April/May 2009 - Past Issues - emeafinance Magazine - emeafinance - Europe • Middle East • Africa - Three regions

emeafinance Magazine: April/May 2009

Have banks got away with it again?

Regulators are promising major reforms of the banking sector. But have they been too soft once more, asks Julian Evans.

Madoff fraud claimed victims in the East

The Madoff pyramid scheme may have begun in New York and Florida, but in its final phase, it spread out to emerging markets, and investors from the Middle East and Russia have lost billions.

The new scramble for Africa

Governments and private investors are putting tens of billions of dollars into trying to secure land and food from Africa, to position themselves against a growing global food shortage, reports Mark Weston.

Out of the frying pan

Anvar Saidenov certainly doesn’t dodge the tough jobs. For several years, he had the task of regulating Kazakhstan’s over-heating banking sector. Now, he’s been put in charge of sorting out the restructuring of the country’s biggest bank, BTA, which the government declared insolvent in February.

Shoulder to the boulder

For the second time in 12 years, Russian investment banks have gone from dizzying boom to disastrous bust. How will they fare in the post-crisis world, asks Geoffrey Smith.

Pollution solution

The carbon trading market could be about to go global, with the US and China considering joining cap and trade systems like the EU’s. But is the EMEA region in danger of missing the boat? Julian Evans reports.

Courage, mon brave

If you can keep your capital adequacy ratios, when all around you are losing theirs, then you will be a successful CEE & CIS bank, and worthy of an emeafinance award.

Maghreb shielded from worst of the crunch

The Maghreb region has proved one of the most resilient among emerging markets, thanks to its strong local investor base, reports Julian Evans.

Poland looks to EU funds for stability

While corporate and retail lending in Poland are declining, Polish banks are buoyed by the prospect of €68bn in EU funds over the next seven years, writes Liz Salecka.

Sharia: no protection from the storm

Many Middle Eastern investors and bankers watched complacently as the credit crunch devastated western markets in 2007. But now, several sukuk are also being restructured, showing the rain of this crisis falls on the virtuous and the wicked alike. Eva-Luise Schwarz reports.