Multilateral and development banks have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of historically loose monetary policies around the world, but there is now a sharp divergence in what lies ahead for their funding officials as quantitative easing programmes draw to a close.

After running the humanitarian aid brief for the European Union, Kristalina Georgieva has stepped up to become the first CEO of the World Bank with a mission to get the private sector to deliver development finance, writes Phil Thornton.

Our winners from across the region.

Schuldschein had already marked a second successive year of record breaking volumes by November 2017, and the growth of the financial product outside its traditional German home is expected to spur even more borrower interest.

Depositary receipts are facing a swell of potentially jumbo sized transactions from markets that are only just now opening to international investors, with regulators and bankers alike trying to decipher the best way to capture the rush of activity.

With regulators worldwide placing more complex requirements on the financial services industry, the existing systems and processes used for compliance  and reporting are coming under scrutiny. Regtech companies are leveraging technologies that are helping to address this tricky landscape.

Romania’s economy has spent 2017 soaring past analysts’ growth expectations, but the progress is being powered by consumer spending and debt rather than more sustainable and long-term public and private investment.

Given its size as the smallest economy in the GCC, it should be no surprise that Bahrain is focusing on financial reforms that will attract start-ups to strengthen its engine of growth and help diversify away from the oil and gas sector.

Angola’s new president is promising economic reforms to shore up the stricken economy, as the country prepares a US$2bn eurobond issue.

East African renewable energy provider M-Kopa Solar has raised US$80mn in commercial debt funding, and the company’s chief executive tells EMEA Finance that more loans are likely at the parent company level.

As KYC requirements become more complex, many financial institutions are calling for specialist third parties to save the day.