All articles by John Evans
John Evans
Sovereign funds come under scrutiny
Sovereign wealth funds investment vehicles created by governments in primarily emerging economies and backed by huge accumulations of foreign exchange reserves are drawing growing attention, and some political unease, as they become more involved in major international M&As, writes John Evans Barclays, attempting to win ABN AMRO against a competing offer by a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium, raised its bid to 67.5 billion ($93.5 billion) at the end of July after lining up investments from China and Singapore worth $18.5 billion China Development Bank and Singapores Temasek both bought strategic stakes in the UK bank, allowing it to increase its offer for the Dutch lender.Last year, Temasek became the largest shareholder in UK-headquartered Standard Chartered, a bank that has most of its assets in Asia
Taiwan opens up to foreign banks
Industry consolidation in Taiwan, Asias fourth-largest retail banking market, is accelerating, with foreign lenders and international private equity funds looking to grab assets from an economy still trying to emerge from the recent consumer credit crunch