Country Risk Information

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)  reported that May business optimism rose to 107.8, the second highest rating in the history of the NFIB survey (more than 45 years). Expectations that 1) the economy would continue to improve long term, 2) higher expectations for real sales growth in the near term, and 3) optimism that now is a good ... Read More »

Atradius reports that the increase in US protectionist measures raises Asia Pacific exporters’ fears that turnover will decline. According to a recent Atradius survey, 52% of the suppliers surveyed in China are pessimistic about potential export turnover losses due to the introduction of trade barriers such as tariffs or targeted restrictions. The opinions of Chinese suppliers are shared by respondents ... Read More »

CoreLogic Analysis Shows Credit Risk for New Loans in 2017 Similar to Loans Issued in Early 2000s Mortgage Loans Exhibit Higher Credit Quality Since the Great Recession Purchase-Loan Risk Up Year Over Year Due to High Investor Share Refinance-Loan Risk Up Year Over Year Due to Lower Credit Scores and Higher DTI CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics ... Read More »

Carillion could owe supply chain £1bn as up to 30,000 businesses face financial hardship – or may go under – beware of the domino effect.  Banks which had lent to the contractor could also be exposed to up to £2bn of losses, in what is one of the most high-profile corporate collapses since the financial crisis. Santander, Royal Bank of ... Read More »

Two senators on proposed this week “massive and mandatory” fines for data breaches at Equifax Inc. and other credit reporting companies, starting at $100 for each consumer whose sensitive information is compromised. The bill from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) would add a $50 fine for each additional piece of compromised personally identifiable information for each consumer. ... Read More »

Small Businesses Report Greater Access to Bank Loans and Increased Hiring Small businesses (< $5M in revenue) are finishing 2017 strong, reporting both revenue increases and optimism for future growth according to the fourth quarter 2017 Private Capital Access (PCA) Index report from Dun & Bradstreet and Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.  Fifty-eight percent of small businesses, up from 52 percent in Q4 2016, reported ... Read More »

Small business accounts of 30% of the annual revenue of Russian businesses.  This assessment is based on an analysis by Credinform Russia of financial statements of the fiscal year of 2016. Since the beginning of market reforms in Russia, economists have argued about the important role of small business in the development of the domestic economy, as exemplified by other ... Read More »

Global supply chain risk fell for the third straight quarter to 80.3, down from 81.3 in Q2, but remains close to the all-time high of 82.6 in Q4 2016 The fall in Q3 comes despite the continued impact of political uncertainty in a variety of countries across the world, including the US, UK and Germany Natural disasters such as Hurricane ... Read More »

Uber concealed a massive global breach of the personal information of 57 million customers and drivers in October 2016, failing to notify the individuals and regulators, the company acknowledged on Tuesday 21st November. Uber confirmed it had paid the hackers responsible $100,000 to delete the data and keep the breach quiet. Uber also disclosed that hackers had stolen 57 million ... Read More »

As Black Friday Nears, a Record 196 Million Consumers Now Have Access to Various Forms of Credit Cards and Other Revolving Lines of Credit New Q3 2017 TransUnion Industry Insights Report reveals latest consumer credit trends With the holiday shopping season officially kicking off during Black Friday next week, TransUnion’s (NYSE: TRU) just released Q3 2017 Industry Insights Report found that ... Read More »

After the Panama Papers we now have the Paradise Papers: The world’s biggest businesses, heads of state and global figures in politics, entertainment and sport who have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens are being revealed this week in a major new investigation into Britain’s offshore empires. The details come from a leak of 13.4m files that expose the ... Read More »

Small business owners look like they’re embracing new technologies when it comes to the types of payments their businesses will accept, allowing more in-person credit and debit card payments using point-of-sale terminals. According to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index conducted in early October, 39% of business owners now accept credit or debit card payment, up from 31% in ... Read More »

The Number of Consumers Opening HELOCs May Double During the Next Five Years.  New TransUnion study sees interest in HELOCs rising Approximately 10 million consumers are expected to originate a home equity line of credit (HELOC) between 2018 and 2022. This would more than double the 4.8 million HELOCs originated in the previous five-year period (2012-2016). The projection is part ... Read More »

USA consumer credit use moved up 6.6% year-over-year in September.  Non-revolving credit was up 6.3% and was growing at an annualized rate of 5.6%. Revolving credit rose by a healthy 7.7% year-over-year and was up at a 5.5% annualized pace. There’s a lot of speculation about what to make of this – and you’ll hear 5 different viewpoints if you ... Read More »

The UAE is home to over 200 nationalities and a population of 9 million people, of which approximately 75% to 85% are expatriates. The country’s cultural diversity and cosmopolitan character have been major factors in attracting expatriates as well as tourists; however, its ever-evolving population also presents a risk to the credit industry that is not common in other marketplaces ... Read More »

Businesses Report Greater Confidence in Their Likelihood to Grow Over the Next 12 Months However, Demand for Financing Trending Down More U.S. businesses are reporting profits and increased hiring, with greater confidence in their ability to grow over the next 12 months; but demand for financing is trending down, according to new results from the third quarter 2017 Private Capital Access (PCA) ... Read More »