Member Views

Geopolitics and the Geometry of Global Trade

The Bretton Woods Committee is pleased to Member Spotlight a recent report by our BWC organizational member, McKinsey Global Institute. The report highlights how global trade is evolving, urging business leaders to prepare for uncertainties through strategic planning and cooperation.

According to the report, "More shifts are likely and businesses need to be aware of the potential trade-offs of different paths ahead."

From Poverty to Empowerment: Raising the Bar for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

BWC member McKinsey Global Institute published new research that looks at what it would take to raise minimum living standards and get on a net-zero path—in this decade.

They assesses the extent to which accelerated growth and innovation can further these ambitions.

Columbia University President Appointment

BWC Advisory Council member Minouche Shafik will become the 20th president of Columbia University on July 1, 2023.

The G20 Lives On, But Mistrust Between the West and China Hampers Progress

BWC Climate and Energy Transition Finance Project Team co-lead Creon Butler says "Russia’s attack on Ukraine is critically important" especially in the G20 context but "the compromise enabled agreement on other pressing issues after none of the preceding ministerial meetings had..."

Simplicity is the key to closing the climate finance gap

The Bretton Woods Committee is pleased to spotlight a recent piece from Creon Butler, BWC Climate and Energy Transition Finance co-chair. The piece highlights the size of the current climate finance gap and finds an answer in a more streamlined and "simplified" model. 

DeAnne Julius

Another new member at BWC: DeAnne Julius, Chatham House. DeAnne is a senior adviser to Chatham House and a distinguished fellow in its Global Economy and Finance programme.

She is a former member of the Temasek International Panel (Singapore) and the International Advisory Council of the China Investment Corporation (Beijing).

United Overseas Bank

BWC welcomes new organizational member United Overseas Bank, the third largest bank in Southeast Asia. UOB provides commercial, corporate, and personal banking services; private banking and asset management services; and corporate finance, venture capital, investment, and insurance services.

They are headquartered in Singapore and operate throughout nineteen countries in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Crown Agents Bank

BWC’s newest organizational member is Crown Agents Bank. Crown Agents connects emerging and frontier markets to the rest of the world, using FX and payments technology.

They transform the way payments and FX move through emerging markets, reducing friction so more money gets to those who need it. Their solutions help fix the pain points of usually challenging, expensive, unreliable, and opaque emerging markets payments. They connect hard-to-reach regions to global financial infrastructure, giving access to the best prices and the fastest, most reliable settlement.

Good and Bad Debt

"I believe the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of borrowing strategies by Caribbean governments," writes DeLisle Worrell, BWC member and former governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, in Good and Bad Debt, this month's issue of his newsletter.

The Caribbean is More Integrated Than Ever, Caricom Notwithstanding

BWC member DeLisle Worrell writes "the one major change that would deepen Caribbean regional integration significantly would be the use of US dollars... in place of the national currency; no Caricom decision is needed... to reap that benefit."