Global Finance

ALTERNATIVE LIQUIDITY A row is brewing over looming new capital adequacy rules that may intensify a credit crunch for the companies that make up the backbone of the German economy. By Mark Johnson You're the owner and manager of a medium-size, but successful,...

BRAZIL SPECIAL REPORT Imminent presidential elections, Argentina's financial crisis, the global economic dowturn: Brazil's economy seems immune to them all. And investors are banking on Brazil leading the region to a more stable and prosperous future....

ASIA Japan wants to keep its yen as cheap as it can until the end of its fiscal year, on March 31, analysts say, and not only to improve its trade prospects. While the country stands to benefit from an improved competitive position in world trade as...

BOOK REVIEW Dream or Nightmare? One country, two points of view from recent books on China Of the tidal wave of books published about China in recent months, two stand out. But though both deal with more or less the same subject, the two could hardly...

HUNGARY SPECIAL REPORT A decade of solid reforms has given Hungary one of the most open free-market economies in central and eastern Europe, surpassing even some EU member nations in liberalization. Now the EU membership process enters the home stretch....

Senior attorneys from some of the world's leading financial law firms met recently in the offices of Global Finance for a discussion of the latest trends affecting cross-border legal and financial services-- including the impact of the Enron controversy....

CORPORATE FINANCE FoOCUS BANK RELATIONSHIPS As banks attempt to provide more integrated services, corporations are facing some unexpected challenges. For some it leads to better service, for others a liquidity crunch. In the mid-1990s, Baxter International...

PARTING SHOTS THE END OF TRUST Investigations and new regulatory controls are flying fast and heavy in the wake of the Enron collapse and the war on terror. Mistrust has set in. So now what? It may seem a bit odd, but the Enron fiasco and the terror...

Major credit ratings agencies are getting more aggressive in identifying and responding to trouble spots on corporate balance sheets. It could mean big changes for debt issuers. By Adam Rombel Faulted for being too slow to react to Enron's financial...

UNITED STATES In a global economy flirting with recession, any business related to the construction industry can expect a bumpy ride. But prevailing market conditions don't seem to daunt the management of construction-machinery manufacturer Terex. In...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE THE AMERICAS/EUROPE Confidence in US capital markets may have been eroded by concerns about accounting problems and outright fraud, but foreign capital continues to flood onto US shores, keeping the high-flying dollar afloat, analysts...