This week’s featured stories 20 July – 26 July 2026…
World Bank / Deutsche Bank partnership
New €1 billion trade finance platform for frontier and emerging markets. MIGA will provide guarantees against non-payment risk while Deutsche Bank handles structuring and execution
World Bank Global Economic Prospects
Global growth projected to slow to 2.5% in 2026 amid Middle East conflict and energy price spikes. Emerging markets face weakest per capita income growth since the pandemic; risks skewed to the downside
Bank of England Staff Discussion Paper
“Rethinking global imbalances” – Analyses drivers of persistent current-account imbalances, industrial policy effects, and financial stability risks. Calls for orderly rebalancing, stronger multilateral surveillance, and better trade-policy coordination.
High-tech goods power global trade amid uncertainty
The first half of 2026 was marked by strong growth in goods trade and more modest growth in services trade. Overall trade expected to expand in H2 2026 but with fragile outlook for developing economies.
Fed officials at Financial Inclusion Conference
Vice Chair Michelle Bowman stressed responsible AI innovation to expand access and inclusion; Governor Michael Barr warned AI could widen inequality via labour displacement and concentration of market power in “hyperscalers”
Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh presents Semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress
The Fed emphasised independence, 2% inflation target, and navigating AI-driven productivity shocks
Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance – 2026 Global AI in Financial Services Report
Artificial intelligence is no longer a peripheral experiment in financial services; it is rapidly becoming a central, structural component of the global financial ecosystem. 81% of financial firms adopting AI (40% at advanced levels); top risks remain data privacy and model hallucinations. Fintechs ahead of incumbents and regulators
UNDP ‘The Next Great Divergence’ report
AI risks widening inequality between countries due to uneven readiness and adoption. Nearly 70% of 1.2 billion AI users are in developing countries, but high-income economies have far higher usage rates. Calls for deliberate policy intervention
As the postwar international order fragments and universal agreement becomes increasingly elusive, policymakers face a pressing question: what form of cooperation can replace the postwar hegemon-led, rules-based system? Dennis Snower examines two complementary answers
Achieving a banking union without increasing risks
European banking remains fragmented, leaving billions of euros inefficiently allocated. Gyöngyi Lóránth, Anatoli Segura and Jing Zeng argue that a common deposit insurance system can encourage more risk-taking, but this should be accompanied by sufficiently strict supervision
A strategic lever to boost global decarbonisation
The Paris Agreement provides a framework for international carbon trading. Georg Zachmann and Annabelle Weisser discuss the many questions that will arise, and argue that international carbon credits can support the EU’s 2040 target if buyers’ club rules and leverage ensure real mitigation gains abroad
