Gordon Platt, Author at Global Finance Magazine

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Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

TORONTO, VANCOUVER PARTNER TO FORM RENMINBI TRADING HUB

TRENDS | RENMINBI TRADING Even though Toronto is the center of Canada’s financial industry, much of the country’s trade with China passes through Vancouver. Groups in both cities have decided to work together to promote Canada as a trading hub for the renminbi.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

CHINA’S ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE ENSNARES M&A DEALS

CAPITAL MARKETS FOCUS: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Companies around the world are stepping up their due diligence on mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese counterparties, after several major deals have been called into question as a result of Peking’s widening corruption probe.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

INSURERS OFFER LONGEVITY HEDGES TO DE-RISK PLANS

MANAGEMENT | PENSIONS As people live longer, many companies are discovering that they have to pay pension benefits to retirees for longer than they had expected. Insurance companies are stepping in with new products that can help take this “longevity risk” out of corporate defined-benefit pension plans.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

M&A’S BIG YEAR IS LITTERED WITH BROKEN DEALS

CAPITAL MARKETS FOCUS |MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Mergers and acquisitions in 2014 are being announced at the fastest pace since the financial crisis of 2008–2009, but broken deals are also setting records for the same period.

Country Report

MENDING EGYPT’S DAMAGED ECONOMY

COUNTRY REPORT | EGYPT Pressure is building on Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to deliver economic gains. Falling investment and a sharp drop in tourist arrivals have weakened growth over the past three years. But a rapid return to pre-2011 expansion levels appears unlikely.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

SAUDI EXCHANGE OPENING WILL INCREASE RIYADH’S IMPORTANCE

CAPITAL MARKETS | MIDDLE EAST EQUITY Riyadh, the Saudi capital, has already built a new financial district, named after King Abdullah, but its 42 new skyscrapers stand largely empty. That could change following the decision by the government in July to allow foreign financial institutions to invest directly in listed shares, starting in the first half of 2015.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

WALGREENS DUMPS INVERSION AS OBAMA BERATES “DESERTERS”

MANAGEMENT | TAX PLANNING Gregory Wasson, president and CEO of Walgreen, says the company “concluded it was not in the best interest of shareholders to attempt to re-domicile outside the US” to cut its tax bill.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FX TRADERS GONE?

CAPITAL MARKETS | FOREIGN EXCHANGE It is a changing world for FX traders. Regulatory uncertainty and low volatility are putting a damper on the foreign exchange market, with spreads narrowing by 20% already this year—to record lows.

Banking

BIG LOAN SIGNALS EGYPT’S RETURN TO GLOBAL MARKETS

FINANCE & CAPITAL | TRENDS: Islamic Finance

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

ECB’S NEGATIVE RATES TO ALTER CASH MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

FINANCE & CAPITAL | CAPITAL MARKETS The European Central Bank’s adoption of a negative deposit rate for banks’ excess reserves [meaning they charge interest for bank reserves held at the ECB] could have a widespread impact on money markets and corporate cash-management policies.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

FIRST GLOBAL STANDARD SET FOR REVENUE RECOGNITION

FINANCE & CAPITAL | MANAGEMENT: Accounting

Banking

GCC 2014: BANKING ON TECHNOLOGY

GCC REGIONAL SUPERSECTION 2014 | BANKING SECTOR Banks in the GCC are leveraging the latest technologies to keep pace with a customer base whose members are increasingly demanding, wealthy and tech-savvy.