The World Bank: Local Currency Bonds Catch On as Countries Aim to Catch Up

Two years ago, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation tried something that had never been done in the Dominican Republic. In a bid to increase access to finance to entrepreneurs and home-buyers, the Bank Group’s private sector arm became

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Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group: Macroeconomics and Stagnation – Keynesian-Schumpeterian Wars

Policy makers in the advanced economies at the core of the global financial crisis can make the claim that they prevented a new “Great Depression”. However, recovery since the outbreak of the crisis more than five years ago has been

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Ernst & Young, Argentina: Tax Reform Affects Stocks and Dividends

On September 23 of last year a law (nr. 26,893) was introduced which significantly amend the Argentine income tax law. It was published in the Official Bulletin. As an introduction, the main amendments are aimed at levying income tax over

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IFC: Indonesia Needs Good Corporate Governance

Indonesia’s economy is facing tough challenges: A slowdown of gross domestic product growth, a depreciation of the rupiah and a tightening of external financing. On the political side, the country is entering a period of uncertainty with upcoming legislative and

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Blythe Masters: The Risks of Spreading the Risk

Out of a tragic oil spill came forth a new financial instrument: The credit default swap – to some a financial weapon of mass destruction; to others a nifty way to spread, and thus diminish, credit risk. The credit default

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EU: Single Rule Book in Banking

The European Commission has adopted a package of Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) needed to implement important provisions of the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive (CRR/CRD). The nine RTS define the ways in which competent authorities and market participants must, inter

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The World Bank: Accelerating Africa’s Aspirations

As Sub-Saharan Africa develops rapidly, it is estimated that the continent will need millions of engineers just to reach a single Millennium Development Goal, that of access to safe water and improved sanitation. However, there is a serious shortage of

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European Investment Bank: Bank at the Heart of Europe’s Crisis Response

When the leaders of international financial institutions and development banks gathered in Washington DC for their bi-annual meeting a few weeks back, the key focus was somewhat different from the previous ones – for the first time in years, the

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Ernst & Young, Argentina: Legal Certainties in Argentina – Court Sides with Business

Sergio Caveggia and Leonardo Favaretto of EY explain the implications of the Spinna Argentina SRL case with regard to Income Tax Law and Argentine Business Associations Law and what current regulations say in these cases. Recently, the Federal Court of

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KPMG: India – Banking on New Banks

India’s financial sector has tons of questions to ask since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spelled out the new bank guidelines and allowed new entrants onto the market. Is there a need for new banks? Will these be able

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