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.

A tech-savvy, young population and a fast-growing economy are resulting in rapid branch expansion by Turkey’s domestic branches.

Turkish banks are following the lead of the country’s vibrant export sector and expanding into new regional markets, but their strategies vary widely.

Barclays built a multi-asset execution platform out of the Lehman acquisition, and the debt specialist in the bank’s two-man management team for global finance in the EMEA region is relishing the opportunity to deploy that platform if merger and acquisition activity picks up.

After deciding that a pure high-yield deal was prohibitively expensive for UK leisure company Center Parcs, RBS helped investors get comfortable with a whole business securitisation structure that other banks were giving a wide berth.