High standards of governance will be essential to convince local investors to participate in the regional financial centres that are springing up around the world. And London looks set to benefit from business with those centres as they adopt EU-style regulations, writes Brandon Davies.
The market for Islamic banking is forecast to grow at double the rate that conventional wholesale banking will grow in the next five years. Unsurprisingly, banking centres around the world are scrambling to establish footprints in the market. Natasha de Terán investigates how London is positioned.
In the debate on whether German Landesbanken should consolidate further, Hannes Rehm is Siegfried Jaschinski’s ideological opponent. While he does not rule out further consolidation in the sector, Mr Rehm, who has a PhD in economics, sees no pressing need for it, arguing that the three-pillar system has adequately financed corporate Germany.
A consortium including Goldman Sachs won the mandate for a strategic review and IPO execution for Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank. A tight schedule for US distribution and a political/religious row that spilled volatility into the Istanbul stock market failed to derail the sale. Edward Russell-Walling reports.
Smoking in enclosed public spaces, including offices, is about to be made a criminal offence in England. The move is welcomed in many quarters, but employers whose employees break the law will be liable to pay much heftier fines than the errant employees themselves, writes Michael Imeson.