking system almost came apart in 2000-02, when the nation's top 10 banks ran up bad loans of $8900bn and threatened to trigger a systemic crisis that could have spread to the rest of the world. What is less well known is ...
Top 100 Chinese Banks: Mighty Flotations Switch Leader Podium Placings - Following Successful IPOs By ICBC And Bank Of China In 2006, The Two Banks Return To The Gold And Silver Positions In This Year's Listing. Terry Baker- Self Reports.(Statistical data)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: TERRY BAKER-SELF This issue sees the publication of The Banker's second Top 100 banks in China listing following on from the expansion of our original Top 50 listing to a Top 100 last year. Information was obtained as part of The Banker's annual Top 1000 World Banks ...
Americas: Figures Of Uncertainty - Argentina's Economy Is Powering Ahead But It Comes At The Price Of Old-fashioned Price Controls And, It Is Alleged, The Manipulation Of Unwelcome Economic Data. Karina Robinson Reports From Buenos Aires.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON The esoteric world of statistics in Argentina is a hot topic. At INDEC, the national statistics and censuses bureau, tales abound of guns and bodyguards; photocopiers being used to prepare early data for the commerce ministry and manipulated data. ...
Americas: Argentina - Making A Profit During A Crisis - Local Medium-sized Banks Have Used The Risky Times Of Argentina's Financial Crisis To Put Their Growth And Expansion Strategies Into Action. Karina Robinson Reports From Buenos Aires.(Industry overview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON "Business is about the successful exploitation of risk, not the avoidance of risk," Douglas Flint, group finance director of UK-headquartered bank HSBC, told The Banker in an interview a few months ago. The problem for large global banks such ...
Middle East & Africa: Kuwait - Enter The Challengers - Competition Remains Controlled But Foreign Players Are Finally Getting Their Feet In The Door, Adding Healthy Variety To Kuwait's Banking Sector, Writes Nadine Marroushi.(Industry overview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: NADINE MARROUSHI National Bank of Kuwait has evolved into a conglomerate with global reach that continues to dominate Kuwait with the largest market share by assets, but as the door pushes open to greater liberalisation, NBK and Kuwait's other large traditional banks no ...
Technology: Risk And Compliance In The Same Orbit - Heather McKenzie Reports On The Factors Forcing Financial Companies To Place Regulatory Compliance In The Risk Management Sphere.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: HEATHER MCKENZIE Regulators are driving the risk management agenda, according to a survey on risk management published by Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC) in March. Two- thirds of those surveyed cited regulatory pressures as the main driver of change in their risk ...
Technology: Tech Vision - Ron Van Wezel A- The New Chairman Of Mobey Forum Talks To Stephen Timewell About The Future Of Facilitating Payments Using A Mobile Phone.(Interview)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL Q. Mobey Forum was established to encourage the use of mobile technology in financial services. What is its current strategy? A. First of all, there is our core business: to be an independent, global, not-for-profit organisation for ...
Technology: How To Foil Cyber Bank Robbers - Rekha Menon Reports On The Ruses Used By Hackers To Steal From Online Banking Users And The Relatively Successful Industry Response.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: REKHA MENON Late last year, in what was probably the world's biggest instance of online fraud, cyber-criminals stole about SKr10m (1m) from Swedish customers of leading Scandinavian bank Nordea. The hackers fraudulently obtained customer login details through a ...
Regulation: No Ifs Or Butts For The City's Smokers - Smoking In Enclosed Public Spaces, Including Offices, Is About To Be Made A Criminal Offence In England. The Move Is Welcomed In Many Quarters, But Employers Whose Employees Break The Law Will Be Liable.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL IMESON What is it? Under the Health Act 2006, from July 1 this year smoking in enclosed public buildings and workplaces in England will become a criminal offence. The main targets are pubs, clubs and restaurants, but the law covers virtually all ...
Embracing Change: Introduction - Business Models Must Evolve - Regulation Aims To Promote Greater Stability And Improve Efficiency That Should Be Embraced. Institutions That Revisit Their Business Models To Create New Opportunities Will Succeed In The Glo.
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: FRANCESCO VANNI D'ARCHIRAFI A survey of finance leaders anywhere in the world would probably show that increasingly complex regulation and growing competition are the two main issues that they have to contend with at present. In the past 20 years, the ...
Embracing Change: MiFID - MiFID Spawns New Execution Venues - Investment Firms Preparing For MiFID Are Getting Ready To Seize The Commercial Advantages. Alternative Trading And Market Data Platforms Are Being Created To Challenge The Supremacy Of The Esta.(Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
Jun 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL IMESON The aim of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is to shake up Europe's investment services industry and make it more efficient, competitive and dynamic. The shake-up is already happening, even though the directive does not comes into ...