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From Ledger to Legacy: The Businesses Behind Some of the World’s Largest Philanthropic Fortunes

The world’s greatest philanthropists were first some of its most formidable businesspeople. From steel and oil to software and e-commerce, the industries, ownership structures and disciplines that created exceptional fortunes have also shaped how those fortunes are given away. The

Stablecoins Were Supposed to Bypass the Card Schemes. Instead, the Schemes are Positioning Themselves as the Operating System

Stablecoins emerged with a disruptive promise: move money instantly, globally and cheaply without relying on the banks, card schemes and correspondent networks that dominate conventional payments. For Visa and Mastercard, that promise was not an abstract challenge. It went directly

Iran at the Crossroads

The strategic achievement available to Iran’s leaders is to give the next Iranian generation a reason to build its future in Iran. Iran is an ancient civilisation, a country of more than 90 million people, and potentially one of the

The Cost Curve Did Not Reach the Balance Sheet: Reading Energy’s Latest Marks

Across energy filings struck between March 2025 and June 2026, the largest write-downs sat on low-carbon assets and the only write-backs booked in the current periods sat on merchant gas. Not one of the impairment notes gives the cost of

The Continental Couplings: Can Rail Integration Unlock Latin America’s Economic Frontier?

Fragmented by geography and long neglected by coordinated policy, the rail networks of South and Central America are drawing renewed attention from governments and investors seeking lower logistics costs and less exposure to a single maritime chokepoint. The plans are

EUREP Goes Global: The ECB’s Quiet Lender of Last Resort

The European Central Bank has begun onboarding non-euro-area central banks to its enhanced EUREP repo facility. For the first time, the non-euro world has a standing euro liquidity backstop. Currencies internationalise through exactly this kind of quiet lender-of-last-resort plumbing, and

Banco Azteca: Advancing Financial Inclusion Through Access, Education, and Trust

Banco Azteca has built a distinctive position in Mexico by serving working- and middle-class customers who have historically been overlooked by traditional banking. Its model combines an extensive physical network, digital access, responsible credit, insurance, and large-scale financial education. Banco

Alejandro Valenzuela: Turning Financial Access into Lasting Capability

Banco Azteca Chairman of the Board Alejandro Valenzuela believes financial inclusion must extend far beyond access to accounts and credit. His leadership agenda combines education, responsible lending, digital innovation, and human support to help more Mexicans build resilience and participate

Rules over Discretion: What a Chinese-Owned Lithium Expansion Says About Argentina’s Investment Regime

A US$709m expansion of a Chinese-owned lithium project has cleared RIGI, Argentina’s incentive regime for large investments. The approval suggests a rules-based framework with a fixed closing date is beginning to do what decades of discretionary policy could not: convert

SPP AI Governance Framework: What “Human Oversight” Now Has to Mean

The Society of Pension Professionals’ new framework, Governance in the Age of AI, argues that artificial intelligence needs no new governance regime, only the honest application of duties that already exist. Its most demanding passage is about the people signing