EBRD backs crowdfunding platform Funderbeam to plug SEE’s equity gap
Set up in Estonia in 2013, Funderbeam is the brainchild of former Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange chief executive Kaidi Ruusalepp. The platform enables growth companies to raise equity, convertible and loan finance in either public or private funding rounds. A...
Taiwan pushes hard – and late – into digital banking
Taiwanese citizens are said to live in a world of extreme convenience. Shops in most major cities are open 24 hours a day, 52 weeks a year After years of prevarication, Taiwan is finally entering the age of digital banking....
European banks are ahead of the millennial zeitgeist
For investors, Europe’s banks are at their lowest ebb. In the run-up to September’s European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, expectations of a new round of monetary-policy easing pushed their shares to a point not seen since 2009. As ever-growing capital...
Afrophobia just one of the many risks burdening South Africa
A man walks past a damaged shop after overnight unrest and looting in Johannesburg in September The recent media attention given to the violent attacks on African migrants and African-owned businesses has caused quite a stir, but there is reason...
Macaskill on markets: Investment banks and the sharing economy
The trend towards US dominance is particularly acute in investment banking, where JPMorgan is now the top revenue generator in Europe, as well as globally. So exploration of a link between Deutsche Bank and UBS to bolster both firms by...
Responsible finance: The pledge that never was
The US Business Roundtable, which represents the chief executives of 192 large US companies, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Wells Fargo and several other large financial firms, released a new ‘Statement of purpose of a corporation’ in...
MREL funding gap adds to pressure on Polish banks
Pressure to start raising new debt to meet bail-in funding requirements will add to the challenges facing Polish banks going into 2020, according to analysts. Banks in the eastern part of the European Union (EU) have lagged their counterparts in...
Trade finance’s blockchain dreams still far from reality
Transaction bankers are hopeful that the use of distributive ledger technology (DLT), or blockchain, will improve trade finance by cutting costs and time related to bulky trade finance deals. However, one factor that is slowing the broader adoption of DLT...
Singapore sovereign wealth fund: The key number in the Temasek report
The most important number in Tuesday’s Temasek review for the Singaporean sovereign wealth vehicle was this: it divested S$28 billion ($20.6 billion) of assets, S$4 billion more than it invested. This is what a dynamic equity-based portfolio looks like in...
Italy’s political crisis only emphasizes debt is the real problem
Wing and a prayer: Matteo Salvini’s gambit backfired, but he could still be ‘the worst scenario’ Coalition governments in Italy are invariably risky endeavours, and so it proved on August 8 when Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing anti-immigration...