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Banking

Islamic Finance Goes Global

COMING OF AGE By Anit a Hawser Islamic finance is starting to spread within the countries of North Africa with high Muslim concentrations. Any discussion of Islamic finance usually includes Islamic financial hubs such as Malaysia or ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Latin America: Brazilian Protectionism

BARRIERS TO ENTRY By Antonio Guerrero Though its economic growth may be stalling, Brazil is still an attractive destination for investors. But the recent imposition of tariffs on certain imports has sparked an international ruckus. For several ...

Emerging & Frontier Markets

Latin America: Rise Of The Mexican Jaguar

RISE OF THE “JAGUAR” By Antonio Guerrero Mexico’s new business-friendly president has promised to open up state-owned oil companies to private investment. If so, Mexico could overtake Brazil as the region’s largest economy within a decade. Photo ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

M&A: European Defense Merger Called Off

CORPORATE FINANCING NEWS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS By Gordon Platt A proposed $45 billion merger of European aerospace group EADS with UK defense operator BAE Systems fell apart last month just ahead of a regulatory deadline to close the deal. ...

Banking

Milestone: Bulgaria Puts Bid To Join Eurozone On Hold

MILESTONES: BULGARIA By Valentina Pasquali With the eurozone debt crisis dragging on and membership in the currency union becoming increasingly less appealing, the Bulgarian government recently froze its bid to join the eurozone. Bulgarian economy is outperforming its ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Milestone: Companies Are Cash-Rich, But M&A Is Not In The Cards

MILESTONES: GLOBAL Laurence Neville The global M&A market is moribund: Activity is just a third of the level of five years ago. Skipper, Hogan Lovells: Economic uncertainty is the key barrier to investment Yet, companies are awash with ...

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Milestone: Judging Alternatives To Libor

MILESTONES: UK By Anita Hawser The ongoing controversy surrounding Libor, the global benchmark interest rate used for pricing financial contracts, has sparked a wider debate about the merits of using alternative reference rates. The Bank of England ...

Banking

Milestone: Rial Collapse Could Spell The End Of Irans Government

MILESTONES: IRAN By Michael Shari The collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, has cut so deeply into the credibility of Iran’s government that it’s inching closer to regime change than it has been since a popular uprising deposed ...

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

Milestone: Slovenia: Next In Line For A Bailout?

MILESTONES: SLOVENIA By Valentina Pasquali With all eyes on the much larger Spain and Italy, Slovenia might actually turn out to be the next eurozone country in line for a bailout. Bets are on as to whether ...

Banking

Newsmaker: Bermuda Premier Seeks Piece Of Islamic Finance Pie

NEWSMAKERS: BERMUDA By Gordon Platt Paula Cox, Bermuda’s premier and minister of finance, shared the stage with former US president Bill Clinton in New York in September at the C3 Summit, a conference designed to promote relations between business ...

Banking

Newsmaker: Citi’s New Chief Executive Talks Resource Allocation

NEWSMAKERS: UNITED STATES By Gordon Platt CEO Michael Corbat aims to restore Citi’s prestige—and boost its dividend—by operating with extreme efficiency and producing sustainable profits. Corbat’s selection to head Citi was a surprise to many How he ...

Banking

Newsmaker: First Democratically Elected PM An Unknown Quantity

NEWSMAKERS: GEORGIA By Valentina Pasquali Over the past few years, investors’ love story with Georgia flourished under the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, who spearheaded a sweeping liberal economic agenda since coming to power a decade ago. Bidzina ...