A new report from the EBRD champions equity over debt and bank finance as the way forward for countries aiming to avoid the middle-income trap, as Brian Caplen describes.
Despite the reservations of the German government, a foreign buyer must be the preferred way forward for Commerzbank, writes Brian Caplen.
Banks are investing huge sums to keep their digital platforms up to speed with those of China’s tech giants, writes Brian Caplen.
Countries, companies and banks need to engage people in the strategy debate, writes Brian Caplen.
Faced with the biggest transformation in the industry’s history, many banks still opt for the greenfield route ahead of fintech partnerships, writes Brian Caplen.
Big Tech is moving further into conventional financial services. Banks must consider how to respond, writes Brian Caplen.
The fear of a country ‘getting old before it gets rich’ has been applied to China. But the EBRD’s Sergei Guriev says this is also a challenge for eastern European countries.
The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, talks to Brian Caplen ahead of May’s annual EBRD meeting in Sarajevo.
Risk managers should park their traditional models and head to the beach if they want to understand the latest techniques, writes Brian Caplen.
Banks could find that the bulk of their client base faces declining living standards and financial hardship. They should start preparing now, writes Brian Caplen.
The next crisis will have different causes from the last one. Banks need to look beyond stress tests in their risk management, writes Brian Caplen.
Artificial intelligence opens up huge possibilities for banks but also asks some difficult questions, writes Brian Caplen.
Attracting talent in the wake of the financial crisis is proving a challenge. But there are innovative ideas around, as Brian Caplen discovers.
Fintechs are making waves and revenues but turning a profit may take longer, even as much as 10 years. Many, writes Brian Caplen, will disappear altogether.
A massive contraction in shadow banking is the reason for slower growth in China, not the developing trade war with the US. Regulators everywhere should take note, writes Brian Caplen.
Are concerns about low return on equity based on a false assumption about the cost of capital? Adjust that and the picture improves dramatically, writes Brian Caplen.
A danger for CEOs of major banks is that they focus too much on the macro at the expense of the micro, writes Brian Caplen. Reading customer complaints would help them get a more balanced view.
Where shadow banking is driving credit creation, regulators are liable to find their efforts to calm things down meeting with political resistance. India and China are both in focus, writes Brian Caplen.
Jobs and assets that move out of the UK due to Brexit are not coming back. But banks can learn management lessons from the prime minister’s mistakes, writes Brian Caplen.
Markets are choppy and the economic outlook is grim but 2019 could be a year of banking renaissance, writes Brian Caplen.