RBC revamps investment banking division to target US growth; EBRD faces calls to reaffirm commitment to Georgia’s democracy
Royal Bank of Canada has appointed Matthew Stopnik as head of global investment banking as part of a revamp of the division designed to increase market share in the US.
Stopnik formerly worked as RBC’s head of US investment banking, joining the bank in 2015 after two decades at UBS.
His appointment is part of a restructuring that creates three new global groups within its investment banking, according to a memo seen by Reuters, to assist the Canadian bank in boosting market share and accelerating growth, especially within the lucrative US market.
The bank has named Vito Sperduto, formerly head of global mergers and acquisitions at RBC Capital Markets, as head of the same division in the US.
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Civil society groups have urged the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development not to turn a blind eye to increased repression in member countries, as the bank holds its annual meetings this week in Armenia.
The call comes amid escalating protests in Georgia at the government’s controversial “transparency of foreign interests law”, with a third reading of the bill due in parliament on May 17. A similar “foreign representatives” law was recently adopted in Kyrgyzstan.
“International financial institutions must not turn a blind eye to the growing threats to civil society in Georgia and other countries in the region,” says Mark Martin, executive director of CEE Bankwatch Network.
“If the situation in Georgia continues to escalate, we expect the EBRD, together with other international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank Group, to step up the pressure and halt funding to the government or entities linked to the ruling Georgian Dream party.”
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German fintech Raisin achieved its first annual profit last year, thanks to a surge of deposits from customers in search of higher interest rates.
The company, which enables customers to compare savings accounts and directly deposit their money with banks, saw assets under management surge 74 per cent to €57.4bn, with half of new inflows coming from outside Germany.
Such inflows saw Raisin, which also operates in the US, UK and other European markets, record a post-tax profit of €850,000, according to accounts seen by the Financial Times.
The group’s chief financial officer told the FT that the net profit may be a one-off, with the company planning to spend heavily on marketing and client growth, but that its long-term plan was to run the company with positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.
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J. Safra Sarasin is bolstering its dealmaking team with new hires from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
The Swiss-based private bank is forming a new unit aimed at providing advice in areas such as mergers and acquisitions and equity capital raises for private client services.
The unit is to be led by Edward Joudrey, a former managing director at Bank of America in London, and will contain fellow BoA alumnus Yegor Bryukhanov and former Goldman Sachs executive Lorenzo Sforza, according to the Financial Times.
J. Safra Sarasin had more than SFr204bn ($225bn) in assets under management at the end of 2023.
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