Spring 2020 Issue
> TORONTO FINANCE INTERNATIONAL: BEST FINANCIAL SERVICES HUB INVESTMENT PROMOTION PPP GLOBAL 2020 Toronto Finance International (TFI) serves as a connector and coordinator, linking cross-levels of industry, academia and government to grow and promote the city’s financial services sector. As a public-private partnership (PPP), TFI takes a constructive, collaborative approach to business, working with domestic and international partners to bring key stakeholders together to achieve successful outcomes. TFI was founded in 2001 to boost Toronto’s competitiveness as a leading global financial services hub. Toronto represents the second-largest financial centre and third-largest tech cluster in North America, making the city an ideal breeding ground for FinTech innovation. In 2019, TFI released a report showing that FinTech investment in the region had grown by 10 times over five years, to the tune of $221m over 25 deals.
The Toronto region boasts one of the highest global FinTech investment growth rates, with a compound annual rate of 118 percent since 2010. TFI connects business leaders, academics and government officials to throw the weight of the collective consensus behind initiatives that target areas including talent acquisition and sustainable finance. It mobilises members and encourages stakeholders to work collectively to drive the growth and competitiveness of the industry. TFI lends its voice to global discussions and drives debate on the world stage — always with an eye to fostering industry innovation and positioning Toronto as a leading global financial centre. The CFI.co judging panel declares Toronto Finance International as the 2020 winner of the Best Financial Services Hub Investment Promotion PPP (Global) award.
> QIAGEN: BEST LIFE SCIENCES CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GERMANY 2020 Scientists, doctors, lab directors and other life-science professionals – including several Nobel Prize winners – form the QIAGEN client list. The company advances scientific knowledge by providing the tools to study and analyse the building blocks of life — DNA, RNA and proteins. QIAGEN is also using laboratory developed tests to aid healthcare workers in the coronavirus outbreak. The company emerged as an entrepreneurial offshoot of university research conducted nearly 40 years ago, and in the ensuing four decades has evolved into an enterprise employing 4,700 people across 25 countries. QIAGEN is a leader in the areas of molecular diagnostics. Its differentiated Sample To Insight solutions provide laboratories with specialised products, applications and insights into genetic diseases and cancer treatments such as immunotherapy. QIAGEN
views business as a vehicle that can improve quality of life as well as generate profits. As a good corporate citizen, the company has gone beyond compliance to become a trendsetter of sustainable business development. It runs operations in an energy efficient and eco-conscious manner, nurtures a highperformance and healthy work culture, and forges partnerships to spur social and scientific progress. The QIAGEN team feels a strong sense of public duty and goes the extra mile to deliver on its promise to improve lives. The latest innovation is a screening initiative to test for latent tuberculosis – a disease which the World Health Organisation estimates affects one in four people worldwide. The CFI.co judging panel recognises these efforts as a force for positive change, and confers on QIAGEN the 2020 award for Best Life Sciences Corporate Governance (Germany).
> ICBC DUBAI (DIFC) BRANCH: BEST INTERNATIONAL BANK BOND ISSUER EMEA 2019 The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has been laying the groundwork for stronger international trade relations since long before the launch of the government’s “Belt and Road Initiative”. ICBC has maintained a proactive presence over the past 10 years from its branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch represents a vital part of a network serving 7 million corporate and 600 million individual clients in 48 countries. As a fully licensed financial institution, ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch has helped regional and Chinese institutions raise funds through numerous successful bond issuances and has been a consistent issuer of EMTNs (euro medium-term notes). In October 2019, ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch issued a $1bn medium-term note, with a three-year $500m tranche and a five-year
$500m tranche. It jointly underwrote and bookran the first sovereign panda bond and the first federal bond. In November 2019, ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch was mandated as the Joint Global Coordinator for China Development Bank to issue its first sustainable green bond. Proceeds from the bond fund projects involving clean energy, circular economies, and responsible resource use. It also supports solutions to curb pollution, protect the environment, and adapt to climate change. The bank’s steadfast performance has resulted in repeat wins in the CFI.co awards programme, and as the achievements continue to compound, the judges are delighted to announce another notch in its victory belt. The judges declare ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch as the 2019 winner of the Best International Bank Bond Issuer (EMEA) award. CFI.co | Capital Finance International
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