Hong Kong is the world’s offshore centre for the renminbi, and now other international centres are joining the Chinese currency’s path to internationalisation. But as additional pools of liquidity are being created, will the new centres dilute the existing offshore liquidity and create separate puddles rather than one large pool?
As the economic scales tip in favour of emerging economies – particularly those in Asia – it seems increasingly likely that one of the region's leading financial centres will steal the status of global wealth management capital from Switzerland. The question is, which city will it be?
The Swiss National Bank has been the most aggressive central bank in a developed economy when it comes to seeking to stop its safe haven status from driving excessive currency appreciation, but many other such institutions are using other, more varied techniques.
Despite facing crisis conditions in 2011, the Belarusian economy has proven to be remarkably robust, boasting plenty of untapped potential, and there are hopes that its privatisation process will lessen the dominance of large state-owned companies on the country's business landscape.
Closer economic integration of countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States has been discussed for many years without practical progress. The launch of a Single Economic Space between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus may be about to change that.
Aside from global economic woes, perhaps the biggest challenge facing the transaction banking sector at present is a regulatory onslaught of unprecedented proportions. The Banker examines some of the major legislative headaches facing the sector.
Cash management and transaction banking in general are feeling the squeeze – required to work harder due to increasing pressure from both a tough economic climate and a range of new regulations. Deutsche Bank’s global head of trust and securities services and cash management for financial institutions, Satvinder Singh, explores the impact of the current economic and regulatory factors on areas of transaction banking.
Ongoing financial market turmoil and growing compliance efforts are having a profound impact on cash management needs and putting already strained banks under pressure. Deutsche Bank’s global head of sales, cash management financial institutions, John Ball, and global head of FI product – cash management for financial institutions, Marcus Sehr, discuss how local and global bank partnerships can help banks manage transactions in difficult times.