Remaining competitive in the global marketplace requires that Europe lead the second phase of the internet, which will be driven by collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies, says John Chambers.
Emerging markets specialist Standard Chartered has agreed to buy the banking unit of American Express (AEB) for about $860m, gaining branch licences in India and Taiwan and adding wealthy clients to its newly launched private banking operation. The acquisition will also double Standard Chartered’s dollar-clearing business.
Roustam Tariko, owner and founder of Russian Standard Bank (and Vodka), tells Karina Robinson of plans to tailor his banking model to current realities.
In the current market environment, not every bank chief executive feels relaxed talking to the press unless it is part of a public relations strategy to calm frayed nerves among investors. But Stan O’Neal, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch, was happy to talk to The Banker’s editor Brian Caplen about the volatility in the markets and the firm’s longer-term strategic positioning as well as social issues arising from globalisation, such as inequality.
Risk management in financial institutions should take a single view of risk and return, rather than be fragmented across the organisation. This was the topic of a round table hosted by The Banker in New York last month, and summarised here by Michael Imeson.
This year’s Investment Banker Awards come at a tricky time for the industry, when liquidity is scarce and markets are nervy. It is at times like these that banks must show their mettle. The Banker Awards 2007 reward such qualities, and we look back over an impressive year for all of its winners, during which innovation and commitment have driven growth.
JPMorgan commanded a 7.8% ($3.5bn) share of global investment banking revenues in the first half of the year, according to Dealogic. With companies in the US generating 52% of global investment banking revenues, JPMorgan Americas was again in the driving seat.
In terms of growth momentum, few can match Merrill Lynch in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Revenues for the region rose by 46% during 2006, building on a 40% increase the year before.
Barclays Capital has long had a fantastic investment grade bond platform in Europe, but it is The Banker’s Investment Grade Bond House of the Year in recognition of its impressive growth outside of its European heartland.
Barclays Capital is The Banker’s Covered Bonds House of the Year for the second year running because it remains the leader in bringing first-time issuers to market and paves the way into new regions.
Frank Heitmann, head of European convertible origination
Credit Suisse’s convertibles platform is firing on all cylinders. This is illustrated by last year’s Greenwich Survey, in which the bank’s convertibles sales and trading team was ranked first for overall quality, trading capability and salesforce capability.
Matthew Cestar, global head of European high yield capital markets
In high yield capital markets, Credit Suisse is everywhere, and many of its mandates underscore both the power of the franchise and the depth of its client relationships.
In the first six months of the year, Goldman Sachs has been involved in all of the top five transactions, advised on the most significant going-private transactions of the year to date, played a role in some of the most complex cross-border transactions and defended against a whole host of unsolicited M&A bids. Up against some stiff competition, Goldman retains The Banker’s M&A crown for the second year running.
UBS is a worthy winner of The Banker’s IPO House of the Year Award. In the 12-month awards period, it has executed the most IPOs in terms of the number of issues and captured 9.9% of the global IPO market with the highest value of IPOs executed. Moreover, it is the only bank to be in the top two ranking in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA.
UBS takes its prowess in equity trading very seriously. With an average increase of 33% a year on equity IT development spend, it is determined to be a market leader in client connectivity and market access.
JPMorgan is The Banker’s Bond Trading House of the Year for the second consecutive year. It is a consistent top-tier player across every aspect of the fixed income trading business and in every geography.
There could be only one choice for The Banker’s Leveraged Finance award. Credit Suisse is top of the league tables in just about every leveraged finance product and has been involved in most of the industry’s landmark deals.
For the second year running, Merrill Lynch is our Hybrid Capital House of the Year. Against growing competition from other houses, Merrill has continued to bring new structures to market, create market standards, enhance existing features, expand the investor base and tailor ingenious solutions to individual objectives.
Risk advisory is a discipline containing many moving parts. It demands excellence across a whole host of products and being at the forefront of regulatory change and market trends. Deutsche Bank has such a platform.
JPMorgan occupies a consistently dominant position in capital raising for the financial institutions group (FIG). According to Ina De, co-head of ECM origination, it is the bank’s model of seamless connectivity between origination, syndicate, trading and distribution that differentiates JPMorgan’s offering from its competitors.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has once again demonstrated its indisputable leadership in trade and project finance. The bank won the most substantial deals in 2006 and the first half of this year.
Confirming last year’s success, CIMB Islamic is again the winner of The Banker’s Islamic Investment Banking award. Against stiff competition from larger international players, CIMB has climbed the league tables for both domestic sukuk and global sukuk issuances.
FX House of the Year is one of the most competitive classes in The Banker Awards. The incredible levels of liquidity, service and innovation that the top four players provide can be difficult to differentiate. But by maintaining market share against ever more aggressive competition and continuing to add functionality and innovative new products for clients, Deutsche Bank edged away from the pack and took the crown.
This year’s Interest Rate Derivatives House of the Year is HSBC, in recognition of its pioneering role in many emerging markets and its leadership in asset and liability management hedging products in the developed markets.
This year’s Prime Brokerage award goes to Barclays Capital in recognition of its rapid growth, continued innovation and commitment to developing a truly multi-asset class platform.
It is a difficult time for the securitisation business. As the subprime woes have undermined confidence in what has long been a well-accepted and well-used technology, it is clear that there is going to be a period of greater conservatism in terms of the sorts of structures and assets that are attractive to investors.
Barclays Capital, The Banker’s Emissions Trading House of the Year, has been at the forefront of emissions trading since the EU established its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2005, and has built its platform on a broad commodities franchise.
Deutsche Bank may not have the biggest commodities franchise in the business but its trading business is the most dynamic, with an incredible strength in product innovation and cross-divisional derivatives expertise.
Barclays Capital’s head of investor solutions, Americas, tells Kathryn Tully how he successfully built a team from scratch to develop tailored structured products across all asset classes as well as equity and fund derivatives solutions.
Dresdner Kleinwort is ahead of the advisory pack in terms of deal value in European electricity mergers and acquisitions this year. The bank’s utilities and natural resources team talk to Edward Russell-Walling about their recent success in one of the most difficult deals in cross-border history, Enel’s takeover of Endesa.
Nordic Investment Bank is demonstrating that it is a quality AAA name with its search for funding diversity leading it to success in international pastures, and hungry bankers knocking on its door begging for short-term paper. Edward Russell-Walling reports.
It is easy to be wise with hindsight, but it is all rather obvious now that off-balance sheet vehicles work fine when they are being used for authentic assets that banks really wanted to generate but have decided, for balance sheet management reasons, would be better securitised.
The noughties are definitely becoming the age of the joint venture. At one time, banks only took a percentage stake if legislation prevented them from taking more, and large banks definitely did not do joint ventures because they had the clout to own 100%. But now, CEOs who 10 years ago would have been strict control freaks are entertaining the idea of having half of something if it is the only sensible way to get it.
Between 40 and 50 Daiwa executives in Tokyo are going to discover this month that they are bound for pastures new, maybe other parts of Asia or maybe London.
Counterparty credit risk has been one of the fastest growing exposures on derivatives dealers’ books in the last several years. Natasha de Terán explores how they have been managing this risk amid the mounting market turmoil.
Today’s payments landscape is fragmented with disparate mechanisms applied in different regions and countries. Alan Duerden considers which region will emerge as the global leader in the payments space.
Andrew Muir, Securities Market Reform Group at Swift
More than a year after the Giovannini Group’s original deadline for removal of all 15 barriers to the creation of an integrated clearing and settlement system for European securities trades, only one barrier has been fully removed. Frances Maguire reports on the delay.
Swift’s new CEO, Lázaro Campos, talks to Frances Maguire about his plans for Swift in the immediate future and beyond, including regionalisation, courting US institutions and working on the integration of portals.
Several financial institutions are on the brink of the abyss caused by the temporary closure of the asset-backed securities markets. Professor Jan Pieter Krahnen reports on the crisis and its first victims.
The media coverage given to the tussle at the top of Millennium BCP risks deflecting attention away from the positive evolution of Portuguese banking, says Peter Wise .
Gordana Djurovic, deputy prime minister and minister for European integration
Despite its small size, Montenegro is attracting investors with its stable business and banking environment, and looks firmly set on the path to EU membership. Justin Keay reports.
Ben Aris reports from Moscow on the new trend of carmakers setting up shop with banking licences in Russia to take advantage of the accelerating growth in the auto loans market.
Debate on China’s future was fierce at the inaugural summer event of the World Economic Forum held in the Chinese city of Dalian. Stephen Timewell reports.
An unprecedented array of mortgage products is putting home purchases within reach of lower-income Filipinos – and helping banks achieve their best loan growth in a decade. Ian Gill reports from Manila.
Despite a recent lending crisis, Taiwan has quietly assumed an enviable position in global finance, with ever closer economic ties to China. Brian Caplen reports.
Ecuador’s bankers insist the president’s high stakes political strategy, which has included singling them out as public enemies, is ruining the economy. John Rumsey reports.
A relaxation of pension funds allocation rules in Latin America will hugely benefit regional private equity investment – but governments must keep better tallies of inflows, says Jason Mitchell in Buenos Aires.
Jacko Maree, CEO of Standard Bank Group, tells The Banker about the strategy that is leading it to expand into markets well beyond its South African home base.
Maged Shawky Sourial, The Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE)
Aided by expertise learnt in the US, those in charge of the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange have constructed a highly efficient operation, says Silvia Pavoni .
Providing financial services firms with the systems maintenance support to cope with the demands of regulation is one of the many areas in which Oracle has proved itself a global leader. Alan Duerden reports.
Meet the digital natives and understand why you can never become one of them (disclaimer: reading this might make you feel old, stupid or both). By Ola Ahlvarsson .
The CEO of CLS Bank International details the technological challenges of keeping pace with the fast-changing dynamics of FX settlement. Alan Duerden reports.
Chris Mayers, Citrix’s principle security architect
Companies should be worried about the very real threat of security breaches in the mobile device space and ensure that effective counter measures are put in place. Alan Duerden explains.
The lessons of the losses experienced by Lloyd’s of London in the 1980s were overlooked by banks embroiled in the subprime crisis, who recklessly issued vast amounts of collateralised debt obligations. By Chris Skinner.
When it comes to payment infrastructure, it is no longer just a case of build versus buy. Partnering becomes an increasingly attractive alternative presenting tremendous value for financial institutions, says Colin Digby.
Having fewer bank accounts in Europe post-Sepa will enable corporates to pool funds more effectively but, as Frances Maguire reports, liquidity management solutions will still be needed.
Strategic partnerships with indirect competitors will be a powerful differentiator for those banks that choose to embrace this concept. By Paul Galant.
New Zealand’s Kiwibank has collaborated with Citi’s Global Transaction Services to create winning synergies and prove that the whole really can be greater than the sum of the parts. By Michael Imeson.
Citi’s Global Transaction Services is working closely with pan-European clearing and settlement providers, payments processors as well as payments networks. By Heather McKenzie.
Its ambitions in the mobile remittances space have led Vodafone to partner with Citi to extend the service beyond Kenya to provide international person-to-person mobile payments. By Heather McKenzie.
