The world of investment banking is constantly evolving, with top institutions around the globe leading the charge in various categories, from initial public offerings (IPOs) to sustainable finance. In 2025, we saw some of the biggest names in the industry continue to dominate, leveraging their expertise, relationships, and innovative approaches to stay ahead. These banks…
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finfluencer crackdown requires firms to treat social media financial promotions as a controlled compliance function, not a marketing add-on. Any firm using influencers, affiliates, introducers, paid creators, or third-party campaign partners must be able to prove that promotions are authorised, approved, monitored, and capable of being removed quickly. The FCA-led…
For investment bankers, 2025 ended on a high note. “It is an exceptional time as 2026 launches,” Barclays declared in January. Global M&A volumes exceeded $5 trillion in 2025, and the London-based bank articulated what all its peers seemed to be thinking: “All signs point to the momentum in M&A continuing well into 2026.” Wrong….
Corporate finance rarely announces turning points explicitly; instead, it evolves in layers that become obvious only when the old reasoning feels somewhat out of sync with reality, which is roughly where things stand in 2026. What appears to be incremental improvement, with faster payments here and better visibility there, becomes more structural with closer study,…
VITAL STATISTICSLocation: Central EuropeNeighbors: Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, UkraineCapital City: BudapestPopulation (early 2026): 9.6 millionOfficial Language: Hungarian (Magyar)GDP per capita (2025): $25,284GDP growth rate: 0% (2025), 2.3% expected for 2026, 2.6% for 2027Inflation: 4.5% in 2025, 3.5% expected for 2026Currency: Forint (HUF)Investment Promotion Agencies: The Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA) provides a range of…
Many payment processors treat identity verification like a gatekeeper. You hand over your documents, wait for approval, and hope nothing gets lost in the process. For crypto payments, this creates a bizarre contradiction: you’re using a technology built for decentralization and privacy, but still jumping through the same hoops as a bank account application. No-KYC…
The advent of autonomous treasury has ignited a competitive push, complete with aggressive industry targets. Not all companies will want to proceed at the same speed. The shift to an autonomous treasury is reshaping the world of corporate finance, driven by new strategies and technologies—from self-healing cash forecasts to AI-driven liquidity engines—that are replacing legacy…
Revolut recently said it wants to secure banking licences in both France and the United States, just weeks after finally winning a full UK banking licence. That is what makes the latest move matter. Without the UK approval, the push into France and the US would look like another expansion story. With it, the company…
Global Finance: What have been your main priorities at Faes Farma thus far? Iker Etxezarreta: One of my main priorities has been strengthening internal governance and improving communication across the different financial areas. Finance works best when it operates in a coordinated and transparent way across the organization. Another key step has been positioning the…
UK inflation rose to 3.3% in March 2026, up from 3.0% in February, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is the headline. The harder part is what sits alongside it: weaker growth, higher business costs and a Bank of England that cannot deal with an imported energy shock as neatly as it would…