The European payments landscape is undergoing a period of dramatic transformation as regulatory, infrastructural and commercial pressures force Europe’s payment providers to invest colossal amounts of human and financial resources in new technological and compliance projects.Faced with SEPA, the PSD and UK Faster Payments, the transaction banking business has rarely been busier or more inflamed by competitive pressure.
As turmoil in the banking industry intensifies, the appeal of Islamic finance and its risk-sharing approach is growing. Yet to bring Islamic structures into the mainstream, a workable infrastructure must be established. The Banker brought together a panel of industry experts to discuss the key considerations.
It has been an unprecedented year for the world’s banking industry. Once seen as the drivers of economic growth and prosperity, bankers are regarded by many as pariahs. This image is unfair. The collapse of confidence in the credit markets was driven by the recklessness of a few, but the impact of their actions has sent shock waves across the industry. Cash has become king and, increasingly, banks are looking towards their transaction services teams to drive revenue in 2009. Paul Camp, head of cash management for financial institutions at Deutsche Bank, talks about cash management’s evolution in 2009.
The Dutch financial scene has undergone some fundamental changes in the past few months, including four nationalisations, the reversal of the predator/victim relationship in the Fortis/ABN AMRO takeover and injections of state capital into three other financial institutions. Writer Michael Imeson.
The Banker’s Bank of the Year country awards acknowledge banks for the best overall performance in their country. Our global editorial team chose the winners based on analysis of the latest results and performance data provided by the banks through questionnaires plus a review of their strategic developments and overall achievements
For many central bank governors, 2008 was a roller-coaster year, where fears over high inflation due to commodity prices in the first half suddenly switched to concerns over liquidity shortages in the second half. This required nimble monetary policy responses, and the Central Bank of China (CBC) in Taiwan was particularly careful in charting its course.
While most of the world’s banks are suffering from the devastation caused by the global credit crunch, the 66 banks in Lebanon, a country heavily scarred by the 1975-90 civil war, high national debt, chronic budget deficits and wars with Israel, expect their aggregate balance sheet to grow by 12% in 2008 along with a 10% growth in profits.
Chile’s export-oriented economy will not be immune from the impact of the global slowdown, but its financial sector has been something of a haven of stability in Latin America in the face of the disruption unleashed by the subprime crisis.
Some of the world’s biggest banks and investors were sucked into a fraudulent $50bn ‘Ponzi’ scheme by one of Wall Street’s most respected fund managers. Bernie Madoff revealed last month that he “paid investors with money that wasn’t there”, he was “broke” and “insolvent” and that it “could not go on”.