By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. I spent three days in Africa this week, or to be precise, Cape Town and briefly {{{*}}} Johannesburg in South Africa, as well as Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria. I attach the charts from my presentation about Africa’s potential, its challenges, and its current and future position… Continue Reading
Elbrus Capital buys into Russian B2B-Center
Russian Private Equity firm Elbrus Capital, that manages two funds with total assets of over US$ 600 million, has acquired a significant minority stake of 23 per cent in B2B-Center, the largest operator of an online procurement marketplace in Russia. The procurement platform will use the funds to expand its operations and fortify its current market position. B2B-Center… Continue Reading
Sberbank taking over Citi’s retail business in Turkey
By Andrei Skvarsky. DenizBank, a Turkish operation of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, has clinched a deal to buy Citibank’s retail business in Turkey. DenizBank is taking over a network which, as of December 31, had gross assets and deposits that totalled 1.2bn Turkish lira (more than $650m) and 1.5bn lira (over $800m) respectively, more than… Continue Reading
Russia’s Renaissance Capital hires head of EMEA strategy
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has handed the role of chief strategist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to Daniel Salter, whom the Moscow-based emerging markets investment bank hired from UniCredit. Salter, whose 15-year investment banking career has comprised a series of jobs in London and Moscow, was head of EMEA equity strategy… Continue Reading
Sberbank says consumer confidence in Russia dwindling
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, says consumer confidence in Russia has slipped down since January. According to the second Sberbank CIB Ivanov Consumer Confidence Tracker bi-monthly survey, the base index of consumer confidence remains negative, dropping further down to -8% in March from -4% in January. “There… Continue Reading
Swiss bank Lombard Odier: Russian investors to keep clear of Cyprus
By Andrei Skvarsky. Lombard Odier, a Swiss asset management firm, praises the European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout scheme for Cyprus for making bank bondholders “share the pain” of the crisis but warns it will deprive Cypriot banks of a major source of funding and discourage Russians from investing in the country. {{{*}}} “Unprecedented and welcome is the… Continue Reading
Sberbank buying 12 Boeing 737 jets for leasing
Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has signed a $1b deal to buy 12 Next-Generation 737-800 airliners from Boeing to be supplied to Russian airline Transaero under Russia’s first-ever agreement on the operational leasing of imported aircraft. Sberbank will provide its operational leasing customers with “modern, world-class finance solutions”, the bank and the U.S. aircraft industry giant… Continue Reading
Sberbank CIB’s merchant banking team welcomes two senior newcomers
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has reported two senior hires for the merchant banking team of Sberbank CIB, its investment arm. Jonathan Gillbanks joined from Kazakhstan investment group Visor Holding as managing director responsible for structuring and marketing funds for attracting external investment and focusing specifically on technology, media and telecom projects, according… Continue Reading
Moscow refuses to refund Russians for money lost in Cyprus
The Russian government will not compensate Russian savers who have lost money in the Cyprus banking crisis but is likely to consider helping companies where the Russian state is a shareholder, the BBC cited Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying. A good chunk of the foreign money kept in Cypriot banks is… Continue Reading
J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse named as IPO bookrunners for Russia’s Qiwi
Qiwi, the operator of one of Russia’s largest networks of electronic payment terminals, is considering an initial public offering of shares on NASDAQ in mid-2013 and has named J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse as the bookrunners, according to investment intelligence website Invest IQ. Qiwi, which has not disclosed its share pricing plans, would offer up… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Is There Method in the Madness?
By Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (this week’s ‘Viewpoints’). My last week was especially exhausting as there was so much going on and I had to organise so many things. And I wasn’t even travelling! Just trying to keep up with the huge array of things going on everywhere was tough enough, never… Continue Reading
Some 350 Russian firms seeking investment as part of European high-tech promo event
By Andrei Skvarsky. About 350 Russian companies specialising in innovative technology have applied for money from leading global investors as part of a promotion programme run by Tech Tour, a Geneva-based nonprofit organisation. The selection committee of this year’s Third Russian Tech Tour, to take place on April 23-26, will select 25 high-growth private firms… Continue Reading
Sberbank, China’s "Big Four" AgBank to do business together
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank), one of the Asian country’s four largest state-owned commercial banks, have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging cooperation in a wide range of activities. {{{*}}} Trade financing and ruble and yuan settlements are some of the business lines covered by the memorandum, signed… Continue Reading
Prokhorov's Onexim completes buyout of Renaissance Capital
By Andrei Skvarsky. Onexim, a major Russian investment fund owned by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, has completed the buyout of Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital. {{{*}}} The transaction, launched in September 2012, makes Onexim the sole owner of RenCap, according to a statement from the two companies. All necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained except for that from… Continue Reading
J. P. Morgan: futures markets can help end global food shortages
By Andrei Skvarsky. J.P. Morgan, the US-based bulge bracket investment bank, argues that price benchmarks set in futures markets can help to get rid of distribution and other imbalances that leave 868m people across the world undernourished. {{{*}}} Today’s global food supply exceeds minimum dietary energy requirements by 50%, and the fact that so many people… Continue Reading
RUSSIAN SECURITIES FORUM – Moscow
10th Annual RUSSIAN SECURITIES FORUM 4-5 June 2013, Moscow, Baltschug Kempinski Hotel 10% Discount with VIP Code: FKP2347EML Changes in the Russian Securities market are emerging quicker than ever this year – and predominantly for the positive. There really is only one way that you can get the full picture in an information packed 2… Continue Reading
RenCap says Bank of Georgia shows “robust” earnings
Moscow’s Renaissance Capital has released “cautiously optimistic” forecasts about Bank of Georgia, which has been through some rough times after last October’s parliamentary elections brought about a change of government and consequent political turmoil in the Caucasus country. {{{*}}} Bank of Georgia, “as a subset of Georgia itself, has been subject to volatility like no… Continue Reading
Prudential Real Estate Investors appoints Morgan Laughlin and Victoria Shigehira Sharpe in Asia
Prudential Real Estate Investors has named Morgan Laughlin head of its Asia business, responsible for managing the company’s operations and strategy in the Asia Pacific region. He will be based in Tokyo. Laughlin replaces Victoria Shigehira Sharpe, who has taken a new role with the global institutional relationship group for Prudential Investment Management. Based in Singapore, Sharpe will… Continue Reading
New Governor of the Bank for Slovenia
Following the change of government in Slovenia, Mr Uroš Čufer has been appointed Minister of Finance of the Republic of Slovenia and took office on 21 March 2013, succeeding Mr Janez Šušteršič. Mr Čufer also becomes EIB Governor for the Republic of Slovenia. From 2004 until his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr Čufer served… Continue Reading
New Governor of the Bank for Malta
Following the general election in Malta on 9 March 2013, Mr Edward Scicluna has taken office as Minister for Finance. Mr Scicluna also becomes EIB Governor for the Republic of Malta. He was also elected in 2009 to the European Parliament where he served for four years as Vice-Chairman of the Economic and Monetary Affairs… Continue Reading
EBRD invests US$ 24.3 million in Egyptian white goods manufacturer
The EBRD is launching its first project with an Egyptian owned company and is now actively providing support to the four reforming economies in the Middle East and North Africa. The EBRD is lending 150 million Egyptian pounds (US$ 24.3 million) to Universal Metallurgical Company S.A.E. to finance the completion of a plant that will… Continue Reading
Investors won’t regret putting money into Polish IT – govt
By Andrei Skvarsky. Poland’s government has launched a promotion programme for the country’s booming information and communication technology sector and invites investors into the industry. {{{*}}} The European Union-funded IT/ICT Business Promotion Programme, launched by Poland’s Economy Ministry, aims to create new Polish brands and will be publicised through planned roadshows in Poland, Germany, Norway,… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Cyprus never let a crisis go to waste
From the weekly “Viewpoints” of Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. So how can it be that a $22bn economy can be the dominant global topic for conversation for a full week? {{{*}}} I am fond of saying that China (at least in 2011) was creating the equivalent of another Greece every 121⁄2 weeks.… Continue Reading
RenCap: Russian economy almost at a standstill, recession looming
Moscow’s Renaissance Capital investment bank argues, citing preliminary statistics from the Russian Economics Ministry, that Russia’s economy has practically stopped growing and is in danger of recession. {{{*}}} Declining prices for commodities such as aluminium, tin, crude oil and copper and output contraction in key industries such as mining, pulp and paper, and electrical equipment,… Continue Reading
Sberbank puts ex-RBS banker in charge of FICC sales
Sberbank has hired Peter Urbanczyk from Royal Bank of Scotland as head of fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) sales for the Americas. {{{*}}} Urbanczyk, whose investment banking career spans over 28 years and includes jobs with Bear Stearns, Credit Lyonnais and National Westminster Bank, will be based at the US office of Sberbank CIB, Sberbank’s… Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange launching T+2 deferred settlement scheme
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Moscow Exchange is launching on March 25 a T+2 settlement system, an arrangement where payment for securities that have been bought must be made no later than two business days after the transaction. {{{*}}} The exchange plans to simultaneously continue using its current T+0 immediate payment scheme until the end of… Continue Reading
GOLDMAN SACHS COMMENT: Will the BRICS Announce a BRICS Development Bank?
By Jim O’Neill, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (weekly “Vewpoints”) Most stock markets enjoyed a further rally last week with a lot of subsequent media attention especially surrounding the succession of record highs in the Dow Jones index in the US, although the S&P is still yet to vault its pre-crisis highs. It wasn’t such a… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires ex-Barclays banker to run forex trading
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has hired Steven Weller, a former Barclays, Lehman Brothers and Citi banker {{{*}}}, as head of foreign exchange trading at the largest Russian lender’s investment arm, Sberbank CIB. Weller, who joined Sberbank on March 22, is based in Moscow, Sberbank said in a statement. He has spent over two decades working… Continue Reading
Saudi Arabia’s Sedco launches Luxembourg platform for Islam-compliant investments
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sedco Capital, a Saudi Arabian asset manager, has launched a one-stop shop platform in Luxembourg for institutional investments compliant with Shariah {{{*}}}, the Islamic moral code and religious law. The Sedco Capital Global Funds platform offers access to seven investment funds with total assets under management exceeding $1bn. The funds accessible through… Continue Reading