Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson
Don’t leave home without it
Credit card delinquency figures bring to mind the rock classic “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.” Since last July’s record report – delinquencies jumped to 6.6 percent of all card debt in the first quarter from 5.52 percent – the peak may still be far off. The sunniest forecast in the Obama administration’s stress test suggested […]
Angel Martin: Restructuring is key to the current climate
In the current economic climate many Spanish businesses are turning to restructuring specialists to help them navigate efficiently through difficult times. When it comes to choosing a restructuring advisor, Spanish companies and banks are increasingly seeking a name they trust and a proven track record. KPMG’s Spanish Restructuring team comprises experts from a range of […]
Buyers versus sellers
An investment banker associate of mine recently shared an interesting statistic. He said his business, a veteran establishment, currently spends around 80 percent of its time with buyers. This time is spent reassuring them that they’re getting a good deal when buying a company. Now that’s a sign of the times. Rewind two years, and […]
Finance Agonistes
For at least a quarter-century, the financial sector has grown far more rapidly than the economy as a whole, both in developed and in most developing countries. The ratio of total financial assets (stocks, bonds, and bank deposits) to GDP in the UK was about 100 percent in 1980, while by 2006 it had risen […]
Corporates incensed by US clearing plans
If banks provide the fuel for modern economies, then corporates are its engines. Without them, we would earn and consume nothing, trade would evaporate, savings would be wiped out, banks would fail and tax receipts would plunge. Care then is needed when drafting rules and protocols to ensure they do not drive corporates off the […]
A worldwide mission
Banco Espírito Santo Angola is not only known for its financial performance, but also for its hard work in corporate citizenship. In economic sustainability, BESA was honoured by UNESCO and the International Committee for the Development of Planet Earth for promoting sustainability in Angola. It was crowned ‘BESA, the Bank for the Planet’, which means […]
Global round-up
Caribbean As many attack so-called “tax havens”, Natalie Shaw speaks to Shawna Lake, whose firm SKIPA promote development in St Kitts & Nevis France Companies have been going wrong and being bailed out globally. Liam Vaughan suggests that France is offering less protection for creditors than, say, the UK or the US. Vaughan goes on […]
All roads lead to a universal currency
China is worried about the long-term decline of the dollar, mainly because it holds somewhere north of $1,000bn in US government debt. As a Chinese economist notes in a masterly piece of understatement, “a trillion (in greenbacks) is a hot potato.” Several other Asian countries holding vast dollar amounts are worried for the very same […]
Launching into turbulent seas
“Banks in Trinidad and Tobago are blessed,” says Sekou Mark. It may be an intriguing statement, given the current global economic crisis to which some of the biggest banks have fallen victim. More intriguing perhaps is that the man making the statement is a banker himself. He is the General Manager of Corporate Banking at […]
Commission-sharing provides halfway house
While the UK’s FSA’s rules on unbundling may not have radically reformed the trading landscape, they have subtly altered the terrain. Commission-sharing agreements have become the status quo and the remaining bulge-bracket sellside firms continue to capture the lion’s share of both execution and research business.A split between the two activities as envisioned in the […]
