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Banking

GOLDMAN SACHS TO TAP GROWING ISLAMIC MARKET

CAPITAL MARKETS | ISLAMIC FINANCE To diversify its sources of financing, Goldman Sachs plans to issue a benchmark Islamic bond, at a time when demand for sukuk is outrunning supply. Meanwhile, South Africa is planning its first sovereign sukuk, and the Egyptian government is working on a new sukuk law, following the military’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

INVESTMENT BANK HELPS REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN

TRENDS | SRI LANKA Hiran Embuldeniya, managing director at York Street Partners, an investment bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka, says there are plenty of opportunities for the firm to do business in the country as it rapidly develops in the wake of a 30-year civil war that ended in 2009.

Economics, Policy & Regulation

LAME DUCK CONGRESS TO TACKLE INVERSIONS

MANAGEMENT | TAX PLANNING When Congress returns following the November elections, the issue of what to do about US companies making foreign acquisitions to relocate overseas and save on taxes will be high on the agenda.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

NAIROBI EXCHANGE LISTS OWN SHARES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR EXPANSION

CAPITAL MARKETS | AFRICAN EQUITY Initial public offerings on the Nairobi Securities Exchange have been few and far between in recent years.

Capital Raising & Corporate Finance

NO COLLATERAL DAMAGE TO HEDGES AFTER ALL

MANAGEMENT | DERIVATIVES REGULATION Nonfinancial corporations that hedge risk by using derivatives not traded on exchanges won an important victory in early September, when US bank regulators agreed to exempt such companies from rules that would have required them to post collateral against their positions.

Emerging & Frontier Markets

SEEKING TO DIVERSIFY

FRONTIER MARKETS REPORT | KAZAKHSTAN Kazakhstan is rife with investment opportunities, but companies must be aware of the country’s regional commitments and business climate.

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.

Features

Trade Documentation Solutions To Drive EM Trade Growth

Inside Sibos | Review From a product perspective, a key area of commitment is related to trade documentation: “We have been active in this area for many years and it is undergoing transformation. I am convinced that BPO [bank payment obligations] will have success..."

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Asian Treasurers Match Strategy To Action

Inside Sibos | Day 3 The increasing sophistication of Asian corporate treasuries to buoy the rapid development of Asian companies is a message that has been growing in resonance in recent years, and it is once again a topic of discussion at this year’s Sibos conference.

Features

Seeing Opportunity In Obstacles

Inside Sibos | Day 3 “Global Transaction Banking is the fastest growing unit in Société Générale,” says Christian Behaghel, head of GTB at Societe Generale. “It is a very stable business, and while we generate something like 6% of the total revenue of the bank, we are experiencing growth of our revenue of 10-15% a year.” This compares, he says to some areas of retail banking that have 0-2% growth a year.

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Trade Finance Goes Digital

Inside Sibos | Day 3 This year’s Sibos event is set to see a greater focus on the use of technology to support trade. Since the launch of the Bank Payment Obligation (BPO), and the publication last year of the Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligation (URBPO) by the International Chamber of Commerce, adoption of the new instrument has been gradual—but across the industry there is increasing focus on how technology can be deployed in an area traditionally dominated by paper.

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Disruptors: Mobile Money And Digital Currencies

Inside Sibos | Day 2 The Future of Money is once again a key theme of SWIFT’s annual Innotribe startup competition at this year’s Sibos conference in Boston. It dominated a number of discussions on the first day of the conference, and cryptocurrencies were in the spotlight.