The Banker back issues from September 2007:
This Month (September 2007): Down-to-earth Analysis Of A world In A Flap.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRIAN CAPLEN "World Bank in a spin" is the headline of this month's cover story but it could just have easily read "IMF in a spin" or, given the disruruption in the markets, "world in a spin". The Bretton Woods institutions face a huge challenge finding their ...
Comment: Damn The Purists, Greater Good Demands Central Bank Intrusion - Government Intervention May Let The Financially Reckless Off The Hook But It Can Also Prevent The Wider Economy From Collapsing.
Sep 01, 2007 ... How long will it last? How low will it go? However much analysts bemoan excess leverage, financial chicanery and loose lending, it still seems to be the case that the global financial system is more robust and more versatile than in previous crises. What is more, central banks seem better ...
Comment: Hypocrisy Over Sovereign Wealth Funds - Given Current Regulations Regarding SWFs, The US And EU Have No Right To Attack Emerging Economies On How They Invest.
Sep 01, 2007 ... The growing influence of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and their increased willingness to flex their investment muscle has led to much gnashing of teeth among politicians, pundits and economists. Whether it be Clay Lowery, acting undersecretary for international affairs at the ...
Bracken: Appealing To The MySpace Generation - Web-based Social Networking Is Coming To Banking, And Marketeers Must Learn To Talk To Exploit It, Writes Marian Salzman.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: MARIAN SALZMAN While all of commerce is experiencing an unprecedented acceleration of change that is shaking business to its core, the banking industry faces more top-to- bottom change than almost any other sector. Banking is in total evolution. The ...
Market Crisis: Central Banks Are 'suckers' - The Markets Are In Uproar And Central Banks Are Stepping In To Try To Bring About Calm. But Should They? Or Should Banks Get Their Just Punishment For Wreckless Lending? Dick Bove, An Analyst With Investment Ba.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: DICK BOVE In the past five years, the debt markets worldwide have changed dramatically. These changes can be ascribed to a number of factors. First, there has been a shift in the control of money. After the Second World War, the only convertible currency in ...
This Month: News - HSBC Enters Talks To Emerge As Frontrunner In The Race To Acquire Korea Exchange Bank.(Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd.)
Sep 01, 2007 ... HSBC has entered negotiations to buy a 51% stake in Korea Exchange Bank from US private equity group Lone Star for more than $5bn. The deal might depend on the outcome of a court case related to Lone Star's acquisition of the stake in 2003, which last year prevented the private ...
This Month: News - French Brokering Merger.(Societe Generale Banka A.S. mergers with Calyon)
Sep 01, 2007 ... French banks Societe Generale and Calyon have agreed to merge their brokerage activities carried out by their respective units, Fimat and Calyon Financial. The new entity, to be called Newedge, will focus its activities in the derivatives market and is expected to start operations in early ...
This MOnth: News - Standard's Islamic Route.(Turkish Bank)(briefs)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Emerging markets specialist Standard Chartered has announced plans to expand its Islamic finance products offering to Africa and India. The bank is present with current accounts and other sharia-compliant products in five markets and has recently launched credit cards in the United Arab ...
This Month: News - Top 1000 Corrections.(Correction notice)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Credit Agricole has informed The Banker that the Tier 1 capital figure supplied and used in good faith in the July 2007 Top 1000 had not had goodwill deducted as is required in the calculation of Tier 1 capital. Its Tier 1 capital figure should have been $53.124bn which would have placed ...
This Month: New - Top 1000 Clarification.(Correction notice)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Both Chang Hwa Commercial Bank and Taishin International Bank from Taiwan do not appear in the Top 1000 as their holding company, Taishin Financial Holding Company, submitted consolidated figures for the group this year. It should be stressed that both banks are ...
This Month: People - Morgan Stanley to offer Carbon Bank service.(appointments)(Brief article)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Taking advantage of clients' demand for carbon neutral strategies, Simon Greenshields, managing director and global head of power at Morgan Stanley, will oversee the development of a "Carbon Bank" service. Credit Suisse has appointed not one but five relationship managers to ...
This Month: The Bottom Line - Foreign Bankers Impressed With Egypt's Reform Process.
Sep 01, 2007 ... National Bank of Kuwait's (NBK) winning tender bid last month to buy Egypt's Al-Watany Bank for $516m reflects not only NBK's regional expansion strategy but also growing confidence in the Egyptian banking system. Well aware of the 70 million-plus relatively unbanked market, ...
This Month: Reports - Aite Group Reports On US Banks' Small Business Strategies While The Microfinance Information Exchange Unveils Benchmarks.
Sep 01, 2007 ... AITE GROUP SMALL-BUSINESS STRATEGIES OF THE 30 LARGEST US BANKS The report, Small-Business Strategies of the 30 Largest US Banks: Closing the Gap Between Bank Offerings and Customer Needs, analyses the greater focus large US banks are placing on small businesses, and the ...
Karina's Kolumn: A Wagging Finger And A Sharp Tongue - Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Has A Lot Of Support And Criticism As He Faces Huge Challenges In His Second Term. Karina Robinson Reports.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON Colonel Aureliano Buendia, the main protagonist in Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez's epic One Hundred Years of Solitude, is described as "lost in the solitude of his immense power". He realises that he has won and lost the many wars of his ...
Cover Story: World Bank In A Spin - Against A Backdrop Of Change At The Top Of Both The World Bank And The IMF, Jane Monahan Reports On How The Two Institutions Are Responding To Changing Demands In A Global Economy And Their Efforts To Remain Relevant.(International Monetary Fund )
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: JANE MONAHAN The World Bank and the IMF, two of the world's leading multilateral organisations, are struggling with issues of credibility and relevance and adapting to a global economy, by the admission of top officials in both organisations. The two institutions, ...
Liquidity Risk: The Weakest Link - As Stock Markets Wobble, Bank Capital Ratios Come Under Increasing Scrutiny. But Perhaps This Is The Wrong Tack And Instead Liquidity Is A Better Way Of Determining A Bank's Stability. The Banker Asked Rating Agency DBRS.(Company rankings)
Sep 01, 2007 ... At a time when analysts, regulators, rating agencies, and other market observers focus more than ever on capital adequacy as the principle line of defence against troubles in the banking industry - spurred by the lengthy Basel II debate - it is liquidity that remains the soft underbelly of ...
Pakistan's Central Bank Governor: A New Paradigm - Pakistan Is Implementing A New Development Paradigm For The Country's Banking Sector With The Aim Of Bringing The Country's Poor And Rural Population Into The System, Writes Dr Shamshad Akhtar.(Company rankings)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: DR SHAMSHAD AKHTAR Best performing in Asia, Pakistan's banks are dynamic and thriving. Their combined profitability for 2006 reached $1.4bn (relative to a loss of $48m in 2000), return on equity and assets are in the range of 24.2% and 2.1%, respectively, and ...
Capital Markets: Public Versus Private Equity Markets - Is The Growth Of Private Placements At The Expense Of Public Equity Offerings In The US A Temporary Phenomenon Or Does It Signal A More Significant Shift Away From Public Scrutiny? And, Asks Geraldin.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: GERALDINE LAMBE In 2006, for the first time, more equity capital was raised by private placements than by initial public offerings (IPOs) on the three largest US stock exchanges. Public equity offerings on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq and the American Stock ...
Think Tank: Partnering For Success - True Partnership With An International Bank Is The Way Forward For Companies That Want To Leverage Local, Regional And Global Advantages, Writes Michael Guralnick.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL GURALNICK Convergence and globalisation are the buzzwords across different industries, whether that be in the technology, media and telecoms, healthcare, aviation or automotive sectors. Corporations today are looking for end-to-end solution engineering ...
Thailand's Minister Of Finance: Asians Must Act In Unison - Chalongphob Sussangkarn Took Over As Thailand's Minister Of Finance In March, Following The Resignation Of His Predecessor Pridiyathorn Devakula. A Former President Of Independent Economic Think-.(Interview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: SIMON MONTLAKE Q. Thailand's economy appears to be slowing down. What is the outlook for the rest of the year? A. I think we've already passed the bottom. At the start of the year, both fiscal and monetary policies didn't contribute enough to stimulating the ...
African Bonds: In Search Of The Right Recipe - Banks Are Trying To Open Up The Bond Markets In Sub-Saharan Africa And One Idea Being Floated Is For Governments To Work Together To Raise Multi-issuer Bonds. But Are The IMF And Aid Donors Standing In The Wa.(Market overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: NIGEL DUDLEY Northern and southern Africa have been able to tap the international bond markets in recent years, raising money that has helped to develop and modernise their economies and creating a yield curve that makes it possible for corporates to borrow, too. But so ...
ICBC Chairman: A Big Leap For A Chinese Giant - ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing Talks To The Banker About The Chinese Market, The Bank's Recent Growth And Its Long-term Strategy To Become An International Player.(Interview)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: JIANG JIANQING Q. Following your successful $21.9bn initial public offering (IPO) last year, ICBC is now the biggest bank in China and the seventh largest bank in the world, according to The Banker's Top 1000 listing. What is ICBC's domestic strategy and what are your ...
Environment: GREEN Light For Sustainability - Cynics Argue That Banks' New- found Green Credentials Are Primarily About Protecting Market Share, While Banks Argue That Without The Latter There Is Unlikely To Be A Commitment To The Former. Neil Tyler Finds.(Company overview)
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: NEIL TYLER Leading institutions want to be seen as being environmentally and ethically aware and as a result are making efforts to improve their environmental credentials. Consumers too are looking at the track records of banks before deciding to open accounts or invest ...
IIF 25th Anniversary: Nurturing A Public Private Partnership - On Its 25th Anniversary, The Institute Of International Finance Is Well Placed To Facilitate A New World Order Involving The Sharing Of Responsibility For Global Financial Stability Between Mu.(International organization overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: DR JOSEF ACKERMANN AND CHARLES H DALLARA Twenty five years ago, Mexico suspended payments on its foreign debt, ushering in almost a decade of crisis. Hundreds of banks had loans outstanding to Latin American sovereign debtors - loans that threatened their very solvency - ...
Italian Credit Co-operatives: Strong Ties Help Small Fry Survive - In Some Of Italy's Communes, A Credit Co-operative Is The Only Bank. David Lane Reports From Rome On The Continuing Attraction Of These Small Institutions To Their Italian Customers.(Industry overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: DAVID LANE There is not much to Loreggia, a small well-banked town about 15 miles from the Italian city of Padua, whose 6000 inhabitants can choose between four different banks. The Banca di Credito Cooperativo (BCC) dell'Alta Padovana, a 27-branch co-operative founded ...
India's Small Banks: Savvy Private Banks Snap At Heels Of State Stalwarts - India's Smaller, Fast-growing Private Banks, With Their Healthy Loan Books, Dynamic Managers And The Latest Technology, Are The Banks To Watch, Says Kala Rao.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: KALA RAO Fifteen years after India began unshackling private enterprise as part of economic liberalisation, the remarkable resurgence in the country's private banks is visible on city streets. In most large cities, crowds throng at cash machines in railway stations, ...
Islamic Finance In London: Room For More Sharia Compliance - A New Islamic Bank Has Opened For Business In London, Bringing The Number Of Standalone, Wholly Islamic Banks In The UK To Three. Is The Market Big Enough? Michael Imeson Reports.(Industry overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL IMESON Islamic banking may be only a minor force on the European financial scene, but it is growing in importance, as shown by the launch in July of Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME). The new sharia-compliant institution, based in Cannon Street in the ...
Islamic Finance In London: The City Makes A Head Start For Hub Status - The Market For Islamic Banking Is Forecast To Grow At Double The Rate That Conventional Wholesale Banking Will Grow In The Next Five Years. Unsurprisingly, Banking Centres Around The.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: NATASHA DE TERAN A recent McKinsey & Company study estimated that the Islamic banking industry would grow at a rate of at least 20% between now and 2012 - at least twice as fast as the rate for conventional wholesale banking. The statistics are promising but they are not ...
Risk Specialist: Why London Should Learn To Love Brussels - High Standards Of Governance Will Be Essential To Convince Local Investors To Participate In The Regional Financial Centres That Are Springing Up Around The World. And London Looks Set To Benefit.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRANDON DAVIES Worldwide, financial architecture is changing. The growth of new financial centres is universal (for example, Mumbai, Shanghai, Bahrain, Dubai) and many established centres are rapidly expanding the scope of their business, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and ...
Corporate Governance: CZARs Chew Over Coming Clean - While Some Eastern European Mega Companies Are Improving Corporate Governance And Listing Abroad, Others Are Moving Back Closer To The State. Ben Aris Explains.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BEN ARIS "In the past, Ukraine was famous for making rockets, but the advantages of implementing good corporate governance is not rocket science," says Roman Vodolazskyy, the chief financial officer of System Capital Management (SCM), the biggest industrial conglomerate ...
Project Finance: Plenty Of Room For Derivatives In Project Finance Space - Large Numbers Of Energy And Infrastructure Projects Across The Globe Have Been Funded Through The Use Of Project Finance, Opening Up Established And Emerging Economies To New Forms.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: NATASHA DE TERAN Project finance deals seem to be so fraught with risk that the uninitiated might suppose the deals are routinely laced with derivatives and backed by multiple hedging programmes. In fact, this is far from the truth. Simon Elliston, head of European ...
Western Europe: Turkey - Co-operative Assistance For A Neglected Region - Metin Demirsar In Istanbul Reports On The Turkey-based Eurasian Zone Trade And Development Bank - Ecobank - Due To Go Live In December With $650m In Capital.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: METIN DEMIRSAR The Economic Co-operation Organisation Trade and Development Bank (ECO Trade and Development Bank, or Ecobank), a regional development bank aimed at financing industrial development, infrastructure projects and foreign trade in the vast Eurasia zone, will ...
Central & Eastern Europe: Macedonia - Bridge Building In The Balkans - Societe Generale Has Added To Its Balkan Synergies With The Purchase Of Macedonia's Ohridska Banka - But Local Banks Are Efficient And Profits Are By No Means A Certainty. Eric Jansson.(Societe Generale Alsacienne de Banque)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: ERIC JANSSON Balkan bank acquisitions are no longer novel, following the flurry of takeovers by major European banks seen in the region since 2000. But the way Societe Generale has just swept into the Republic of Macedonia, a new Balkan market for Europe's biggest ...
Central & Eastern Europe: Armenia - The Quiet Success Story - Under The Oversight Of The Central Bank, Armenia Has Boomed And Now Foreign Banks Are Circling For A Piece Of The Action. Ben Aris Reports.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BEN ARIS Over the past six years, Armenia's economy has been booming. It sports one of the best legislative bases in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and enjoys a regular stream of money sent home by an army of Armenians working abroad. Largely ignored by foreign ...
Central & Eastern Europe: Top 100 CE Banks - Pole Positions For Polish And Hungarian Leaders - Our Listing Reveals That Retail Continues To Drive Banking Sector Growth, While Low Household Credit Levels Remain Enticing To Western European Institutions.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Our listing of the Top 100 banks in Central Europe is again headed by the same two banks as last year, namely OTP Bank (National Savings and Commercial Bank) from Hungary and the majority state-owned PKO Bank Polski. 2006 was a quieter year for OTP on the acquisition front as it was ...
Asia: Japan - Looking To A Greater Overseas Presence - After The Bunker Mentality Of The Early 2000s, When Some Banks Sold Off Almost All Their Overseas Assets, Japan's Big Banks Are Increasingly Turning Their Attentions Abroad. Charles Smith Reports.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: CHARLES SMITH Japanese banks are coming back. Between the early 1990s, when they were still regarded as world beaters, and 2003, the year that marked the crux of domestic non-performing loan crisis, overseas loan exposure by the top eight Japanese banks (since merged ...
Asia: Japanese Reits - Dampened Growth In The Property Fund Market - To Realise Their Potential, Japanese Real Estate Investment Trusts Need Both Consolidation And To Be Granted A Freer Hand By Regulators, Says Charles Smith.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: CHARLES SMITH Japan was toppled this year by China as the world's largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, but it still ranks near the head of most of the world's league tables of accumulated wealth. Notable among its claims to distinction are the Y1,400,000bn ...
Asia: Mongolia - The Russians Are Coming - Chingis Gombosuren In Ulaanbaatar Reports On Russian Oligarchs' Sudden Appetite For Mongolian Banks.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: CHINGIS GOMBOSUREN Mongolia used to be considered one of the most remote places on earth. So far from western Europe and the US that is was hardly considered, except for the occasional documentary here and there. After 300 years of Chinese rule and 70 years as a Soviet ...
Asia Top 200 Asian Banks: Tigers Show How To Weather Market Storms - Our Rankings Reveal No Evidence Of A Bursting Asian Bubble As China, And India To A Lesser Extent, Power Onwards.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Buoyant global economics in 2006 were reflected in the Asian economies and the performance of the Top 200 Asian banks in our latest listing. With the two "Tiger" economies, China and India, continuing to forge ahead, the region saw increased growth in both corporate and personal lending. ...
Americas: Mexico - Mexico Plays Catch-up - The Banking System Promises Huge Profits Potential In The Next Few Years As Players Plan Growth Strategies In A Bid To Catch Up With The Rest Of Latin America. Brian Caplen Reports From Mexico City.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRIAN CAPLEN Mexico is set to be one of the world's most profitable banking markets during the next few years. For almost a decade following the mid-1990s financial crisis, Mexico limped along virtually without a functioning banking system, as banks worked out bad loans ...
Americas: Mexico - Tax Make Or Break - Brian Caplen Reports On Mexico's Plans To Build On Its Financial Stability And Raise Pitiful Tax Take Levels.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: BRIAN CAPLEN Economists have spent years studying debt crises in emerging markets only to see their prey become close to extinct. Now, however, they have a new quarry to track - let us call it the emerging market revenue crisis, in which Mexico is out front with both ...
Americas: Colombia - Foreign Banks Circle Overhead - Colombia's Security And Economic Situation Has Improved To The Extent That Foreign Banks Are Looking For Takeover Targets. Karina Robinson Reports From Bogota And Medellin.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON Colombia's local banking groups have protected their turf from foreign banks this century, partially through the existence of a highly dangerous security situation which made investing large amounts of money in this particular Latin American emerging ...
Americas: Venezuela - Playing Ball With Chavez - Banks That Co-operate With Venezuela's Government Can Make Good Profits, But Some Fear A Total Takeover Of The Banking System Is The True Game Plan. John Rumsey Explains.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JOHN RUMSEY Posters of the stout, stern president Hugo Chavez and his favourite slogans dot Caracas, with the stirring "Motherland! Socialism or death", a particular favourite of his. A key part of the drive to implement 21st-century socialism entails overhauling the ...
Middle East & Africa: Birth Of A UAE Champion - Stephen Timewell In Dubai Reports On The Mould-breaking Merger Plans Of The UAE's First And Fourth Largest Banks.(Emirates Bank International Ltd. merger with National Bank of Dubai (Abu Dhabi))
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL It is always hot in the Gulf in August but the release of detailed plans of the recommended mega-merger between Emirates Bank International (EBI) and National Bank of Dubai (NBD) has raised the temperature in banking circles even higher. But it is not ...
Middle East & Africa: UAE - Getting On With The Neighbours - Stephen Timewell Reports On The Fruits Of A New Found Spirit Of Co-operation Between Dubai And Abu Dhabi.(Dubai World partnership with MGM Mirage)(joint venture between Dubai and Abu Dhabi for airport construction and industrial zone)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: STEPHEN TIMEWELL Demonstrating Dubai's dynamism on the global stage, Dubai World, the government's holding company, last month agreed a long-term strategic partnership including a $5bn investment with MGM Mirage, the world's second largest casino operator. At the same ...
Carbon Trading: Including Africa - Jean-Louis Ekra Explains Why Afreximbank Has Introduced A Carbon Financing Programme.(African Export-Import Bank)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JEAN-LOUIS EKRA Global concerns about climate change due to unsustainable emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) have led to concerted efforts to deal with the problem. On February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol came into force involving 165 countries. Countries that ratify ...
Offshore Centres: Pips Squeak As Screws Tighten - The OECD Is Stepping Up Efforts To Force Offshore Jurisdictions To Toe Its Line On Information Sharing And Taxation. But As Nick Kochan Reports, Smaller Jurisdictions Resent Being Targeted While OECD Membe.(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development tries to fignt against offshor countries tax systems)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: NICK KOCHAN Pressure is building on the global offshore system to conform with on-shore standards of information sharing, or risk being frozen out of the financial community. The threats are familiar, but they come with added ferocity as mainstream regimes take desperate ...
Sustainable Finance Expert: Mind The Value Gap - In India, Long-term Value Is Being Left On The Table As Environmental, Social And Governance Issues Are Ignored. But These Issues Will Be Increasingly Important Competitive Differentiators, Writes Dan Siddy.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: DAN SIDDY Ten years after the Asian financial crisis, companies in India are raising record levels of foreign capital through equity offerings. Overall, portfolio equity flows to developing countries surged to a record $94bn in 2006, 15 times the 2002 level. Along with ...
Question Time: What The Economists Say - With The Subprime Crisis In The US Causing Worldwide Reverberations, We Asked A Group Of Leading Economists To Consider Whether A Soft Or Hard Landing Was In Prospect. They Also Considered Sovereign Wealth Funds, T.
Sep 01, 2007 ... The questions 1. Is the world economy headed for a soft or hard landing? 2. Is the renminbi overvalued or undervalued? 3. What should be the role of the IMF/World Bank? 4. Are sovereign wealth funds to be applauded or feared? 5. Are ...
Professor Of Economics: The Spectre Of Latin American Inflation - Felipe Larrain Assesses Whether Policies By Certain Latin American Populist Governments Could Undermine Present Price Stability And Usher In A Return Of The High Inflations Of The 1980s.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: FELIPE LARRAIN One of the most striking aspects of Latin America over the past two decades is the reduction of inflation. In a region known for hyperinflation in the mid to late 1980s, inflation came down not only to single-digit rates but to less than 5% - on average - ...
Virtual Worlds: Another World, Another Business - People Are Using Avatars To Develop Businesses And Have Fun In Virtual Worlds, Such As Second Life. Karina Robinson Reports On The Growing Response From Banks And The Potential They Could Tap.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: KARINA ROBINSON Banks are formal institutions. Prospective male employees would surely wear a tie to an interview. Avatar Marty Dench, instead, strode in wearing his jeans and a T-shirt. Even more outrageously, half-way through the interview he changed into a suit. Mr ...
BlackBerry Inventor: A Foundation Built On Security - Alan Duerden Speaks To Mike Lazaridis On The Accountability, Back-up And Security Capabilities Incorporated Into The Latest Generation Of BlackBerry Smartphones Targeted At The Small And Medium-sized O.(Company overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: ALAN DUERDEN Dubbed the 'Crackberry' for its addictive qualities among users, the growth of BlackBerry has spread at an astonishing rate with more than nine million subscribers around the world now using the service. At the forefront of this quasi-cult movement is Mike ...
Market Surveillance: Collaring Market Villains - With Increased Competition, Fragmentation And Diversity In Asset Classes, The Job Of Exchanges And Regulators Around The World In Surveying Their Markets Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult. Serious Investme.(Market overview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: ALAN DUERDEN Usually orderly beasts, stock markets are managed, regulated and generally kept shipshape through a varied mixture of stock exchange and national regulator oversight. On a normal trading day, the surveillance systems used to help these bodies control the ...
Black Swan Author: The Risks Of Severe, Infrequent Events - Too Little Is Made Of The Fact That Financial Market Institutions Have Been Underprepared To Measure, Manage And Price High-impact Risks; Indeed Decision Makers Are Actively Rewarded For Underest.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB AND GEORGE A MARTIN There are two classes of risk. The first is the risk of volatility, or fluctuations - think of Italy: in spite of the volatility of the political system, with close to 60 post-war governments, one can consider the country as ...
Regulation: Reg Rage - Russia's Urgent Need For More Red Tape - Reg Rage Often Criticises Regulation, But Where Russia's Concerned, More Is Needed - And Quickly. The Country's Banking Sector Is Undergoing Regulatory Reform, But Too Slowly, Writes Michael.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: MICHAEL IMESON What is it The much-needed reform of the regulatory and supervisory framework governing Russia's banking system is progressing at a snail's pace. It is lagging behind the changes happening in neighbouring emerging markets, such as Kazakhstan, ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Optimism For A Winning Formula - Leonel Fernandez, President Of The Dominican Republic, Talks To Jules Stewart About The Government's Activities To Improve The Lives Of Citizens.(Interview)
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JULES STEWART Q. What are your main political and economic priorities for your next term of office, if your party wins next year's general election [in May 2008]? A. The objective is to consolidate the reforms and progress we have achieved so far. This ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Recovery Ripples - The Republic's Finance Minister, Vicente Bengoa, Talks To The Banker About Economic Strategy.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Meeting IMF targets. Maintaining strong fiscal performance. Keeping macroeconomic stability. The Dominican Republic's finance minister, Vicente Bengoa, spends most of his time on these goals while working closely with the country's president, Leonel Fernandez, the central bank governor, ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Poll Star - Incumbent President Leonel Fernandez Is The Clear Favourite To Win Next Year's Election, But His Prospects Will Suffer If A US Downturn And Higher Oil Prices Hit The Economy. Monica Campbell Reports.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: MONICA CAMPBELL Ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Cash hand-outs. Land titles for small farmers. Suddenly, it is election time in the Dominican Republic. Not unlike the neighbouring US, political jockeying and rallies are off to an early start in the Caribbean nation ahead of ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Back In The Black - Following The Gradual Restoration Of Public And International Confidence In The Financial Sector, The Country's Banking System Is Experiencing Strong Growth, Characterised By Diversification And.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JULES STEWART The Dominican Republic has made great strides in restoring public confidence in the country's banking system. The 2003 banking crisis was almost a textbook case in rampant embezzlement, fraud and mismanagement, all coming together to bring about the ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - A Firm Hand On The Purse Strings - Hector Valdez Albizu, Governor Of The Central Bank Of The Dominican Republic, Tells Jules Stewart How Controlling The Money Supply Has Led To Financial Stability.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JULES STEWART Q. Could you define the main objectives of the government's monetary policy? A. Our monetary policy strives to achieve a number of targets within the context of the programme agreed with the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. The principal ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - A Foreign Magnet - The Republic's Open Inward Investment Programme Has Attracted Huge FDI Inflows Into Tourism, Telecoms, Mining And Manufacturing In Free Trade Zones. Jules Stewart Explains.
Sep 01, 2007; ... Byline: JULES STEWART The Dominican Republic's economy has benefited greatly from foreign participation, but as PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Ivelisse Mieses points out: "There are still a few areas in which investors encounter difficulties. These include company registration, ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Holiday Spirit - The Tourism Industry Is Attracting Foreign Investors As Well As Holidaymakers.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Tourism is the Dominican Republic's ace-in-the-hole. The country is a major tourist attraction in the Caribbean, with its highly competitive hotel prices against a background of security (at least in the resort areas) and political stability. The tourism industry expansion took ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Caribbean Queen - Mega Tourist Resort Cap Cana, The Most Ambitious Leisure Project In the Caribbean, Has Smashed Records For A Dominican Corporate Issuer.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Any doubts as to the power of the Dominican Republic's tourism industry are laid to rest by Cap Cana, the largest and most ambitious leisure project in the Caribbean. The complex covers an area of 122 square kilometres (it is twice the size of Manhattan), with 5.6 kilometres of ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Project Fever - A Huge Number Of Construction Projects Are Under Way As The Dominican Republic Focuses On Improving Its Infrastructure Across The Board.
Sep 01, 2007 ... The Dominican Republic is undergoing a dramatic makeover through a programme of construction projects, of which the most ambitious is the Santo Domingo metro. The Caribbean's second underground mass transit system responds to the need to reduce the heavy road traffic congestion ...
Special Supplement: Dominican Republic - Recovery Efforts Come To Fruition - The Dominican Republic Has Made A Startlingly Fast Return To Financial Good Health But Concerns Over Governance And Unemployment Remain. Jules Stewart Explains.
Sep 01, 2007 ... Byline: JULES STEWART Few countries can lay claim to having come back from the brink of disaster with such energy and sparkle as is the case of the Dominican Republic. The economic crisis that brought the country to its knees between 2000 and 2004 was a textbook case of rampant ...