When banking historians look back, they may conclude that HSBC’s acquisition of Household International was the deal of the first decade of the 21st century. The risks are high but moving into consumer finance is definitely the method by which HSBC can close the gap on Citigroup.HSBC chairman Sir John Bond talks to The Banker about the group’s strategy, and the results of the interview are featured in our cover story.Talking of deals, this month’s Team of the Month pulled off a coup with a rare underwriting for the Bank of England. Bankers from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche and Morgan Stanley were all involved.
Agenda allows Joe Dryer, global head of capital markets origination at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the opportunity to describe his bank’s emergence from difficult times, while elsewhere in Capital Markets we focus on European covered bonds and capital guaranteed products for pension and insurance companies.
In FX and Treasury, Jim Kharouf tracks the rise of currency futures in Chicago and Mark Pelham offers advice on FX tech solutions, while in Global Securities Services, Frances Maguire examines the internalisation debate.
Regionally, Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, outlines progress towards an East African Common Market, and in Hong Kong, Karina Robinson talks to some of the region’s most influential business leaders.
Elsewhere, Jan Wagner talks to Eurohypo’s CEO Karsten von Köller, Indonesia prepares for life after the International Monetary Fund, and we look at improved transparency in West Africa and moves to set up the Trade Bank of Iraq.
Brazil’s finance minister Antônio Palocci talks to Jonathan Wheatley as part of our Brazil supplement. We also have country supplements on Russia and Barbados and a statistical survey of the Top 200 Asian banks led by Bank of China.
In Retail, Nordea’s head of retail banking Kari Jordan shares his secrets of success and we report on Islamic mortgages in the UK. In Technology, Parveen Bansal talks with Mark Greene, general manager of IBM’s global banking unit, as well as examining innovation at emerging market banks. There are also supplements on SIBOS, Cash Management and Basel II.
Last but not least, we have four pages of pictures from The Banker Awards this year, which were held in London in September. It was another memorable occasion for all those who attended.
