Mongolia: First steppes

Mongolia’s derivatives market is in its infancy – but the promise of future returns is luring international banks to Ulan Bator. By Viren Vaghela

With nearly a quarter of the population living on less than a $1.25 a day and a history of instability in its financial sector, Mongolia isn’t an obvious spot to find an investment bank. But for ING’s man in Ulan Bator, Howard Lambert, the opportunity is clear: the bank has been creating bespoke products for clients to gain exposure to Mongolia’s currency, the tugrik, and they have been earning fat returns.

“We were the first bank to structure a derivatives product to sell to international