Blockchain platforms see Covid-19 trade finance opportunity
Distributed-ledger technology-based transactions are slowly becoming more commonplace in trade finance. Last month, Turkey’s Isbank became the first financial institution in that country to use the technology for a trade-finance transaction, for instance. An interesting emerging platform is Russian-based Factorin,...
Macaskill on markets: Commodity boom could clash with ESG push
Goldman Sachs was keen to highlight the contribution made by commodities to its robust recent second-quarter results. “Strong trading performance was aided by high volumes and volatility across all of our businesses, including oil, natural gas and metals,” chief financial...
India: End of an era as Aditya Puri sells down at HDFC
COPYING AND DISTRIBUTING ARE PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER: SContreras@Euromoney.com By: Published on: Thursday, July 30, 2020 The managing director retires in October. RBI has three names to contemplate as his possible successor. Aditya Puri has been one of...
US-China rivalry hinders a struggling HSBC
HSBC has suffered an absolutely torrid few months. As it gears up to announce what are likely to be a rocky set of interim results at 5am London time (12 noon Hong Kong) on Monday August 3, it’s worth pausing...
Country risk: Politics and Covid-19 put Malaysia in a spin
It has been a challenging time for Malaysian investors. The coronavirus crisis has taken a swipe at economic growth, sovereign debt is rising, and the political landscape is in flux. This follows then-prime minsiter Mahathir Mohamed’s snap resignation in February...
DJ D-Sol drops another PR bomb
Just one day after Goldman Sachs announced a settlement with Malaysia over the 1MDB fraud, David Solomon took to the stage in the Hamptons resort east of New York to party in the character of his music loving avatar DJ...
Argentina is unsure it can pay its debt offer
The government of Argentina says it cannot increase the value of its repayment offer to the country’s creditors because “we are not 100% confident that we can afford [what we have already offered].” An unnamed government official tells Euromoney that...
What European banks need before mergers can save them
European banks must revolutionise their business models – even the European Central Bank recognises this now. In new draft guidance, the ECB signals it won’t stand in the way of mergers, including cross-border deals in the EU. This is at...
HSBC Mexico’s Arce sees pandemic push for digital banking
HSBC Mexico’s chief executive, Jorge Arce, says the coronavirus pandemic has greatly accelerated adoption of its digital banking services – with clients overcoming cultural resistance to move online and take advantage of the bank’s recent investment in technology. “We have seen a...
Equity Bank turns to vertical strategy after collapse of Atlas Mara acquisition
Equity Bank’s plans for regional expansion suffered a setback when its deal to acquire four subsidiaries of Atlas Mara collapsed in June. It began talks to acquire Atlas Mara’s subsidiaries in Rwanda, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania in April 2018, but...