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EBC director: How the future of trade may be less efficient but more resilient

Posted on October 19, 2026October 15, 2026 by World Finance

After discussing the recent movements in the oil markets and their ramifications in the broader economy, EBC Financial Group’s Christopher Stiegeler suggests that the ongoing and increasing geopolitical uncertainty may be causing a fundamental transformation in globalisation – and that the global economy may become less efficient, but more resilient.

World Finance: Christopher Stiegeler from brokerage EBC Financial Group is with me in the studio, and we’re talking about the geopolitical uncertainty that is right now best exemplified by the US and Iran, but before that it was Israel, tariffs, Ukraine… and, Chris, you think that this might represent a fundamental shift in the global economy.

Christopher Stiegeler: Potentially. I mean, for years, sort of, globalisation in its most basic form, means moving goods that are cheap in one part of the world, and moving them several thousand miles to another part of the world, and selling them more expensive. It’s the classic arbitrage, right?

We’re now looking at that not necessarily being the most commercially viable option, and now a supplier, when they’re looking at where to source goods from, they will start having to think about factoring in larger inventories, increased insurance costs, and those costs are ultimately going to get factored into the final price, which is again going to feed through to consumers.

So I think in terms of the global economy, what we could be potentially seeing is a global economy that becomes fundamentally less efficient, but potentially more resilient.

World Finance: Are we seeing companies respond in this, longer-term, systemic way yet? Accepting that this might be a real paradigm shift? Or does it seem like people are hoping that the next status quo is the same as the old status quo, just with a little less shipping traffic in the Middle East?

Christopher Stiegeler: I think the markets are actually already giving us evidence of that, Paul.

When we see – as we are seeing, and continue to see in the Middle East – a major shipping route come under threat. That’s almost immediately reflected in the markets in the form of currency volatility, increased insurance costs, increased freight costs and so on. So I think the market and suppliers are already pricing in that geopolitical risk in what they’re doing.

And I think that’s important. Because for a long time, the received wisdom on all of this was that geopolitical events were treated as sort of a temporary shock, and something that would sort of pass, and then we’d all get back to normal. But I’m not sure that we’re still in that space anymore.

Companies are increasingly having to ask themselves: ‘Do I want the cheapest supplier per se, or do I want a supplier or a route that I know I can rely on if something goes wrong?’ And I think that’s a really sort of fundamental way that companies and the economy is changing the way they think about efficiency, and indeed how they price it.

Safe haven gold: what are investors and central banks seeking protection from?

Posted on October 19, 2026October 15, 2026 by World Finance

In the face of market turmoil – such as what we’re seeing as a consequence of Trump’s war on Iran – gold is often spoken about and used as a safe haven. Christopher Stiegeler, Director of EBC Financial Group, asks: what are investors seeking protection from? He explores the various reasons why investors – and central banks – may choose gold over any other asset, and suggests what gold traders should be asking themselves about its future.

World Finance: Chris, moving on from black gold and the source of all of this market turmoil, let’s look at actual gold – traditionally the hedge against this kind of disruption.

Christopher Stiegeler: Exactly. Gold’s often sort of mentioned, or used, as a safe haven, but the question is: what are investors seeking protection from?

And there’s several reasons that investors buy gold. One would be as a, if you like, a geopolitical hedge against geopolitical uncertainty. Another could be concern about the state of a particular government’s finances, or indeed a government. Another reason would simply be because it’s the most attractive among a basket of asset classes, none of which are particularly attractive at the moment.

Another question that’s important to mention here is that when EBC’s gold trading clients – and indeed, the gold market is rallying, and they’re buying aggressively – it’s not necessarily giving us the message that they think the economy’s collapsing, or anything like that. Gold investors might simply be saying that I want an asset, or I want to trade in an asset, that doesn’t depend on one currency, one company, or indeed one country.

World Finance: They may also be saying, well, central banks are consistently buying gold, so there’s essentially a buyer at whatever price it gets to.

Christopher Stiegeler: Yeah, I mean we’ve seen in the last quarter, the World Bank reported that central banks had bought about 290 tonnes of gold in the last quarter, something like that. And close to 50 percent of central banks surveyed said that they continued to be adding to their gold stocks over the coming year.

But even with that continued holding of gold as an asset by central banks, that’s not the central banks necessarily saying that they believe that the market’s going to go higher. A lot of this is about diversification.

World Finance: So in the context of this Iran-specific peak in gold, what should traders be asking themselves?

Christopher Stiegeler: I think what traders should be asking themselves, is, is what we’re seeing now a temporary reaction to the conflict in Iran, or is it part of a much larger change in the way that investors and traders are looking at risk?

If geopolitical tensions remain high, and we see associated increases in interest rates and so on, then gold could remain attractive.

If, on the other hand, things start to, let’s say, de-escalate, and we see a reduction in the price of crude, we start to look at lower interest rates – then gold becomes less attractive as an asset class, because it doesn’t pay interest.

It’s a trade between fear and opportunity cost, that’s the trade.

Could the oil shock bring back inflation? EBC director on trading peace vs disruption

Posted on October 19, 2026October 15, 2026 by World Finance

Following on from our conversation with EBC’s Christopher Stiegeler about the war on Iran and its impact on the oil market, we zoom out to look at the ripple effects throughout the economy; what it means for inflation, consumer spending, and interest rates; and the importance of trading with a well-regulated broker when faced with such volatility.

World Finance: Chris, we’ve been talking about Iran and the impact on the oil market, but a crisis in oil has shockwaves throughout the economy.

Christopher Stiegeler: Exactly so Paul, I mean – the question is not simply what happens if oil becomes more expensive; it’s what expensive oil does to everything else.

As we know, I mean, oil is effectively an input into every modern economy. So if our oil prices rise, we see that in transportation costs, we see that on the supermarket shelves, we see that ultimately with inflation.

And that’s a big question that sort of, central banks are having to grapple with at the moment.

If the oil price stays higher for longer, central banks have to make a decision on whether to keep interest rates higher for longer, and wear, if you will, the associated inflationary spectre that’s going to come with that. Or if they accept that this is a temporary shock. And that’s a question we’ll just have to wait and see about.

World Finance: But as you were saying, the shock from oil isn’t just down to the supply drop, but traders’ reaction to that, and their fears or maybe hopes about the future.

Christopher Stiegeler: Yeah no, exactly that. At the end of last month, brent was trading around about sort of $90 a barrel, because there were hints at that time of possibilities of some de-escalation and so forth.

We now know that that optimism was seemingly unfounded, and we’re seeing brent currently trading north of $100 a barrel. So what’s happening here is that traders are effectively – they’re trading expectations of peace, versus expectations of disruption.

And that’s really interesting, because what it means is that, if this disruption continues, and the price of oil remains elevated for long enough, we’re looking at issues of inflation, consumer spending, interest rates, and economic shock. And that’s what the market’s grappling with today.

World Finance: In the context of such market-wide volatility, I suppose it’s more important than ever that traders are partnering with a broker that is trustworthy and well-regulated.

Christopher Stiegeler: Yeah, absolutely. In EBC’s case, the reason that clients choose to trade and execute through EBC in London, and use London as an execution venue, is our access to deep liquidity in London, almost institutional grade pricing, and a mature, developed regulatory umbrella, where our clients can trade in an environment that they’re comfortable and confident with.

Iran, oil, and the world economy: are we seeing history repeat itself?

Posted on October 19, 2026October 15, 2026 by World Finance

The International Energy Agency says that Trump’s Iran war has created the “largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” But that history is full of these sorts of crises; so what lessons, if any, can we learn? Christopher Stiegeler from award-winning brokerage EBC Financial Group discusses the parallels between today and the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, and how fear became as strong a market force as the drop in oil supply.

World Finance: Let’s start with the impact that this disruption has had on the markets, and what historical parallels you can draw.

Christopher Stiegeler: Well that’s an interesting question. I mean, current estimates suggest that around 10m barrels a day are being lost – and that compares with about 20m barrels a day that we were looking at pre-conflict levels.

And that’s why Iran matters so much in financial markets. It’s not just the barrels that Iran produces – or in this case, is struggling to get out to the markets. It’s the geographical situation of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, which is now again front and centre stage of the oil market, and its position as one of shipping’s major global chokepoints.

And that creates a really sort of interesting historical parallel, actually. In the 1978-79 Iranian revolution, strikes and political instability caused barrels to disappear, if you want to say that. But it wasn’t just the barrels that disappeared that was the issue. It was that fear itself became an economic force. And that’s sort of, very interesting and relevant for traders today, with the oil market.

World Finance: Well, tell me more – how can traders learn from that historical parallel?

Christopher Stiegeler: So, for EBC’s clients that trade oil, they’re not necessarily just asking themselves the question of, ‘How much oil is out there today?’ They’re asking what supply’s going to look like next week, or next month, or the month after that. And that’s really interesting, because it’s sort of where geopolitics merges and morphs into economics.

If crude oil stays expensive, we’re going to pay more in petrol and diesel prices; manufacturing costs are going to increase; airlines are going to pay more for their jet fuel, as we know. And eventually, unfortunately, that will feed through to the end consumer in the form of higher prices.

So I think the question that oil traders should be asking themselves today, is: is this a temporary geopolitical risk premium? Or is this more of a cultural shock that we’re looking at, that would have parallels with the late 1970s?

And I think that’s the key question, probably, that EBC’s oil trading clients, and the wider market, is grappling with today.

Saudi Air Navigation Services: Financial resilience through operational excellence

Posted on October 6, 2026October 6, 2026 by World Finance

Saudi Air Navigation Services, or SANS, is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s national air navigation provider, guiding over a million flights a year safely and efficiently. It manages over two million square kilometres of airspace from 19 towers, nine approach centres, and two area control centres; delivering air traffic control, airspace management, and aeronautical information services.

In our third and final video with Saudi Air Navigation Services, CFO Bandar Alyafie and members of SANS’ finance division discuss the operational reforms and improvements that have improved its financial resilience, enabling long-term sustainability for the operator and Saudi Arabia’s skies.

Watch the rest of this video series with Saudi Air Navigation Services:
Creating sustainable skies for Vision 2030
Investing in growth, resilience, and sustainability

Bandar Alyafie: Saudi Air Navigation Services has sustainability as our sixth corporate pillar.

From a finance perspective, the way we plan, allocate resources, and manage risks, forms the foundation of our long term financial resilience.

The three biggest enhancements we have made have been to our finance and accounts operation, procurement and supply chain, and digital finance transformation.

Zain Abdulmannan: At SANS, in our accounts operations, we enhanced our financial practices through stronger controls, automated processes, and improved collections: driving efficiency, reducing risk and supporting long-term sustainability.

We wanted stronger cash discipline and reliable reporting; improving collections and billing efficiency, while tightening controls to reduce risk.

To achieve this we moved to recurring invoice-track billing, ran proactive customer visits, refined our credit-loss methodology, and reduced the invoice review cycle.

These delivered record-level collections and recovered long-overdue balances, strengthening cash flow and reducing our reliance on external financing.

Bandar Alyafie: Efficient supply chain practices contribute to our sustainability through controlling costs, supporting local businesses, and advancing Vision 2030.

We have strengthened our supplier management and expanded our local supplier base: improving our resilience, developing the local economy, and earning us the global CIPS Procurement Excellence Award.

Sultan Mujallid: Since we started digitally transforming our finance function, we have adopted EPM planning, Power BI dashboards, automated IFRS 16 leasing solutions, and financial governance applications; in addition to multiple automations and advanced modules.

These initiatives have reduced manual processing and errors, enabled real time insights, and accelerated reporting by up to 150 percent – leading to faster and better analysis and decision making.

Bandar Alyafie: These financial, operational and digital improvements make SANS more productive, steadier, and more self-reliant: freeing resources to invest in continuous growth and future-ready infrastructure.

Going forward, we aim to expand AI-enabled processing and analysis, broaden our investment scope, and further strengthen our governance.

These priorities will help improve efficiency, enhance decision-making, and reinforce SANS’ long-term sustainability and resilience.

Saudi Air Navigation Services: Investing in growth, resilience, and sustainability

Posted on October 6, 2026October 8, 2026 by World Finance

In the second of our series of three videos with Saudi Air Navigation Services, CFO Bandar Alyafie and people from the finance and sustainability divisions discuss aligning SANS’ financial planning, corporate governance, and investment strategy with its sustainability agenda; and their dedication to making Saudi Arabia’s skies safer and greener for generations to come.

Watch the rest of this video series with Saudi Air Navigation Services:
Creating sustainable skies for Vision 2030
Financial resilience through operational excellence

Bandar Alyafie: Saudi Air Navigation Services looks after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s airspace, guiding over a million flights a year through our skies.

For us, sustainability means creating long-term value by investing today in the capabilities, infrastructure, and systems to enable the future; balancing safety, growth, and environmental responsibility in every decision.

Sultan Mujallid: Long-term financial planning in SANS is crucial to our strategy, because it allows us to align investments with growth, resilience and sustainability priorities.

It ensures long-term value creation, responsible growth, and the ability to invest in future-ready, environmentally conscious infrastructure.

We built our five-year plan around disciplined budgeting and capital allocation that prioritises digital transformation, modernisation, and sustainable growth initiatives.

Our results show discipline in action: meaningful budget savings, and above-target KPIs.

When evaluating investment opportunities, we focus on long-term value, resilience, and balanced returns; prioritising projects that improve capacity and make our operations more sustainable.

This investment strategy has delivered a significant increase in low-risk investment returns with funding the modernisation and digital tools that power our efficiency gains.

Ahmed Alzahrani: Strong corporate governance gives sustainability structure and accountability: ensuring commitments are tracked, risks are managed, and decisions stay transparent and consistent.

We apply international frameworks – ISO 31000 for risk management, and GRI for reporting – supported by strong SLAs, internal controls, and a clear code of conduct.

Thanks to these measures we achieved strong audit outcomes, and earned ISO 9001 and 45001 certifications, reflecting genuine governance maturity.

Bandar Alyafie: Our finance division will keep Saudi Air Navigation Services’ sustainability efforts funded, measured, and accountable; through disciplined capital allocation, strong governance, and transparent, data-driven reporting.

We are all dedicated and proud to be helping SANS develop into a world-leading air navigation services provider – and to be making the Kingdom’s skies safer and greener for generations to come.

Saudi Air Navigation Services: Creating sustainable skies for Vision 2030

Posted on October 6, 2026October 6, 2026 by World Finance

In the first or our series of three videos with Saudi Air Navigation Services, Ahmed Alzahrani, its Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, explains all the ways SANS has been reducing its environmental footprint in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030: positioning Saudi Arabia as a global hub, while advancing the environmental stewardship at the heart of the national strategy.

Watch the rest of this video series with Saudi Air Navigation Services:
Investing in growth, resilience, and sustainability
Financial resilience through operational excellence

Ahmed Alzahrani: Saudi Air Navigation Services, or SANS, is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s national air navigation service provider, guiding over a million flights a year safely and efficiently.

We provide our services from 19 towers, nine approach centres, and two area control centres, to manage more than two million square kilometres of airspace.

We deliver air traffic control, airspace management, and aeronautical information services, supported by engineering and maintenance; keeping our skies safe, efficient, and reliable around the clock.

Ahmed Alzahrani: When we started looking at ways to reduce our environmental footprint, we found the greatest opportunity was in airspace and flight efficiency: shorter routes, fewer holding patterns, and reduced taxi times – where small gains multiply across a million flights.

Through the Saudi Future Airspace Concept, or SFAC, we are fully restructuring our airspace: optimising sectors and enabling direct routes, while designing for growth and a smaller carbon footprint.

We have adopted Intelligent Approach Technology so we can safely land more planes while cutting holding times and emissions – by moving from fixed-distance to time-based separation, and adapting to wind and wake conditions dynamically using real-time data.

These changes have already increased runway throughput and reduced delays. Parallel runway operations alone cut takeoff and landing times by up to 60 percent, directly lowering fuel use and emissions.

Our ambition at Saudi Air Navigation Services is to be a globally leading sustainable air navigation service provider, supporting the national target of a 30 percent flight-emissions reduction, and net zero by 2060.

We have embedded sustainability across our operations and achieved measurable efficiency gains. Next, we will formalise it further, pursuing ISO 14001 certification and CANSO GreenATM accreditation by 2026.

Vision 2030 is the Kingdom’s roadmap for sustainability growth. For aviation, it means expanding capacity and connectivity while building a resilient, environmentally responsible sector for generations to come.

Our work directly serves Vision 2030’s aviation goals: positioning the Kingdom as a global hub, while advancing the environmental stewardship at the heart of the national strategy.

Fast and reliable execution is our priority, says Interstellar Group (FISG) director

Posted on August 25, 2026October 22, 2026 by World Finance

Interstellar Group (FISG) is a leading CFD broker, serving more than 112,000 clients across four continents. Amir Amidian, Director of Research and Analytics at Interstellar Group, discusses FISG’s latest tech innovations to improve execution and enhance its trading infrastructure, Interstellar’s multiplatform educational offering, and its award-winning reputation for consistency and putting clients first.

World Finance: Amir, how is Interstellar Group leveraging the latest tech innovations to improve your services?

Amir Amidian: Interstellar continuously invests in technology to improve both our trading infrastructure and overall the client experience.

Our priority is super simple: traders need fast, reliable execution. That’s why we have invested heavily in high-performance servers and network infrastructure to ensure stability, low latency, and consistent execution.

Last year, we introduced FLUX 1.0, our proprietary execution accelerator, which further enhances platform performance, even during the periods of high market volatility.

World Finance: Many jurisdictions are tightening up regulations around CFD trading – how is Interstellar responding to this?

Amir Amidian: With more than 15 years of experience, regulatory compliance has always been at the heart and core attention of our business.

As regulation continues to evolve, we proactively strengthen our internal controls, enhance our reporting standards, and continuously improve our due diligence and risk management process.

Today, we operate under respected regulations including Cyprus SEC, ASIC, FSCA, and also FSA, while actively pursuing additional licences for all around the world.

Our objective is pretty simple: building long-term trust by providing a secure, transparent, and compliant trading environment for our traders.

World Finance: Now, how does Interstellar help traders improve their skills?

Amir Amidian: So, education is one of our pillars for the business, because informed traders tend to make better long-term decisions.

We provide a complete learning ecosystem designed for both new and experienced traders.

Our educational resources range from trading fundamentals for beginners to advanced market analysis; delivered through webinars, seminars, e-books, and practical market insights by our different platforms.

Take our Youtube Channel, FISG Interstellar Group, for example. We have launched about six major educational series on it, which we constantly update and provide completely for free for all of our traders.

Shows like Guess Now, Pro Talk and Trading Tips are already popular, and I highly recommend traders pick the content based on their own skills and also experience.

World Finance: Finally, you’ve received a number of awards in recent years – how has FISG developed and maintained its glowing reputation?

Amir Amidian: So we are deeply gratified to have received numerous honours recognising our excellence across trading environment, trading conditions, partner programmes, client services and integrity.

However, we believe our reputation has been built on something more important, which is consistency.

Our clients value reliable execution, transparent pricing, and strong regulatory standards; and that’s exactly what we focus on in our day to day.

By continuously investing in technology and education, maintaining high compliance standards, and also putting our clients first, we have built long-term trust.

Our vision is to become a century-long global brand, recognised not only for our innovation, but for delivering a good, secure, transparent, and dependable trading experience for generations of traders.

Grupo Financiero Banorte: Supporting Mexico for 125 years

Posted on December 9, 2025December 9, 2025 by World Finance

After receiving the World Finance awards for Best Retail Bank, Mexico, and Best Corporate Governance, Mexico, for 2025, Grupo Financiero Banorte’s chairman, Carlos Hank González, reflects on the bank’s 125 years of supporting Mexico’s growth, and why it will remain committed to building a thriving Mexico in the years to come.

Carlos Hank González: Banorte has been supporting families and businesses in our country for 125 years.

We were born in Mexico, grew up with Mexico, and remain convinced of Mexico’s great potential.

When World Finance announced that Banorte was both recognised as Best Consumer Bank and as Best Corporate Governance in Mexico, we confirmed that we are on the right path. Because we are precisely focused on being the best bank for our customers, and keep the best corporate governance and practices.

Being the best implies offering the best experience in the market, with the best customer satisfaction rates. Being the best means getting to know each customer in depth, anticipating their needs, and offering tailor-made services – what we at Banorte call hyper-personalisation.

It also means having the best business operation, to be more efficient and faster. We are convinced that the ordinary, made with passion for our customers, becomes extraordinary.

Mexico deserves a strong, sound and committed bank, that always grows with its people. That bank is Banorte.

Investing in innovation: TITAN Group’s €40m commitment to transform construction

Posted on December 1, 2025November 27, 2025 by World Finance

Doing more with less – like building and expanding the urban housing and infrastructure the world needs, while becoming and remaining carbon neutral – requires innovation. And most lasting innovation comes from collaboration. In the last of our three videos with TITAN Group CEO Marcel Cobuz, he discusses TITAN’s €40m investment in sustainable start-ups, the ways the group promotes innovation internally, and how it engages with and invests in the communities local to its operations.

World Finance: My guest is TITAN Group’s Marcel Cobuz – Marcel, since we are talking innovation, I want to know more about your broader contribution to the innovation ecosystem – tell me about your CVC strategy.

Marcel Cobuz: We launched our venture capital initiative in 2023, and since we’ve made significant progress. Under this, we are planning to invest in relevant start-ups, mainly in our sector: materials, nanotechnologies, but also digital, as we are targeting ventures that can create business value and advance innovation for our customers and stakeholders, mainly through client venturing.

We have already completed, as part of our deployment of €40m plus, eight investments in six startups and companies working on artificial intelligence, property tech, construction tech, next-generation cementitious materials, and we have taken participation in one VC fund in Europe, and one in the US.

These collaborations underscore our commitment to supporting start-ups to complement our research and development efforts, in order to enhance our, and industry’s, competitiveness. This addresses challenges like decarbonisation, but also promoting innovative and fast construction.

World Finance: How do you promote innovation internally?

Marcel Cobuz: At TITAN, everything is about people. So is innovation of any kind, which we leverage for their development, for attracting talent, for enablement and empowerment. It’s part of our culture.

And we want to ensure that nobody gets left behind. We have numerous learning initiatives and tools, and we our supporting our employees to improve their digital skills, making sure that they keep pace with the transformation underway.

But we go beyond that. Our vision is to have a broader entrepreneurial mindset at all levels. With that in mind, in 2023 we introduced our Ideation Challenge, our internal competition which encourages and rewards innovation with all our teams.

Our Ideation Challenge has already become an institution and we are now on its third year, and we see an impressive response.

World Finance: Finally, how do you engage with and support the communities you’re working within?

Marcel Cobuz: Our focus is on creating value for all our stakeholders and working with local communities around our operations. We conduct local assessments to understand the issues that matter most to each community, to contribute in a meaningful, sustainable, and durable way. Therefore our efforts sometimes focus on the environment, education, improving employability, entrepreneurship, and poverty reduction, depending on where we operate, with a particular emphasis on helping and educating young people.

For instance, the partnership we are very proud of with ReGeneration: the largest paid placement, professional, and personal development programme in Greece. But we also have initiatives in the US designed to provide young women with the skills needed to work in the industry in the future. But I can also refer to a programme we have in Brazil, introducing young minds to the world of robotics and overall digitalisation.

This is the final video from this interview with Marcel Cobuz; watch the first video here: Innovative building materials and solutions: creating the cities of the future

And don’t miss the second video: TITAN Group: Sustainable and smart construction, powered by digital technology

TITAN Group: Sustainable and smart construction, powered by digital technology

Posted on December 1, 2025November 27, 2025 by World Finance

How to build 9.6 million extra homes while also becoming carbon neutral by 2050? That’s the challenge faced by the European construction industry – and building materials manufacturer TITAN Group is meeting it head-on. In the second of our three videos with TITAN CEO Marcel Cobuz, he discusses the group’s digitally-enabled plant optimisation, innovative new products like low-carbon VELTER, and other pillars of its sustainability strategy – including carbon capture.

World Finance: I’m back with Marcel Cobuz from TITAN Group, and I want to talk more about how you’re innovating at TITAN, starting with your digitalisation – how has it transformed the company?

Marcel Cobuz: Digitalisation is a journey. A couple of years back, some of us went to Singularity in Silicon Valley. We came back very excited, and TITAN became one of the first companies in the global cement industry to leverage the advantages of digital technology and AI.

Six of our cement plants are already end-to-end digitalised, leveraging predictive maintenance solutions and optimising the manufacturing process in real time. To get a view, please imagine over 3,000 sensors installed in two thirds of our equipment, with millions of data points feeding the algorithm.

They help us optimise our operations and supply chain, reduce building costs, boost circularity of materials, and of course enhance our customer service. For example, thanks to the use of digital, we have avoided over 20,000 hours of potential manufacturing downtime. This has boosted also productivity by over 10 percent, and prevented over 40,000 tons of CO₂ emissions in less than two years.

World Finance: You’ve also launched a host of innovative new products – tell me more.

Marcel Cobuz: In 2024, we introduced TITAN Edge products, as well as the TITAN Premier services, unifying our portfolio globally under a bold, customer-centric identity.

TITAN Edge features innovative, high-performance, low-carbon cementitious products; this will help us further reduce carbon emissions. In Greece for instance, we have launched a new innovative product, VELTER, which demonstrates how we are advancing performance in superior low-carbon products and construction.

In fact, we are providing these materials to a current iconic project here in Greece, Ellinikon – the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. But we also showcase our products in new construction projects including Skyline in Florida that demand extremely stringent standards.

World Finance: Finally, tell me more about your sustainability strategy, and what you’ve been able to achieve so far.

Marcel Cobuz: Sustainability was at the core of our strategy for a long time. We have committed to reduce emissions across the value chain and achieve net-zero by 2050. And we have recently earned numerous awards on being one of the most sustainable companies in the sector.

In 2023, our teams in Greece launched a pioneering carbon capture project, which will capture more than 20 percent of the group’s carbon emissions and enable the production of over three million tons of zero-carbon cement in Greece and across Europe.

Similarly, on the other side of the Atlantic, in our plant in Roanoke, Virginia, we are developing a first-of-its-kind calcined clay production, which will offer our customers a new innovative alternative to clinker with superior performance. And all this will reduce the carbon emissions by up to 50 percent.

Watch the final part of this interview with Marcel Cobuz: Investing in innovation: TITAN Group’s €40m commitment to transform construction

And if you started here, don’t miss the first video from this shoot: Innovative building materials and solutions: creating the cities of the future

Innovative building materials and solutions: creating the cities of the future

Posted on December 1, 2025November 27, 2025 by World Finance

The building materials industry today is being asked to satisfy the rising demand for housing and infrastructure, while also reducing its carbon footprint. In the first of our three videos with Marcel Cobuz, CEO of TITAN Group, he explains how TITAN has responded to these conflicting calls with innovative low-carbon products and optimisation technology – while posting its fourth year of top-line growth and listing US business TITAN America on the New York Stock Exchange.

World Finance: The building materials industry today is being asked to satisfy the rising demand for housing and infrastructure while also reducing its carbon footprint. Joining me down the line is Marcel Cobuz from TITAN Group, Marcel, how is TITAN responding to these calls?

Marcel Cobuz: For us, offering innovative, sustainable products and solutions is a key pillar of our growth strategy.

Our commitment to customer-centric innovation is guiding us into established, developed, and emerging areas within the construction industry. By collaborating with customers from the very early design stage, we inform the development of our innovative, low carbon products and services. And this is twinned with bold actions we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the construction: making it faster, making it even more affordable.

More recently, we are integrating circular construction solutions, supporting the development of safe, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure in cities. At the same time, we are constantly reducing our own carbon footprint, optimising our processes and across the value chain.

World Finance: Tell me more about your growth strategy, how has it been paying off?

Marcel Cobuz: We made 2024 as a transformational year for TITAN, both in terms of delivering results, but also in terms of continuing building capabilities.

2024 was our fourth year of top-line growth. We had record sales and over-proportional EBITDA growth. It was full of milestones, like building capabilities in attracting new talent in areas like low carbon products, decarbonisation of our processes, but also an important milestone for us has been the New York Stock Exchange listing of our US business, TITAN America: a bold move which strengthens our growth platform and unlocks more growth potential.

Beyond this, we expanded our portfolio, diversifying our offers through acquisitions, bolt-ons and partnerships in aggregates and alternative materials. All these moves are reinforcing our ability to offer our customers top-quality lower-carbon materials as well as to enhance our own capabilities.

World Finance: And what differentiates TITAN from your competitors?

Marcel Cobuz: We operate in emerging as well as in established and developed markets, and we are a local business with local teams, local customers, local assets.

At TITAN, our foundation is the quality of materials and services we offer to our customers. As we say, you are as good as the last complaint from the customer. And this, the 6,000-people commitment for operational excellence, is the most important principle which drives our operation.

We innovate in many ways in our operations – with customers, across the value chain, across the ecosystems – to better serve our customers, to reduce our carbon footprint, and of course to optimise our own operations and efficiency. Not to forget about digitalisation, which is a great example of a field which completely restructures and reshuffles the cards on the table, and where innovation creates strong results on all fronts.

Watch the second part of this interview with Marcel Cobuz: TITAN Group: Sustainable and smart construction, powered by digital technology

And the third and final video from this shoot: Investing in innovation: TITAN Group’s €40m commitment to transform construction

More digital, more human: How Banco Popular Dominicano is transforming banking

Posted on September 22, 2025September 18, 2025 by World Finance

Banco Popular is the most digitally advanced financial institution in the Dominican Republic, with 88 percent of its transactions now conducted digitally. But while leveraging deep technological investment and expertise, it is also embracing personalised client relationships and the human touch in all its interactions. Francisco Ramirez, Executive Vice President of Personal Business and Branches, discusses Banco Popular Dominicano’s branch redesign, its ‘more digital, more human’ philosophy, and how the bank is embedding business units in other everyday enterprises to get closer to its customers at key moments in their lives.

Francisco Ramirez: Driven by our ambitious personal banking initiative, ‘A more innovative, more human, and closer banking experience,’ Banco Popular Dominicano has embarked on a sweeping transformation of its branch network – positioning itself as a leader in modern banking across Latin America.

This bold redesign has reimagined our branches as spacious, efficient, and technologically advanced environments.

Customers now enjoy a faster, more personalised experience that seamlessly blends self-service convenience with attentive, tailored support.

Routine transactions are now streamlined through the teller area, accelerating service delivery. At the same time, our service officers are empowered to focus on high-value, personalised consultations, including credit guidance, investment strategies, and financial planning.

In this enhanced environment, every in-person visit becomes a meaningful opportunity to deepen our relationship with each customer.

We embraced a clear and powerful philosophy: More digital, more human.

Our digital transformation is not about reducing human connection – it’s about enhancing it. That’s why we have deployed over 100 financial officers dedicated to remote assistance, enabling us to double the number of clients served by personal advisors.

These officers go beyond managing transactions. They act as trusted financial partners, guiding each individual with empathy, expertise, and a deep commitment to their financial well-being.

We are committed to being there for our customers, when and where they need us most.

To fulfil this promise, we’ve extended our presence beyond traditional branches by establishing business units within real estate agencies, car dealerships, and department stores.

This strategic expansion allows us to be present at pivotal moments – whether it’s a person purchasing their first home, or an entrepreneur seeking financing to grow their business.

By embedding ourselves in these key environments, we not only enhance operational efficiency but also elevate our relevance during life’s most important financial decisions.

At Banco Popular Dominicano, we recognise that digital transformation is a continuous journey, not a destination.

Our next chapter focuses on deepening the integration of advanced technology with highly personalised human experiences. We are actively exploring AI-driven tools and data analytics to anticipate our customers’ needs with greater precision and care.

We will continue to expand our network of integrated offices in strategic locations, ensuring we are present during the most critical moments in our customers’ financial lives. At the same time, we are committed to continuously enhancing the digital experience – making every interaction, whether remote or in-person, faster, more intuitive, and more personal.

At the heart of it all is our unwavering focus: putting the customer first, always.

Your new life in Malta: Permanent residency in just four months

Posted on September 16, 2025September 15, 2025 by World Finance

The island of Malta has become a beloved travel destination thanks to its rich history, stunning Mediterranean scenery, unique charm, and friendly, English-speaking people. But beyond its beautiful beaches and historic sites, it’s also gaining attention as an attractive jurisdiction to invest in, and to live. Jonathan Cardona, CEO of Residency Malta Agency, discusses what attracts people to apply to Malta’s residency-by-investment programme, and what makes the programme – and the island – unique.

World Finance: Jonathan, what is attracting people to become residents of Malta?

Jonathan Cardona: Yes, Malta’s quite an attractive and unique country. I think first is the work-life balance, which makes them want to come to Malta. Our economy is doing very well – one of the best-performing economies, actually, in Europe. Then we have very good weather, we have Mediterranean weather. We have wonderful food.

Our culture is a bit of a mix of Mediterranean and Italian lifestyles; but our work ethic is very much British. So it’s quite busy, but one can balance life well, to enjoy the outdoors, to enjoy our beaches, and enjoy the family.

We also have a very stable and safe jurisdiction; Malta is a democracy, very safe for people, even to walk at night.

Then we have a reputable healthcare system, renowned and recognised by the World Healthcare Organisation. And also very good educational institutions. So I think all the real key components, when one’s selecting where to settle – one can find them here in Malta.

World Finance: Many viewers will be interested in investing or starting their own business in Malta – what’s the climate like for entrepreneurs?

Jonathan Cardona: Well, as one would expect from a European country, when someone needs to set up a company here, it is relatively easy to find the right people who will help you and guide you get everything on track.

The benefit in Malta is that given that we are a small country, we are well connected and tightly knit. It’s a nice place to settle, well connected to Europe, and also given its location, Malta is well placed to cater to the African continent here.

World Finance: Now, Malta’s permanent residency programme is one of the more popular European residency options, offering both value for money and transparent criteria; what makes the programme unique?

Jonathan Cardona: Firstly I think it’s the only programme where one can rent – not necessarily buy – property. So that will keep the initial capital outlay low.

We have become one of the most efficient programmes – the timeline is around four months from application date to approval, which in the industry is considered a very good timeline.

Finally, when a family decides to embark on this journey, they look at it for future planning. And when you’re planning, you’re planning for the whole family. Our programme, at the application stage, already four generations can be included. But you can also include in the future, the spouses of the children. So when they grow up and they decide to get married, the spouse will be eligible to become a Maltese resident – and also, their children. So we’re now speaking about the fifth generation which has not yet been born.

So as a programme, it is really forward-looking. And I think it is the only programme which can give you that element of peace of mind.

World Finance: You updated the eligibility criteria and investment requirements in July this year – why was this?

Jonathan Cardona: Well, what we do is, we always try to adapt, to take into consideration new realities, geopolitical shifts, and industry trends. We now have a more competitive financial outlay, more flexibility with property sub-leasing and rentals, and importantly an introduction of a one-year temporary residence permit provided at the very start of the applications.

This gives the applicants the opportunity to come and visit Malta, understand our culture better; get to know the country through and through.

What definitely has not changed is our quality of service and the levels of due diligence, which continue to be at the heart of what we do. And our overall attention to detail.

World Finance: So if I’m looking at Malta as a residency option, where do I start?

Jonathan Cardona: I think the most important thing is selecting the right agent. Agents know what we require, what our expectations are. And they will help you in filling application forms and submit the right documents so that the application is processed as quickly as possible. So I think the selection of the agent is the most important one.

Then obviously there are the forms and other procedures that are very much straightforward, as we standardised the process. We have a very good IT team here as well, who helped automating the process. It doesn’t mean that there is a system which will automate the decision making, but it helps the assessors have better peace of mind in taking decisions. Because they know what they are assessing against. It’s much more clear. So now we have a template which is very similar to that of a bank. It’s very much straightforward; we know what we are looking for, we have all the details, so in about four months you will have a reply from our end.

World Finance: Finally, we’ve spoken at length about the benefits to new residents of Malta through the MPRP, but what does the programme mean for Malta and its citizens?

Jonathan Cardona: Well, I think the MPRP is an important tool to help the government and its revenues. Because at the end of the day it was implemented to better our economy, and attract talent.

Moreover, part of our programme is a donation of €2,000 to a local voluntary organisation, and we’ve seen a substantial amount of money go to these small NGOs.

And when it comes to the economic element, we have seen important revenues come in, which have been channelled both through our sovereign fund and the consolidated fund. But also we have had people who have come through this programme, who have established businesses here. Who have helped in employing people. Who have helped in increasing our economy, which at the end of the day are all important for the betterment of our quality of life.

EBC Financial Group expands family of firms to Australia and Mauritius

Posted on August 4, 2025August 6, 2025 by World Finance

In the final video of this three part series, David Barrett, CEO of EBC Financial Group (UK), discusses the group’s astounding international growth and latest regions of activity; the different clients that EBC is serving and how it meets their many and diverse needs; and why whatever the future holds for the group, serving the community will be at the heart of it.

World Finance: David, catch us up on the latest news for EBC Financial Group – how has your growth across the world been going?

David Barrett: Very good! I’m always astounded – we started five years ago, there’s nearly 500 people globally now. That’s across all different aspects of the business, so growth of the business is very good, and clearly that’s driven by customer growth as well.

We’ve spent a lot of time in the last 12 months in newer regions: South Africa, and in the African nations as well. There’s a lot of activity going on in LatAm, where there’s been a lot of interest in the product.

We’ve set up an asset management company in Australia, which has been regulated by the Australian regulator. We’ve set up a brokerage in Mauritius which is regulated by the local authority there as well.

And I think all of these things are about building out the scope and the breadth of the platform. So, EBC Financial Group is a family of different firms. Different firms do different things for different people in different ways. And the different jurisdictions allow different kinds of access and different rules. And we’re very keen to continue to grow our regulatory footprint so that the client feels that it’s a good environment and a safe environment for them to be in.

World Finance: Tell me about the different clients that you’re working with in these different jurisdictions – do they require different support, or a different offering?

David Barrett: Yeah absolutely, very much so.

So if I take the UK, we don’t deal with retail in the UK, we deal with what we call professional clients and eligible clients, which tend to be larger and more sophisticated but fewer.

Those kind of people, you have a completely different relationship to them, as you would do with a retail trader from Asia or from Latin America.

I think the most vulnerable end is the younger retail people. Client services is very important. Being in contact, having the ability to help when they reach out is very important. And I think also you need the education. It’s very important. So we’re doing a lot more in terms of market briefs, interpreting different market events, economic events as well as political events.

And the idea is to try and encompass an information flow that allows them to understand that it didn’t go from here to here just because it went. There was stuff going on, and it does influence how markets move. And I think it’s our obligation – we want these people to be our clients, we’ve got to look after them.

Best clients are clients that stay. Best clients that stay are clients that make money, so it’s important for us to help them.

World Finance: So what is next for EBC Financial Group?

David Barrett: I think we continue to do the growth that we’ve seen. We want to be more established in the newer regions. We want to develop those out.

It’s pretty clear the ethos of the group – this is led from the UBO down, he’s very keen on the community aspect of what we do. We do try very hard to be interactive with the local communities. We have offices all over the place, and the local staff are very keen to be involved in local community projects.

I spoke to you before about what we do with the UN, with Beat Malaria. The political change in the US administration has made that more difficult, and it requires our support to keep going.

And in terms of the business, it’s about growing a business that’s sustainable for us, but is relevant to the client as well.

This is the final video from this interview with David Barrett; watch the first video here: Trading in extreme volatility? Smaller positions, less leverage, and take your time

And don’t miss the second video: EBC UK CEO: Broader instruments like ETFs helping clients better reflect their risk