Sharp improvement in risk appetite reflects improved valuations as well as more supportive Fed policy; As new U.S. sanctions take hold, holders of Venezuelan bonds contemplate next steps; Wobbles in the leveraged loan market; millennials give a boost to U.S. commercial real estate; ESG index performance—doing good doesn’t mean giving up returns, especially in emerging markets!

We unveiled our EM FX valuation framework one year ago today, which signaled substantial overvaluations for Argentina and Turkey. Our model says that both currencies have converged to near fair value. But neither is cheap as current account adjustment is mostly cyclical.

The final revised Basel III Market Risk standard was published on January 14th in the new ‘modular’ format. We have arranged for a comparison document/tool which provides a comparison between the standards and an overview of the differences between the text of the 2019 and 2016 market risk rules.

The IIF, our members and other associations developed an industry response to the BCBS consultation paper (CP) on “Leverage ratio treatment of client cleared derivatives.”

The joint associations industry have published a comment letter on the FSB Discussion Paper: “Financial resources to support CCP equity in resolution”.

We assess Venezuela’s macroeconomic fundamentals after years of policy mismanagement and social turmoil. The GDP drop is on par with the Soviet Union’s collapse.

After a burst of strength in 2017-18, momentum in U.S. corporate earnings and sales shows signs of fading; Growing pressure on profitability for global systemically important banks; Despite higher hedging costs, safe-haven demand continues to support foreign buying of U.S. Treasuries; Emerging market central banks load up on gold, looking to build precautionary buffers

The January 2019 Insurance Update provides targeted updates on IIF insurance activities and events, and highlights relevant IIF publications or related regulatory developments in other fields.

We project solid growth and contained inflation this year and next. Main risks to the outlook are linked to external conditions as domestic policies have generally improved. While progress has been made to address longstanding challenges, major structural weaknesses remain.