Finance

Compliance teams are no longer the same as they used to be – they are now considered the third most-stressful City job, after investment bankers and traders. The combination of the financial crisis, Brexit and cybercrime has resulted in a high-stress profession, with constant roadblocks in the way of success.

On the final Monday of 2019, protesters staged a sit-in at the Beirut offices of Bank Audi, Lebanon’s largest bank. Chants of “We want the money!” were heard as the furious protesters—many of them Audi’s clients—demanded that tellers give them their funds.

2019 was a turbulent year for businesses, with hiring across many industries suffering at the hands of Brexit.  Despite all the political and economic turbulence, some professions – Tax, Public Practice, Risk, Investment Management and Legal – remained largely resilient, with vacancy numbers and salaries relatively similar to previous years.

Historically, China has been relatively closed to foreign capital, frustrating would-be investors, but a broader, more progressive mindset alongside worryingly deteriorating economic conditions are prompting it to open the gates to outside investors. Seeing the advantages of increased international integration, China’s authorities are taking constructive actions to increase access for foreign investors to China’s financial sector—all while keeping a watchful eye on the implications for the country’s financial stability.

Unemployment continues to plague some major economies, but one holds the questionable distinction of having the highest unemployment rate of all, and that country is South Africa. At 29.1 percent, South Africa’s colossal unemployment rate is regarded as the top concern by many of the nation’s citizens and government officials. Joblessness is particularly devastating for youth, women and blacks, but what steps must the government take to improve the situation?

We live in an age where gender inequality at the workplace is still regarded as an issue of ‘diversity’ – a term commonly used when referring to minority groups. It says a lot about our society that half the people who make up its population are considered to be a modest subset.

On December 15, US bank Goldman Sachs announced what many believe to be the strongest restrictions on fossil-fuel activity by any major bank in the United States. Most notably, the bank has become the first big American lender to restrict financing on any part of the oil-and-gas sector, with a particular focus on protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Voters in the United Kingdom handed Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party a resounding victory via the recent election. Apparently believing that his plan would be the best horse to ride out of the Brexit quagmire in which the nation finds itself, Johnson has a strong mandate to meet successfully the 2020 deadlines: EU exit in January and EU trade deal by year’s end. Can he do it?

Fossil fuels have been the mainstay of energy generation for decades, but the move away from carbon-based, nonrenewable fuels is being driven by concerned citizens and governments, although nations are falling short of targets. There will be winners and losers during the transition to a carbon-neutral world economy, and investment-portfolio managers want to be in the winners’ group. What are the climate-change, carbon-transition risks that portfolio managers need to consider?

Sovereign wealth funds are state-owned funds used by especially Middle Eastern and Asian governments to support projects they feel will promote domestic growth and welfare; lately, they have been shifting to emerging-technology opportunities. One difference between SWFs and other funds is a willingness to wait to realize long-term returns; technology firms with vast potential to serve private and public interests are proving to be the perfect targets for SWF investment.