Ghosts of past shackle Bosnia’s economic future
The conflict between Serbs, Muslims and Croats may no longer be waged with heavy artillery and ethnic cleansing, but a toxic combination of de facto partition, obstruction and graft by politicians in each group keeps a stranglehold on the economy. “What sort of investment can we expect when our political leaders are sending such very […]
KKR flotation takes it back to the future
An analysis of the firm’s listing documents underlines the way the industry has changed in the years since it was forced to withdraw its 2007 listing as the financial crisis set in. A comparison of the two documents also shows the changes to the firm’s ambitions and the way it does its business as it […]
Bridging the pensions gap
How has the past year affected OTP Pension Funds’ performance? After a negative, pessimistic year in 2008 we achieved real success last year. In terms of investments, 2009 was also the most successful year of the Funds. Last year for instance we achieved a yield of 33.51 percent in our growth portfolio, having the highest […]
Maintaining the balance
Specialising in market niches such as government banking, infrastructure projects, factoring to suppliers of government-owned firms, agribusiness, and fiduciary services, Banco Interacciones continues to strengthen its structure through good results and a 100 percent plough back net income policy. In 2009 the net income was 39 percent higher than the previous year, exceeding shareholders expectations. […]
The new broker generation
At present, without giving unnecessary specifics the whole foreign exchange market can be described in a few words: expanding, progressive, capacious, a kind of melting pot (as applied to the group and level of its participants). The last characteristics will be considered in details. Stability to different financial disasters (due to the principal of functioning), […]
Merger stimulates growth
ICBC Macau was established by integrating the Macau Branch of ICBC (Macau Branch) with Seng Heng Bank (Seng Heng) in July 2009. Holding a full banking licence issued by the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), ICBC Macau has 14 branches, three subsidiaries and 500 staff members in Macau. It is the biggest local bank in […]
Banco Popolare CEO sees 2010 results in line
Italy’s Banco Popolare expects 2010 results to be in line with forecasts while possible sales of non-strategic assets could boost its capital ratios, its chief executive said recently. In La Stampa daily, Pier Francesco Saviotti also ruled out any merger with Italian cooperative bank peer Ubi Banca, speculation which regularly surfaces, and said there had […]
Star in the ascent
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”. A quote that has been variously attributed to individuals as diverse as physicist Niel Bohr and baseball player Yogi Berra. Whoever said it first, it most definitely has a ring of truth, and to prove it, here’s a prediction taken from the IMF World Economic Outlook […]
Banking on transparency
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been one of those emerging markets in which corporate governance is seen as a relatively new concept; indeed it is only in the last ten years that an Arabic word, “hawkamah” for ‘corporate governance’ has emerged. But despite its infancy in the region, corporate governance has […]
Informing decisions
BRE Bank has grown from the need of the young capital market in Poland at early stages of its development. From the very beginning it had an ambition to create innovative products, offer cutting edge business solutions and build partnering relations with its clients. Thus, it aimed to establish cooperation with prominent foreign banks, support […]
