Bitcoin seduces institutional investors as coronavirus spreads
In Asia and Europe, stock markets were selling off at the start of the last week in February, after a rise in reported cases of coronavirus in Korea, Italy and Iran. Investors fled to classic risk-off trades, with the yield...
Cheap credit could prove too pricey for Turkey’s fragile economy
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan Most politicians would like banks to hand out more cash to businesses and voters, particularly at times of economic malaise. Fortunately, most have either too much sense or too little clout to force the issue....
New products help institutions take exposure to surging bitcoin
Bitcoin has performed strongly this year, with the price up 40% to mid February, as equity markets have been growing increasingly nervous about the impact of coronavirus on top of trade tensions and slowing growth. New vehicles for institutional investors...
Where does Intesa’s UBI Banca takeover leave UniCredit?
Jean Pierre Mustier has ruled out UniCredit from entering the fray for UBI Banca, following Intesa Sanpaolo’s €4.9 billion bid for Italy’s fifth biggest bank. In a letter to employees shortly after Intesa’s move, he reiterated that UniCredit remains focused...
Why did UBS choose Ralph Hamers for CEO?
Swiss bank UBS president Axel Weber and new CEO Ralph Hamers Ralph Hamers, like many people at the top of ING, is a fantastic salesman. As chief executive, he’s been exceptionally good at talking up the Dutch bank’s digital advance...
Morgan Stanley’s Gorman must beware culture clash with E*Trade
After announcing the $13 billion agreed acquisition of E*Trade, Morgan Stanley looks even more like a large wealth management firm with an investment bank attached. This is the direction in which chairman and chief executive James Gorman has been purposefully...
Special risk survey: HK, Japan, Singapore buffeted by coronavirus, as Taiwan shows ‘counter-intuitive’ strengths
Taiwan’s risk score is still on track, while other areas of Asia, including Hong Kong (above) are feeling the effects of coronavirus Euromoney conducted its special ‘crowd-sourcing’ survey among a subset of its normal contributor universe who are all experts...
DP World delisting is a blow to UAE markets
For a country that is taking great pains to improve liquidity in its equity markets, endorsing a buyback of Nasdaq Dubai’s most liquid stock seems an odd move. On Monday, DP World and its majority owner Port and Free Zone...
This is not just a reorg; this is a JPMorgan reorg
A focus on rainmakers – perhaps also with an eye on the competing attractions for senior staff that lie outside the big global banks – is behind a radical new reshaping of the senior management of JPMorgan’s investment bank. A...
When conduct goes wrong, who do you blame?
Where does the buck stop? The tribulations surrounding two bank chief executives – one just departed, the other still in post – bring this perennial question to the fore again. On the face of it, there is clear blue water...