LATEST ARTICLES FROM THE BANKER EDITORS
Deals of the year 2012
The Banker’s Deals of the Year for 2012 celebrate the most impressive transactions in FIG capital raising, M&A, corporate and SSA bonds, infrastructure and project finance, loans, structured finance, equities, restructuring, Islamic finance, and this year a newly added trade finance category. Many deals were undertaken in very difficult market conditions, while banks from emerging markets are noticeably playing a larger role in the top transactions in their countries.
Commerzbank's bold move is a blueprint for other German banks
Commerzbank’s bold liability management exercise – the first to address Basel III at both ends of the capital structure – shows that banks need not wait for national and European regulators to finalise minimum capital requirements. It also serves as a possible blueprint for Germany’s other banks to strengthen their capital base.
Bonus moves curb traders' risk appetite and impact hedging
As the bankers' bonus season arrives and the world's media ogle the figures, something seems to have gone missing in the debate. One of the recommendations urged by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, backed up with the threat of further intervention if ignored, was to change the way in which bonuses are paid, rather than the size of them.
Euro crisis could bring federalism by back door
Eurosceptics, many of them in the UK, have so far rejoiced at the crisis in the eurozone, believing it has proven that they were right all along – a monetary union without fiscal union makes economic nonsense. The crisis, say the eurosceptics, exposes the euro as a largely political project.
Rethinking risk-weighting
Every analyst has their own spin on what the impact of Basel III might be, and Bernard de Longevialle’s financial institutions team at credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has now added its own 16-page report. One of the most striking observations is the effect that tougher risk-weights on banks’ assets could have on certain banks that had recorded relatively healthy capital adequacy ratios under Basel II.
The EU should act where Berlin cannot
Anyone that hoped the financial crisis would be the catalyst for substantial change to Germany's three-pillar banking system may be disappointed. The rigid structure that divides the German banking sector into privately owned banks, publicly owned banks and co-operatives seems even now resistant to change.
