Focused Thinking

Articles

Emerging Markets

New Technology: Memory Hierarchy Emerge Through the Mix

Computing architecture is advancing owing to memory hierarchy innovation. While the performance of processors and storage continues to improve, the gap between their performances widens.

3 min read | November 2018

Central Banks

Surplus or deficit: what drives the current account matters

Current account deficits in Indonesia and the Philippines are not necessarily a bad sign; equally, current account surpluses in Northeast Asia are not necessarily a good sign. The key is what is driving them.

4 min read | October 2018

Economics

Euroyen market delivers swift results

Euroyen bonds offer size and speed for banks seeking regulatory capital. Are more deals on the way?

4 min read | October 2018

Economics

In the hunt for yield where are the new sources of volatility?

As mainstream markets evolve, structured products that focus on volatility are becoming more central to risk management and investment. Traditional products, such as long-only equities or bonds, are no longer a sufficient means for investors to achieve their goals.

1 min read | September 2018

Economics

Thailand: a fragile investment cycle

The ongoing investment recovery in Thailand is likely to be unsustainable with the election potentially resulting in another adverse political environment, particularly for private investment.

2 min read | September 2018

Central Banks

Damocles: our early warning indicator of exchange rate crises

Despite the lessons learned from past crises, currency crises still occur from time to time and spread contagiously when they happen. After receiving substantial capital inflows, some EM economies are under pressure this year.

3 min read | September 2018

Japan in focus

What can we learn from the history of trade wars?

From the 1950s to the 1990s Japan often found itself in disagreement with the US over trade. Although the trade war in automobiles in the 1980s was to do with the US’s current account deficit, there was significant trade friction from the 1950s to the 1970s related to textiles and steel, which took place before the US had a pronounced current account deficit.

2 min read | August 2018

Economics

Why global bonds are still attractive to Japanese issuers

Issuance hit a record high in 2017 and conditions remain supportive for new issues.

3 min read | August 2018

Volatility

East meets West: How China’s Geely connected with Volvo Trucks

Nomura’s structuring apportioned risk between the various counterparties while ensuring that there was a simple contract to present to the Chinese regulators.

3 min read | August 2018

Economics

Deciphering EM Rate Expectations

What are some of the patterns in Asia with regards to fixing and policy rates? We analyze 14 EM rates markets through the prism of our rates expectation framework.

2 min read | August 2018

Emerging Markets

China FinTech – 2018: survival of the fittest

Artificial Intelligence (particularly machine learning) and big data technology have been widely adopted in the bank and insurance sectors, owing to the need of processing and understanding the growing customer base and industry data. Over the next two years, we anticipate a “survival of the fittest” scenario.

3 min read | July 2018

Economics

DEFCON 4: Financial Risks are Rising. Vigilance Should, Too

The movie WarGames helped introduce the DEFCON system to the public back in 1983 (including a 14-year-old future bank strategist who took his first date to the movie, perhaps explaining why it remains memorable). DEFCON—or defense readiness condition—reflects U.S. military preparedness for war on a rising scale of severity.

4 min read | July 2018

Technology

Asia Pacific technology: bigger wave of the 4th Industrial Revolution

While the first three industrial revolutions transformed our world, the fourth industrial revolution encompasses breakthroughs in robotics, AI, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.

2 min read | June 2018

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