Prospects for Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia, are looking much brighter, especially after recent raises in the sovereign credit rating. Although the government has set an ambitious growth goal that is unlikely to be achieved, the country is still outshining its neighbours and receiving its just rewards in the form of increased foreign capital inflows and lower borrowing costs, to name a few.
Although the fine details have yet to be ironed out, there is no doubt that Brexit will have significant and long-lasting effects on financial-services institutions and businesses in the UK and the EU27. A hard-Brexit is the most jarring scenario, so what are the likely costs of a hard landing after all the negotiations are completed and the dust settles?
Policies and procedures governing good conduct are a given in a financial institution, but unfortunately these are not always applied in practice. Surprisingly, while good conduct should start at the top, many firms have fallen short of this goal, with their senior managers and board members simply not following their own guidelines, negatively impacting the staff underneath them and their customers.
The digitalisation of the trade-finance industry is still very much a work in progress. The findings of the ICC Banking Commission’s latest Global Survey on Trade Finance, “Rethinking Trade and Finance”, shed light on the extent of the progression up until now and suggest what still needs to be done to accelerate the journey toward transformative innovation and its attendant benefits.
Like any divorce, Brexit is going to get complicated—even more so because of the variety of contradictory opinions about how it should be handled. There are four main scenarios, ranging from “smooth” and “transitional” to “cliff-edge” and “chaotic”. Prime Minister Theresa May is rooting for a “hard Brexit”, but many others are hoping for a much softer landing.
Islamic finance is gaining momentum, not only in Islamic countries but also in Western countries such as the UK—and not only among Muslims. Brexit is guaranteed to affect Islamic banking’s continuing development in the UK, but will the EU divorce be an advantage or disadvantage for the relatively nascent Sharia-compliant industry? Much will depend on how the negotiations play out.
On July 30, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro followed through on previously made promises with an election for a new “constituent assembly” that would rewrite the country’s Constitution.
Landlocked Bolivia is viewed as South America’s poorest country, but its fortunes may be turning for the better. The government plans to nearly double its coca production but also further develop what is purported to be the earth’s single-largest reserve of lithium, a light metal used in batteries, which is experiencing skyrocketing demand. Bolivia could be on the cusp of a rags-to-riches rebirth.
Since taking office in 2015, Argentina President Mauricio Macri has subjected the country to an economic “shock” therapy to try and jumpstart the economy. At first, the economic policy seemed as if it would result in a prompt change in government
When considering the world’s fastest-growing economies, the usual suspects of China and India invariably crop up in most discussions. Of course, this is to be expected given that, despite its recent slowdown, China’s GDP (gross domestic product) still grew by 6.7 percent in 2016