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The New Era of Globalization, propelled by the rapid technological advancements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and widespread concern for sustainable development goals, would seem to be on a road undergirded by groundbreaking potential. Yet, there are potholes on the way, not the least arising from growing populist movements. What are some of the damaging risks to avoid and positive disruptive opportunities to foster along this uncharted path?

Costa Rica has been one of Central America’s most prosperous and stable countries, providing many opportunities for its financial sector to flourish—despite the government’s recent liquidity crisis. BAC Credomatic Costa Rica, with its emphasis on placing the customer in the centre, has made the best use of the advantages its home country offers. Country Manager Federico Odio González gave us a run-down on BAC’s commitment to streamlining while improving its operations.

First Global Bank is living up to its name by being the first to introduce a number of banking breakthroughs in Jamaica. True to its mission statement, FGB seeks to empower people to get ahead in life and business. International Banker spoke with its president and CEO, Mariame McIntosh Robinson, and vice president of corporate banking, Norman Thompson, to learn more about what this forward-looking bank is up to these days.

Ecuador’s Banco de la Producción S.A. – Produbanco is guided by its belief that its “essence” is its customers, setting the bar for customer service in Latin American banking. In 2014, Produbanco began a digital transformation that has taken it to new heights of innovation in customer delivery. CEO Ricardo Cuesta Delgado describes in detail the great lengths to which the bank is going to serve its customers even better.

National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited has been meeting the needs of the residents of Jamaica for the past 182 years. Despite its long history, it has adapted with changing times and is dedicated to continually reinventing itself. In our interview with him, President and Group CEO Patrick Hylton explains NCB Financial Group Limited’s plans to achieve such goals as building a world-class digital experience for its customers and accelerating its regional expansion.

Brexit looms large over all aspects of the UK’s banking sector, including hiring plans. Continued uncertainty about what direction the UK/EU divorce proceedings will go (if they go at all) has organisations on edge, but that didn’t stop them from hiring last year, research shows. Retaining existing top-notch talent was a priority, but attracting new, highly skilled professionals was also a common goal, with UK banks topping the hiring charts.

Private investment bank VACE Partners recognizes that it is only as strong as its team is; combining “intelligence, energy and enthusiasm with experience, ability, relationships and knowledge” has been VACE’s winning formula, enabling it to close on several important deals since its inception a decade ago. International Banker spoke with Ricardo Cervera and Carlos Vara, managing directors and founding partners, to learn more about this rising star on Mexico’s financial horizon.

The landlocked Central Asian country of Kazakhstan is vast in diversity, natural resources and land size but relatively small in population per square kilometer, presenting a challenge for its domestic financial-services providers. ForteBank has been striving to reach customers country-wide through its unique blend of top-of-the-line products and services, with a growing emphasis on digital solutions. In our interview, CEO Guram Andronikashvili discusses the bank’s recent successes and plans for the future.

The Great Recession produced a number of aftershocks, including a tidal wave of regulations (with the?) intent on preventing the same event from ever happening again. A mismatch between increasingly complex and detailed international standards and ever more uneven implementation by national authorities ensued. Consistent, harmonized adoption of financial standards by all involved is necessary to ensure smooth global processes. Some suggestions are presented in this article.

What’s not to like about a process that simultaneously slashes costs and boosts efficiency? Increasingly, senior executives of financial-services firms, with eagle eyes focused on the bottom line, are jumping enthusiastically into the RPA game. Perhaps surprisingly, others in these organizations, such as IT employees, are reluctant. But adopting robotic process automation to best advantage must involve the active participation of the whole company-wide team.