Having joined the graduate trainee scheme of NatWest Markets in 1992, Alison Rose has seen the full sweep of events from the acquisition by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in 2000, through the period of extraordinary growth and the joint bid for ABN Amro in 2007, to the financial crisis and part-nationalisation in 2008. “It …

In April 2010, ‘America’s legal reach’ highlighted rising concerns about the willingness of US lawmakers to impose their own regulatory norms far beyond their borders. A lawyer from US firm Sullivan & Cromwell warned that, while foreign banks were unlikely to stage a rush for the exits, they might undertake a gradual strategic reappraisal of …

The Chicago Board of Education adopted a $5.2 billion fiscal 2013 operating budget Wednesday that drains most of its reserves to help erase $665 million of red ink, leaving it little flexibility to cope with a looming pension payment hike and teacher demands for bigger raises. Ahead of its sale earlier this month of $470 …

Libor has come under huge scrutiny since Barclays was fined for manipulating it. While few bankers believe it can be replaced, even its staunchest supporters say it needs to be reformed. But it is not obvious how. When, in the run up to late 2007, derivatives traders at Barclays Capital were sending e-mails to colleagues …

The unelected elites of Europe have made more than 20 separate attempts to resolve the eurozone crisis. To date all they have done is pour good money after bad. Last week’s promise by Mario Draghi, president of the European central bank (ECB), to engage in more bond buying and, where requested by governments, offer further …

Hong Kong’s economic success looks set to continue for some time yet, but challenges lie ahead for its exchange. How will it cope with declines in listing growth, and ultimately all out competition with its peers on the mainland? The position of special administrative region to what may (or may not, if pessimistic predictions come …

Understanding Forex Trading When you are traveling to a foreign country, say from UK to Singapore, and exchanging your British pounds into Singaporean dollars, such a transaction would be qualified as the action of Forex trading. All Forex trading involves in 2 currencies (or a pair of them, if it please you). For instance, if …

There would clearly be a test for the Eurozone this week, and investors will definitely be studying growth data, as well as confidence surveys in order to look out for any signs of improvement in the economy. Based on the speech of the President of European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, the worst part of the …

The Bank of England appears to declare deeper quantitative easing this week, which held the economic focus on the monetary policy. Despite this, it is also appears that the Reserve Bank of Australia is looking to cut rates. The Bank is extensively expected to increase its expenditures on assets by an additional of £50bn, eventhough …

The need for the Belgian, French and Dutch governments to rescue troubled Benelux bank Dexia from imminent collapse in October 2011 showed that policy- makers and regulators had failed to achieve one the major aims to emerge from the financial crisis: that the bankruptcy of a financial institution can be resolved without the need of …