Dame Zaha Mohammed Hadid: Never an Understatement – Design Rooted in Nature

The work of Dame Zaha Mohammed Hadid, one of today’s most accomplished and celebrated architects, has always been ambitious. To her many admirers she is the Queen of the Curve – a big-picture visual thinker with an impressive record of

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Cyprus on the Mend?

By Delia Velculescu, IMF Mission Chief for Cyprus Speech given at the Economist Conference, Nicosia, November 25, 2013 Much has already been accomplished in the relatively short time since the approval of the stability program for Cyprus. Let me give three

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A Crowded Room with Barry Sternlicht and Kent Swig: New Financing for Real Estate

By David Drake Crowdfunding is taking real estate financing by surprise and the big players are taking notice. When Joe Rubin (FundingPost) and I were planning for this Real Estate Investing conference we knew that crowdfunding’s foray into real estate

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Ukraine Opts for Moscow Leaving EU Empty-Handed

Brussels is baffled, rattled and stunned. The mood in Europe’s capital has turned into one bordering on not-so-quiet diplomatic despair since the Ukraine government on Thursday bluntly suspended preparations for the signing of a comprehensive trade pact and political association

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Sahel Countries Set to Receive Record Amounts in Aid

The countries of the Sahel region are set to receive unprecedented levels of aid to help them overcome poverty and political strife. The European Union and the World Bank have pledged to disburse no less than $8bn in fresh aid

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Vicky Jones, Norton Rose Fulbright: Debt Capital Markets – A Funding Solution for SMEs and Projects?

There has been remarkable growth in corporate bond issuance in Europe since 2000, particularly in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Issues by European non-financial corporates rose almost 20% in the first half of 2013 to US$333bn [1]. This is

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Sampension: PPP as a Way Forward for a Modern Welfare System

Public Private Partnerships (PPP) can be defined as a long-term contract between the public authority and a private partner. In Denmark it now seems clear that PPP is particularly suitable for infrastructure projects that will further the development of society.

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Bentley Motors: Keeping Assembly at Home

The Bentley SUV Bentley Motors recently confirmed that it will proceed with the development of the Bentley SUV, the company’s fourth model line. The SUV will be made in Crewe and will go on sale in 2016. It will create

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Siegmund Warburg: People and Passion First – Profits to Follow

These days, far too often loan applications for the funding of promising business ideas are rejected out of hand by bank computers that spits out a resounding ‘no’. Algorithms lacking intelligence, senses and – indeed – sense, now rule the

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BlackRock: Bridging the Gap – The Rise of Infra Funds in Privately Financed Infrastructure

By BlackRock Infrastructure Debt Team In the wake of the global recession, privately-financed infrastructure has become a hot topic for policy makers from Berlin to Paris, London, and Washington. The attractions are not hard to see – private infrastructure is

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