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Saturday 31 August 2013

The world’s biggest banks

Reader Buzz 23:41 No comments :

The world’s biggest banks
For the first time, a Chinese bank has taken the top spot in the global rankings. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is now the world’s biggest by tier-1 capital, according to The Banker magazine, compared with a rank of 32nd only eight years ago.
The country now has four out of the world’s 10 biggest banks and 96 of the top 1,000. The US also has four top-10 banks, but Europe has only one: HSBC, which benefits greatly from its operations in Asia.
At its peak price in late 2006, one Citigroup share was worth $55.70, giving the US company a market value of$277.2bn
In 2012 HSBC agreed to pay a record fine to the US authorities (for, among other lapses, allowing itself to be used to launder drug money) of $1.92bn
Illustration: Leandro Castelao

Tuesday 16 July 2013

15 of the world's biggest cost overrun projects

Reader Buzz 10:48 2 comments :
15 of the world's biggest cost overrun projects

Bent Flyvbjerg, professor of major programme management at the university of Oxford's Said Business School, says overruns in the order of 50 per cent in real terms are common for major infrastructure projects. He says this is because it is not uncommon for demand and benefit forecasts to be wrong by 20-70 per cent compared with actual development. Public passenger rail and urban projects tent to have especially big overruns.

Here is the list,

Canadian Firearms registry, initial cost forecast: CAN$ 2m cost, final cost: CAN$ 946m
36,917% cost overrun


Visegrad Hydroelectric Project, Yugoslavia, 5,142% cost overrun.


Sydney Opera House, 1,400% cost overrun.


M50 South East Motorway (Ireland), 556% cost overrun.


Copenhagen metro, stage 2A+B, Norreport-Vanlose( Denmark), 386% cost overrun.



Verrazano-narrows bridge (USA), 384% cost overrun.



N2O Patrickswell Cork (Ireland), 370% cost overrun.



Gezhouba Dam Project (China), 337% cost overrun.



Guangzhou City Transport Project (China), 335% cost overrun.



US 101 Helicopter (USA), 330% cost overrun.


Boston Big Dig (USA), 324% cost overrun.



Cuernavaca-Acapulco Toll Road (Mexico), 300% cost overrun.


Humber Bridge (UK), 276% cost overrun.



Dublin Port Tunnel (Ireland), 261% cost overrun.

Nanchang jiujiang Highway (China), 255% cost overrun.

Source:
 Centre for Major Programme Management, University of Oxford's Said Business School; Mckinsey and the London School of Economics.
CImA's Financial Management Magazine, February 2013 publication

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