A Corporate Finance Trip Around The World

The corporate finance space is in flux, but how it’s changing depends on the market in which you stand. PYMNTS takes a quick trip across the globe to explore business finance trends in the U.K., U.S., Middle East and Asia and discovers new winners in enterprise SaaS, losers in small business banking and more.

$3.7 billion in trade finance revenues was seen by the world’s top 12 banks, and while that might seem like a lot, it represents a 9 percent drop for the first half of the year compared to 2H 2015. New analysis from Coalition found that, overall, revenue across the world’s 12 largest investment banks declined by 2 percent, but trade finance marked the largest drop. The analysis examined transaction banking across Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Société Générale and UBS. Analysts at Global Trade Review attributed the decline in trade finance revenue to market volatility and declining commodities volume.

239 businesses have fled the UAE to escape loan and supplier payments between July 2015 and March 2016, according to insurance agency Coface. That figure could signal growing concerns over nonpayment by United Arab Emirates companies. The 239 cases represent companies across a variety of industries, though analysts said they are mostly SMEs. “Such companies, which are under pressure due to tight liquidity, usually run away from both banks and suppliers,” explained Coface CEO for the Middle East Massimo Falcioni in an interview with Gulf News. Coface added that 80 percent of runaway businesses are SMEs. New bankruptcy legislation in the UAE could curb the instance of businesses fleeing the country to avoid repayment, reports said.

80% of U.K. small businesses that apply for a bank loan get accepted, according to the latest from BDRC Continental. The firm’s quarterly SME Finance Monitor concluded that, despite this promising statistic, more small businesses are looking to self-fund and seek alternative funding sources. By Q2 2016, the percentage of SMEs that are considered “permanent non-borrowers” also increased to 47 percent, though that’s lower than Q1 2015 levels. According to analysts, the data suggests that the Brexit vote hasn’t led small businesses to lose confidence in their future. “For now, most small businesses are reporting ‘business as usual,'” said BDRC Continental Director Shiona Davies.

40% of Singapore SMEs don’t have access to a bank loan, despite accounting for 47 percent of the nation’s GDP. That figure, released by Deloitte and highlighted by Capital Springboard CEO Roger Crook in a recent editorial, represents not only the potential for alternative finance to boom in Singapore, but throughout Asia. “Asia is a market with massive potential to bridge the prevalent credit gap,” the executive wrote. “It’s a combination of stringent banking reputations in some countries and limited banking infrastructure in others that has created an alternative space for smaller businesses to adopt contemporary forms of finances.”

15% of global SaaS revenues went to Microsoft, and that’s a big deal. Why? Because, according to Synergy Research Group, that means Microsoft has now surpassed its top rival, Salesforce, which took 14 percent of SaaS revenue. The U.S. is home to some of the stiffest competition in the enterprise software space, which also includes Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle. “Salesforce was always on top,” said Synergy Research Group Research Director John Dinsdale. That is, until now. It remains to be seen, though, whether Microsoft can maintain its lead.