News

Shift to Shankong

The heart of the main retail district in Seoul could hardly be more different than that of western cities. Instead of competing businesses being dispersed among outlets selling non-competing products as you’d find elsewhere, in South Korea’s capital city they are all congregated together. Standing side by side on the main retail strip – the…

Transforming business

Some companies like to think big and move fast. Aabar Investments PSJC, based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, shows how it is done. Incorporated in 2005 with a mandate to develop an oil and gas business focusing on exploration and production, Aabar has since transformed itself into a global investment fund with holdings in…

Businesses turn to balkans platform

Montenegro is certainly one of the most interesting spots in the world. Even though it only covers around 14,000 km2 and it only has about 650,000 citizens, its contribution to the World cultural heritage is impressive compared to its size. Montenegro is a Southern European and a Mediterranean country. Its landscape combination of mountains, deep…

Brazil reforms corporate governance

During a period of recession that has hit most of the world’s influential economies, Brazil has still managed to develop a strong corporate governance programme that builds on legislation changes and promises to protect the country should future global financial problems occur. Deloitte has worked hard in building Brazil’s corporate governance, a process which is…

Bolivian securities gain international respect

Nacional Financiera Boliviana Sociedad de Titularización S.A. (NAFIBO ST) is the leading securitisation company in Bolivia and the most innovative in Latin America having securitised future cash flows of small companies, cooperatives and NGOs oriented to microcredit. NAFIBO ST has also pioneered the use of structured notes over the past few years, while such products…

As seen at the World Cup and Expo 2010

Not many countries with two million people and an area of 20, 0000 sq. km have played in the 2010 World Cup, and are attracting thousands of visitors to the Slovenian pavilion in Shanghai designed around the fact that its capital Ljubljana is also this year’s UNESCO World Book Capital. Companies that want to relocate…

Continuous growth for market leader

The bank has remained the most profitable in Bolivia for the fourth year in a row. In order to achieve these profits, the bank cut costs significantly, therefore being able to counteract the significant decrease in interest rates that affected the financial system. The bank continued its growth strategy both in deposits, loans and investments….

China tries to soothe fears about local debt

China has played down the risks in a wave of borrowing by local governments, saying that officials were getting to grips with a debt problem that economists warn could yet destabilise the financial system. A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) gave a largely clean bill of…

Insurer FP banks on Mideast employee benefits

Life insurer Friends Provident, now part of the British group Resolution, sees a rise in employee benefits in the Middle East as a springboard to growth in the region’s nascent insurance industry, an executive said. “The main focus is on the United Arab Emirates and we are currently speaking to another territory about getting a…

Family banker to familiar entrepreneur

Founded in 1926, Banca March is the foremost family-owned Spanish bank. Soundness, prudence and a close-knit relationship with its clients are the cornerstone values of a bank that has been around for nearly a century. Banca March also has the best solvency ratio among Spanish banks and one of the highest in European banking (19.7…