Western Europe Archives

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Country Report

Features : Seeking An Energy Boost

COUNTRY REPORT / PORTUGAL Increased competition from new entrants to the European Union has dealt a severe blow to Portugal’s economy. Tourism and investment in renewable energy are helping it pick up the slack. Calm before the ...

News

Milestones : Banks Struggle To Raise Cash

EUROPE UBS: Its third cash call, this time to investors, was successful. Almost a year after the US subprime crisis burst onto the wider global stage, Europe’s banks are paying ...

Country Report

Features : Country Report: Greece

COUNTRY REPORT / GREECE Steady domestic economic growth and significant inward investment are helping Greece battle the headwinds of a tough global economy. Buoyed by several booming industries, economic growth rates above the European Union average, strong investment ...

Banking

Features : Raising Sepa’s Horizons

CORPORATE TOOLBOX — SEPA Six months after SEPA’s introduction, banks are still trying to devise ways to encourage the businesses they serve to jump aboard. Additional optional services may provide the answer. The introduction of the euro in January ...

Economics, Policy & Regulation

Newsmakers : Darling’s Approach Winning Out On Global Regulation

UNITED KINGDOM Darling: Favors a collegiate cross-border regulation system. Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling has been criticized for his handling of the Northern Rock bailout, and he is the subject of an Internet campaign ...

News

Milestones : European Commission “alarmed” Over Lack Of Transparency

Europe McCreevy: Securitization makes risk get lost, not disappear Six months into the credit crunch, and with banks in other parts of the world such as India still announcing losses from the sub-prime crisis, the European Commission has ...

News

Newsmakers : Ackermann Proposes Global Overseer

Germany Ackermann: Global watchdog could prevent market bubbles Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann suggests that creating a global financial sector watchdog could prevent an encore of the global market storm unleashed by the US subprime crisis. ...

News

Newsmakers : Airline Aims To Make Friends In High Places

Germany Hunt: Legacy airlines lock in customers with "bribery" In a move that is clearly aimed at drumming up corporate business, upstart UK-based business-class-only airline Silverjet has rolled out an innovative loyalty program that takes the benefits ...

Country Report

Features : An Island In The Storm

COUNTRY REPORT / CYPRUS Cyprus is hoping that its recent adoption of the euro will help it better survive—and perhaps even thrive—during the coming global turbulence. Cyprus is hoping that its recent adoption of the euro will help ...

Banking

Newsmakers : Taking Shariah-Compliant Financing Into The Mainstream

UNITED KINGDOM While many Western banks may be struggling with liquidity and funding issues, Middle Eastern banks, awash with liquidity, are increasingly making their presence felt in Western financial markets. One such bank is Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), whose ...

News

Newsmakers : US CEOs May Face Euro-Style Packages

UNITED STATES / EUROPE With corporate fat cats’ earnings increasingly in the spotlight, particularly in these credit-challenged times, it appears that CEO remuneration packages vary markedly depending on which side of the pond they are on. According to ...

News

Newsmakers : Businesses Face Pressure To Cut Electronics Waste

United Kingdom Davy: Scrapping computers is a huge resource drain Businesses are facing increasing pressure to consider the environmental impact of their IT purchasing habits as awareness grows of the vast amount of natural ...