News - The Banker

Despite huge losses, Western banks have retained their dominance of the rankings due to massive capital raising. But what will the future hold?
Geraldine Lambe reports

Research by Valentina Lorenzon, Cecile Sourbes and Charles Piggott

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Hedge fund manager John Paulson has come out on top in the list of the 100 top-earning fund managers,compiled by Trader Monthly magazine, with a record-breaking $3bn in earnings last year, according to reports. Big bank CEOs’ loss was hedge fund managers’ gain in the US subprime crisis.

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Tough times for bankers. UBS chief executive Marcel Rohner is under pressure to split the investment banking and wealth management arms of Europe’s second largest bank as this is touted as the best solution to the $18bn writedown that it has taken on mortgage securities.

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After eyeing the US municipal bond market for some time, Warren Buffet, the billionaire investor at the head of Berkshire Hathaway, is launching a new bond insurance firm thanks to the troubles of the sector’s main insurers. An industry’s nightmare is an investor’s dream.

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After a search that lasted more than a month, Citigroup has found its new chief executive. Former head of the bank’s institutional clients group Vikram Pandit  faces major challenges in reviving Citigroup, which, even before the credit crisis, was under pressure to show faster revenue growth. Win Bischoff  has been appointed as non-executive chairman.

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John Thain, chief executive of NYSE Euronext, is to be the new chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch, as Stan O’Neil leaves the bank following heavy losses in the subprime mortgage meltdown.

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Taking advantage of clients’ demand for carbon neutral strategies, Simon Greenshields, managing director and global head of power at Morgan Stanley, will oversee the development of a “Carbon Bank” service.

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UBS stunned the financial markets in July by replacing chief executive Peter Wuffli, who has presided over a remarkably successful period at the Swiss bank, with Marcel Rohner, one time head of UBS’ wealth management business.

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Hungary’s central bank governor Zsigmond Jarai (left) accepts the award for Central Governor of the Year, Eastern Europe, for 2006 from The Banker’s editor-in-chief, Stephen Timewell.

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The Governor of the Bank of Zambia, Dr Caleb Fundanga (left) receives his awards for both Global and African Central Banker of the Year from The Banker’s editor-in-chief, Stephen Timewell, at a ceremony with president Levy Mwanawasa at the State House in Lusaka.

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In contrast with Russia’s ‘iron fist’ reputation in the oil industry, president Vladimir Putin has expressed market-enlightened views about the country’s banking sector, simplifying foreign ownership rules.

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In a new year's resolution, Australian prime minister John Howard, who refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, has charged a taskforce with finding a global emission trading system that the country would find acceptable.

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Even with the cool season at its door, Brazil is hotter than ever – at least in banking terms. The past month has seen two of the biggest international banks taking stakes in Brazilian financial institutions, reflecting the country’s growth in both commercial and investment banking markets.

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