The position of Chief Financial Officer thirty years ago bears little resemblance to the position today. Even though the markets have experienced at least six major economic downturns since the 1960s, the macro-economic trends that are a consequence of this current global recession are having a significantly greater impact in comparison with any previous recession, particularly on the way in which businesses operate, the priorities they face and the strategies they need to develop to achieve success both on a national and global platform.

Power-One specialises in making “inverters”, which convert the direct current generated by solar cells into the alternating current needed by electricity grids.

ABB believes that demand for inverters will rise by 10 percent a year until 2021, due to rising energy demand, electricity prices and falling production costs.

The rare stone was recovered by Petra Diamonds at its Cullinan mine, located to the north-east of Pretoria, which is famed for its production of blue diamonds.

Experts believe that the diamond could be worth more than $10 million. Similar finds at the mine in recent years have commanded similarly high prices and the news of the latest discovery has resulted in Petra Diamond’s share price rising.

Manchester United had previous held the top spot every year since the list was first compiled in 2004, however its value according to Forbes of $3.17 billion has fallen behind that of the Spanish giants which is now totalled at $3.3 billion.

Mott MacDonald, a leading global engineering, management and development consultancy, is acquiring Brazilian environmental engineering consultancy Habtec Engenharia Ambiental.

The acquisition is part of Mott MacDonald’s strategy to create a regional base in Brazil from where it can expand across South America.

The news was made official after Glencore agreed to sell its stake in Xstrata's copper mining project in Peru, thus clearing the final hurdle in the completion of deal that will form one of the world's biggest metals and commodities firms.

For its part, Glencore also agreed to terms that state that it must supply a minimum volume of copper concentrate to China for a period of eight years.

How has financing evolved in the last three to five years?

As the Mining division of IHC Merwede, IHC Mining focuses on integrated solutions for mining houses in onshore, near shore and deep-sea mining. It offers advisory services to determine overall technical and economic project viability. It designs, builds and supplies innovative mining vessels and advanced equipment. During operations the company provides its clients with life cycle support.