Banks play a crucial role in allocating financial resources with companies, governments and the whole economy depending on the financial services they provide, as has been proved by the recent financial crisis and its effects on the economy as a whole. Banks play an important role in the resource sector with not only the banks of industrialised countries being important players but banks from emerging market economies as well. more»

Probably the best-known financial institution worldwide is the World Bank. But what are we talking about when we say World Bank: IBRD? IFC? ICSID? Read more about who actually makes up the World Bank. more»

European Investment Bank

- October 21, 2008 - The European housebank EIB is very little known despite the fact that is lends huge amounts of money. Read more about its set-up, shareholders and decision-making structure. more»

October 21, 2008 - The African Development Bank provides money to governments and sometimes to private companies to support projects and policy reforms. Read about its institutional set-up, its shareholders and decision-making bodies. more»

Inter-American Development Bank

- October 21, 2008 - IDB is the largest multilateral public lender for Latin America. Read about its institutional set-up, its shareholders and decision-making bodies. more»

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

- October 23, 2008 - The EBRD was established to assist central and eastern European and central Asian countries in their transition to market-oriented economies and democracy. Read about its institutional set-up, its shareholders and decision-making bodies. more»

Asian Development Bank

- October 23, 2008 - The Asian Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution with the mission to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the people in the Asia Pacific region. Read about its institutional set-up, its shareholders and decision-making bodies. more»

Export credit agencies are public or private institutions that provide government-subsidised loans, guarantees and risk insurance to corporations that want to do business in countries where the investment climate is judged to be too risky for conventional corporate financing. For the global trade and investment market they are important players. more»

October 21, 2008 - Hedge funds have become a buzzword in the global financial markets. Hedge funds are privately-owned, highly leveraged and unregulated investment vehicles whose managers buy and sell securities and assets, and profit substantially from the process. Read more about their set-up and functioning. By Kavaljit Singh more»

October 23, 2008 - Private equity firms are being called “new kings of capitalism” respectively “locusts”. The name “private equity” is a broad term used to define any type of equity investment in an asset or a company that is not listed on a public stock exchange. Therefore, the purchase of shares in a company is privately negotiated. By Kavaljit Singh more»

October 23, 2008 - Sovereign wealth funds are essentially government-owned investment funds, set up for a variety of purposes. The SWFs are owned by state agencies such as central banks, state investment companies, state pension funds, and oil funds. Contrary to popular perception, SWFs are not “new actors” as some funds (such as those of Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Norway and Singapore) have existed for decades. By Kavaljit Singh more»

Frequently Asked Questions About Sovereign Wealth Funds

- October 28, 2008 - Western politicians, business leaders and commentators seem paranoid about state-owned sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), particularly those from the Middle East and China. They fear that SWFs follow strategic political objectives rather than commercial interests. This paper examines these fears in order to understand the potential impact and implications of sovereign wealth funds in a rapidly-changing global political economy. By Kavaljit Singh more»

Ethical Business: Norway Ejects Mining Giant Rio from its Pensionportfolio

- November 22, 2008 - Rio Tinto, one of Britain's most blue chip corporate names, has been thrown out of a sovereign wealth fund's portfolio for allegedly subjecting it - potentially - to "grossly unethical conduct" through its involvement in the world's biggest gold mine. By Terry Macalister more»

October 23, 2008 - Substantial investments by emerging market TNCs have taken place in the natural resources projects pertaining to oil, gas, minerals and metals. State-owned oil companies from China and India are rapidly acquiring oil, gas and mining fields in the Sub-Sahara Africa, Central Asia and Latin America. By Kavaljit Singh more»