Barry E. Silbert: Going Out on a Limb, Reinventing Capital Markets

SecondMarket was set up in 2004 and has since expanded into multibillion dollar trading platform with well over 53,000 registered participants. The exchange offers a bewildering array of securities ranging from public debt instruments to bankruptcy claims and credit derivatives.

Read More

2014 Set to be Turning Point for Saudi Real Estate Sector

2014 Edition of Cityscape Jeddah Set to be Largest Event Ever Held Jeddah, March 2014: The year 2014 is all set to witness huge achievements in the Saudi real estate industry, especially the housing sector in which the private sector

Read More

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

Read More

WEF Recognises Young Global Leaders from Africa

The World Economic Forum announced last week the new members selected to join the Forum of Young Global Leaders. From Africa, this year’s class includes: Bernice Dapaah, Ghana, Executive Director of the Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative, a social enterprise which

Read More

World Bank Support to Promote Transparency, Accountability and Job Creation in Jordan

A US$250 million loan, approved last week, will ease Jordan’s fiscal strains, which have been deepened by the influx of Syrian refugees and by regional turmoil that has disrupted its hydrocarbon supplies from Egypt. The World Bank’s support to Jordan

Read More

How to Tame an Unruly Bear

You heed Teddy’s advice: Speak softly and carry a big stick. That’s how a bear is brought to its senses. Hardly rocket science. With his simple, yet effective approach to foreign policy, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – the 26th US president

Read More

Shami Chakrabarti: The Need for Loyal Dissent

In a free society, dissent is a civic duty. The presumed fallibility of those in power leads to a system governed not by men, but by laws – a system of rights and due process. Fear can undermine this system.

Read More

EU Statement on Crimea

As stated by all 28 EU Heads of State or Government on 6 March 2014, the European Union considers the holding of the referendum on the future status of the territory of Ukraine as contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution and

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More