The heart of the main retail district in Seoul could hardly be more different than that of western cities. Instead of competing businesses being dispersed among outlets selling non-competing products as you’d find elsewhere, in South Korea’s capital city they are all congregated together. Standing side by side on the main retail strip – the Jongno road – are dozens of businesses selling car parts, dozens more selling lighting products or textiles or electrical fittings or homeware. And further down the road, one of the oldest east-west thoroughfares in the city, there’s an old, multi-level department store standing directly in front...
Some companies like to think big and move fast. Aabar Investments PSJC, based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, shows how it is done. Incorporated in 2005 with a mandate to develop an oil and gas business focusing on exploration and production, Aabar has since transformed itself into a global investment fund with holdings in real estate, automotive, financial services, infrastructure and transportation. “Was this transformation part of the plan from the company’s inception?” asks Mohamed Al-Husseiny, Aabar’s Chief Executive Officer. “Not at first. It was an evolution. Eventually, hydrocarbon assets were shed and put to work in a more profita...
Montenegro is certainly one of the most interesting spots in the world. Even though it only covers around 14,000 km2 and it only has about 650,000 citizens, its contribution to the World cultural heritage is impressive compared to its size. Montenegro is a Southern European and a Mediterranean country. Its landscape combination of mountains, deep valleys, natural ice lakes, sandy beaches and attractive islands is breathtaking. Since regaining its independence in 2006, Montenegro has proved to be a safe, politically stable and economically viable state with the potential to grow rapidly. The country has signed the Stabilisation and Association...
During a period of recession that has hit most of the world’s influential economies, Brazil has still managed to develop a strong corporate governance programme that builds on legislation changes and promises to protect the country should future global financial problems occur. Deloitte has worked hard in building Brazil’s corporate governance, a process which is designed to withstand another battering from a global recession, strengthen the country’s long term financial security and produce an economy that is attractive to investment. The reputation and status worldwide enjoyed by Deloitte for being innovators in their market has seen ...
Founded in 1926, Banca March is the foremost family-owned Spanish bank. Soundness, prudence and a close-knit relationship with its clients are the cornerstone values of a bank that has been around for nearly a century. Banca March also has the best solvency ratio among Spanish banks and one of the highest in European banking (19.7 percent Core Capital and Tier 1 as at December 2009). Its non-performing loan ratio is one of the lowest in the Spanish financial system (2.82 percent in 2009), namely due to the excellent quality of its investment portfolio, and it has a high allowance coverage ratio for insolvencies (97.20 percent), in accordance ...
The bank prides itself on understanding the needs as well as the strategies of its clients in order to provide them with customised services efficiently and quickly. The bank focuses on corporate clients with annual revenues above R$150m. Its culture led to fast growth throughout its more than twelve years of existence, positioning Banco PINE as one of the most profitable among its peers. Clients’ needs at Banco PINE are assessed on an individual basis, as are credit risks, resulting in personalised solutions. The agility and creativity when serving clients are the main features of the bank and were achieved thanks to the management model c...
The plunge of the European common currency has been the market theme for much of 2010. With the euro value declining to the lowest level against the dollar since 2006, foreign exchange trading has given way to extraordinary profit taking. Feeding on turbulence, the forex market offers unparalleled opportunities in both upturn and downturn markets compared to the more traditional stock and property markets. In addition, the alluring tool of leverage, the ease of market entrance and exit and the possibility of small capital investment has opened the doors to a much wider range of participants. Forex trading can yield enormous profits in a relat...
Back in the fifties, Mifel was a small company servicing SMEs on financial strategies. Later on, it began to grow a small fund to operate with and eventually obtained the first private concession for an exchange house in Mexico back in the tumultuous and complicated eighties. In 1993, Mifel set up a leasing company and in that same year Grupo Financiero Mifel was born, a step that paved the way for the concession of one of the first new private banking licenses to be granted since the industry was nationalised in Mexico back in 1982. In 2003, the group introduced a new management team led by Daniel Becker and several very talented members of ...
For over three years, Western governments have been battling one of the most severe economic crises of the last century. It commenced with the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, Northern Rock in the UK, Lehmans, and now new rumours of uncertainty coming from Europe. In the midst of all of this, there have also been threats of hyperinflation, deflation and now sovereign debt default. Leaders around the world have been working continuously to come up with appropriate measures to “exit the crisis”. The question is – which one? It is a crisis in continual evolution. The financial losses registered in 2007, 2008 and 2009 have resulted in a ...
Many of these changes and reforms have been possible, through the use of public private partnerships. Shalakany Law Office has been working closely with the three main parties involved; the government, the service providers and the lenders, on a variety of different public partnership projects across different sectors, giving them a unique insight into inner workings of the programmes themselves. World Finance spoke to a representative from The Office about the relationship between the proposed reforms and public private partnerships, how the reforms are affecting the country as a whole and how the government are creating this business friend...