Editor's letter: The great levelling

Some four or five hundred years ago, the life of the ordinary working man was pretty much the same wherever in the world he lived: just enough to put a roof over his head and some food on the table, with a bit left over either to save or for little luxuries.

News
Deal news: Brazilian commodities open up with Bahia Specialty Cellulose and Vigolo PXFs
Bahia Specialty Cellulose and Vigolo-Bon Jesus have both launched into syndication with PXFs led by WestLB, in deals valued at $500m and $60m respectively.

Regular
60-second interview: Stuart Roberts, Wells Fargo
Stuart Roberts, Head of Supply Chain Finance at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, reveals how client demands have changed as a result of the financial crisis.

News
Deal news: BP raises $5bn in two PXFs
Oil giant BP has raised $5bn in two pre-export finance deals to improve its liquidity following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its purchase of assets from Devon Energy.

News
Deal news: Emirates Steel signs $2.2bn ECA-backed deal
Emirates Steel, the biggest steel producer in the United Arab Emirates, has secured $2.2bn in project finance, incorporating $500m secured by Italian export credit agency Sace.

News
People & places: Four join Deutsche Bank transaction banking team in Asia
Deutsche Bank has announced a number of new appointments in its Global Transaction Banking team in Asia. Nicole Wong, Belinda Han, Le Nhat Phuong Hong, and Sang-Joon Park have moved to new, bigger roles in Deutsche in Singapore, China, Vietnam and South Korea.

News
People & places: EBRD supports largest aluminium producer in central Europe
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has put together a $180m refinancing package for Romania’s Alro.

News
People & places: Veetil and Hermawan appointed to cash management roles at HSBC
Sunil Veetil and Herani Hermawan have been appointed to new global payment and cash management roles at HSBC.

Feature
Latin America: Inca gold
The Andean countries of Peru, Colombia and Chile have grown solidly in the past decade thanks to strong demand for their commodities.

Regular
ATFA eye: Making trade securitisation work
Finacity’s Jeremy Blatt examines the process of creating a trade receivable securitisation, including the ongoing monitoring and reporting requirements.

News
People & places: Mark Fenner promoted at BNYM
Mark Fenner has been promoted to Head of Relationship Management and Sales for Treasury Services across the Middle East and Africa region at BNY Mellon.

News
People & places: Juultje van der Wijk takes over from Frank Heusdens at ING
Juultje van der Wijk has taken over from Frank Heusdens as Global Head of Trade Finance Services at ING Commercial Banking.

News
People & places: Russian grain export ban causes soft commodities spike
The Russian government has banned the export of wheat, corn, barley, rye and grain after a prolonged drought, followed by wildfires, devastated crops.

News
Deal news: Metinvest completes $700m PXF
Metinvest, the Ukrainian iron, steel and coking coal company controlled by Rinat Akhmetov’s SCM Holdings, has closed a $700m pre-export finance facility.