Category: Finance

In the first blog of our series on the World Bank’s latest Global Findex 2025, we highlighted that while notable progress has been made in financial inclusion since the Findex launched in 2011, there is much more still to be done.   To close the last-mile gaps and improve livelihoods by broadening the range of […]

The U.S. has an important choice to make regarding agriculture. It can import more people to pick crops and do other kinds of agricultural labor, it can raise wages enough to lure more U.S. citizens and immigrants with legal status to take these jobs, or it can import more food. All three options contradict key […]

It’s time to rethink how we serve the hardest to reach—and unlock the power of financial services for development.  New data from the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025, published this week, reveals significant progress on financial inclusion. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), 75% of adults have an account (compared with 79% globally), an increase […]

Pronatalism – the belief that low birth rates are a problem that must be reversed – is having a moment in the U.S. As birth rates decline in the U.S. and throughout the world, voices from Silicon Valley to the White House are raising concerns about what they say could be the calamitous effects of […]

On 13 June, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted a revised travel rule for payments and value transfers – known as Recommendation 16 (R.16). This decision followed two years of intense internal discussions and two rounds of public consultations, which drew over 300 responses. Financial institutions will need to comply with the updated rule […]

Vienna-based independent power producer Renalfa IPP has closed a landmark €315 million Holdco Financing led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with support from a consortium of EU-backed lenders. The funding will drive a €1.2 billion investment programme aimed at deploying 1.6 GW of renewable generation capacity and 3.3 GWh of co-located […]

In a landmark move for climate finance, Chestnut Carbon, a U.S.-based nature-based carbon removal startup, has secured a $210 million non-recourse project finance facility to accelerate large-scale afforestation efforts. The deal marks the first infrastructure-style financing in the U.S. voluntary carbon market. The facility is anchored by Microsoft’s 25-year offtake agreement, under which the tech […]

UAE-based SpaceTech firm Space42 has secured a $695.5 million Export Credit Agency (ECA)-backed financing facility to support the development of its next-generation geostationary satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5. The funding was arranged by Crédit Agricole CIB, Santander CIB, Société Générale, and Natixis, and is backed by Bpifrance Assurance Export, reflecting strong international […]

Asia Capital Real Estate (ACRE), a leading private real estate fund manager specializing in U.S. housing, has successfully closed its second credit fund, ACRE Credit Fund II, with $1 billion in capital commitments. The fund reached its hard cap and was fully subscribed, reflecting strong investor confidence in ACRE’s platform and strategy. Launched in response […]

In the first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president, his policies – from sweeping tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement to attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion – have thrown U.S. businesses into turmoil, leading to a 26-point decline in CEO confidence. Yet despite this volatility, many American corporations have remained notably restrained in […]