Private Banking M&A: Share or Asset Deal?

It, of course, is a truism to state that the Swiss Private Banking industry is undergoing very significant structural changes, which are being driven by the new tax (and regulatory) paradigm as well as by the changing competitive landscape, both in Switzerland and internationally. A...

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Major Changes in Trade Finance – ValleyRoad Introduces MTFs

Traditional trade finance relies on short term revolving and self-liquidating credit lines provided by banks. The 2008 crisis and its consequences of increasingly restrictive regulations have put pressure on banks to deleverage. This in turn has significantly impacted trade credits and traders. Trade finance plays a...

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Yield hunters, pension funds and doggedly low interest rates

We are living a remarkable period of time, during which interest rates are very low and meant to stay that way for another year or two in the EU and Switzerland. Systemic risk is high and Western democracies are over-indebted (with a few exceptions). Several...

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Private Banking: Death Valley or the Valley of Elah?

Conventional wisdom imparted by bankers (and by many of the consultants advising them) says that the Wealth Management sector will not only have to rapidly consolidate in the face of the structural changes besetting the industry, but will also polarize in two very distinct sorts...

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Fresh water stress. Economically viable Swiss solutions.

The scarcity of fresh water in major parts of the world is a well-known and alarming fact. Beside the water needed for agriculture, industry and human consumption, hygiene is often an unaddressed source of water consumption. Overall, water consumption is growing twice as fast as...

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