Overview of the global military contributors Analysis of the import-export scenario of the global arms market Outlook of Asia Pacific in the future of the arms market   Global military expenditure contribution rose to 2.6 percent of the global gross domestic product to $1,822 billion as of 2018, as per data by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute...

Rise of neobanks A look into neobanks by region and players Road ahead for neobanks   The traditional banking sector, in recent years, has witnessed a new challenge with the rise of a new breed of digital-only, neobanks. They are fully digital financial service providers providing a range of services including banking apps and products such as payment and...

Overview of the merger between Worldline and Ingenico The new entity post-merger of the two firms Road ahead of the payment industry as competition intensifies   The global payment processors and solution market has grown rapidly over the years, from a total revenue of $1.1 trillion as of 2007 to a total revenue of $1.9 trillion as of 2018, with Asia,...

Overview of the latest results of the top banks of America Analysis of individual performance of the American banks Road ahead for the American banks   2019 was a tumultuous year for the United States but not for the American banks, which had a blast. After a disappointing performance in 2018, America’s top banks – JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley...

Current state of the Indian economy Global tax rates vs. Indian tax rate Impact of the corporate tax rate cut   A number of global and domestic agencies – Moody’s, Fitch, World Bank, OECD and now RBI and SBI have downgraded India’s GDP growth forecasts for the FY 2019-20. India’s GDP is estimated to reach USD 2.93 trillion in 2019 (USD 11.32 trillion based...

India’s Government announces plans to merge 10 of the country’s public sector banks Probable impact of the mergers   India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently announced the Centre’s plan to amalgamate 10 public sector banks (PSBs) into 4. With this, the total number of PSBs in the country reduces to 12, down from 27 till 2017. The Centre stated that...

Overview of Endeavor and its financial health A turbulent year for majority of the unicorns going for IPO Why it might still had been a good idea for the company to shelve its IPO?   Endeavor Holding Group, one of the biggest entertainment, sports and content company cancelled its plan for its Initial Public Offering (IPO) just a day before it was set to...

What drove the decline in global M&A activity in YTD 2019? Why did some dealmakers make big bets in a slow economic environment this year?   After an aggressive performance in 2018, the global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity had been docile in 2019 from the start of year itself. In the first 9 months of 2019, there have been 25,754 number of deals...

Facebook announced its own digital currency Libra Roadblock in Facebook’s ambitious plan   After a rough 2018, Facebook hogged the headlines in the mid-June of 2019 and unveiled a plan to launch its new digital currency Libra in 2020. Cryptos are an emerging concept in the financial ecosystem and with rising internet and smartphone users, it already has...

NBFC sector facing tightening of liquidity Mutual funds reducing exposure to NBFCs IL&FS and DHFL default signals a bigger crisis in the making   In the past year, the Indian corporate world has been marred with huge banking and liquidity crisis, while issues regarding fraud and bankruptcies added to the wounds. The fallout of the same has been...

Rising student loan debt in the United States after the recession Impact of student loans on the US economy   The student loans in the United States have witnessed continuous growth since the Great Recession of 2008. The total value of student loans stood at ~USD 1.5 trillion by the end of 2018, which is spread out among approx. 45 million borrowers. This mark a...

Overview of the digital transformation in the banking sector Digital strategies initiated by JPMorgan and their outcome   The global banking industry is undergoing a transformational change in its business model due to the challenges posed by a growing prominence and invasion of innovative fintech companies in the financial space. Digital transformation is the rallying...

The state of NPAs in India Introduction of IBC and other measures taken in the country What happened till date?   Non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans arises when banks make a poor lending decision or wherein loans were given after due consideration, though macroeconomic conditions, sector-wise changes or company-wise issues develop at a later stage and lead...

Overview of the housing finance sector in India Key players dominating the segment and their dynamics Factors driving aggressive demand for housing   The housing finance market in India is served by both Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) as well as Non-Banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) such as Housing Finance Corporations (HFCs), these have different dynamics...

With digital banking picking up, does cash transactions still hold value? Has the ATM industry reached its saturation point? Impact of demonetisation on cash transactions in India   An Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is one of the most crucial self-service channels for the retail banking sector that connects banks or financial institutions with customers. The 1st...

The growth and scope Stability of housing loan market   Housing is a crucial sector for the global economic growth due to its multiplier effect for driving the demand, especially for several ancillary sectors. The growth of the sector is dependent on numerous factors, the key being housing finance. This play a significant role as it helps bridge the gap between the...

An overview on the industry Increasing loss ratio and declining insurance margin New lines of insurance and flexible coverage terms   The US Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance industry has been witnessing a decline in the YoY revenue growth from 2013. The industry registered a YoY revenue growth of 2.7% (2016) as compared to 4% (2015). This decline in the...

Life insurance market in the most populous nation, challenges and scope for growth. The three major life insurance firms in China. How Chinese regulations are affecting the industry and its players? Digitisation and Chinese life insurance firms.   The life insurance market in China is the fourth largest in the world. Secondly, the Gross Written Premium (GWP)...

Credit rating agencies provide an independent assessment to securities or issuers. The market for the industry is humongous with nearly $82,000 billion worth of debt securities issued in Q3 2016 as per the BIS (Bank for International Settlements). The industry is poised to grow due to more regulatory pressure, high borrowing cost for an unrated security and worldwide acceptance of a rated...

Islamic banking has gained a lot of significance in the past decade owing to its immense growth potential. This banking model is expected to fuel dampened growth in conventional banks. Islamic banks (IB) offer products similar to conventional banks (CB), but with a slightly different concept. These are prohibited from charging interest ( riba ) since in Islam money cannot be treated as a...