The Economist (April 25 Issue)
“Xi Jinping wants a powerful currency. America’s war has helped.” Usage of the yuan is expanding, but the currency remains far from the status of a global reserve currency. “Last month China’s currency accounted for over 8% of global trade finance, according to SWIFT, second (but a distant second) to the dollar, on over 80%.” Nevertheless, the yuan is becoming “a source of comfort for countries and firms disconcerted by America’s haphazard stewardship of the truly powerful dollar.”
Tags: 80, China, Comfort, Countries, Disconcerted, Finance, Firms, Global reserve, Global trade, Haphazard, Powerful currency, Stewardship, Swift, U.S., Xi, Yuan
The Economist (May 19)
Unless European “companies or their governments take the fight all the way to the White House, they have little choice but to abide by the long—and sometimes wrong—arm of American law.” America’s threat of sanctions on companies doing business with Iran impacts major players including Total, Airbus, Peugeot, Renault and SWIFT. Still, it remains to be seen if “there is the stomach for such a battle.”
Tags: Airbus, European, Fight, Governments, Iran, Law, Peugeot, Renault, Sanctions, Swift, Threat, Total, White House
Financial Times (May 25)
News that the cross-border payment system Swift “has at least woken up to the challenge facing its business” is encouraging. “But this is not just a problem involving cross-border deals. Cyber crime is increasingly a threat to the whole financial industry. This is one digital challenge that banks cannot duck.”
Tags: Banks, Cross-border, Cyber crime, Digital challenge, Financial industry, Payments, Swift, Threat
