Andrea Murad

2 weeks ago | gfmag.com | Andrea Murad

Global Finance: Standard Chartered is this year’s Best Investment Bank for Infrastructure Finance. How does this award reflect the firm’s mission? Abbas Husain: This award reinforces our role as a trusted partner in driving sustainable development and economic progress. It reflects our commitment to delivering innovative financial solutions that enable critical infrastructure projects, strengthen trade corridors, and support long-term growth. GF: Is infrastructure finance changing?

2 weeks ago | gfmag.com | Andrea Murad |John Njiraini |Lyndsey Zhang |Thomas Monteiro

Persistent inflation and volatile interest rates defined much of the M&A landscape in 2024, dampening buy-side confidence even as activity gained momentum. By year’s end, global deal value had climbed 16% to surpass $3.4 trillion, according to Dealogic. But as macroeconomic pressures began to ease, fresh geopolitical tensions and a looming global trade war emerged, threatening hopes for a 2025 rebound. Early indicators suggest dealmakers face another turbulent year ahead.

2 weeks ago | gfmag.com | Andrea Murad |Thomas Monteiro |Lyndsey Zhang |John Njiraini

Debt capital markets enjoyed a 36% surge in total deal volume in 2024 compared to 2023, according to Dealogic. The US touted a 45% increase. Asia-Pacific (50%), Africa and the Middle East (57%), and Latin America (66%) did even better; and Europe posted a 19% gain. Japan was the only major market to decline, by 3%. Underwriter revenue from global Debt Capital Markets (DCM) reached $27.3 billion.

2 weeks ago | gfmag.com | Andrea Murad |Thomas Monteiro |John Njiraini |Lyndsey Zhang

Throughout 2024, the infrastructure sector was highly active for investment bankers, with robust deal flow across renewable energy, digital transformation, and critical infrastructure projects. Major banks like Absa Bank, ICBC, OTP Bank, Bradesco BBI, J.P. Morgan, and Intesa Sanpaolo participated in significant deals globally, highlighting strong demand for financing in sustainable and strategic infrastructure investments.

2 weeks ago | gfmag.com | Andrea Murad |Thomas Monteiro |Lyndsey Zhang |John Njiraini

Following two years of sticky inflation, exorbitant interest rates, and geopolitical tensions, worldwide equity issuance volume surged to $741 billion in 2024. That’s up 20% from the previous year. Global inflation eased and major central banks began to cut interest rates: encouraging developments for equity issuers and investors. As a result, 2024 was the strongest year for equity capital markets (ECM) in the past four, according to Dealogic.