Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein were joint lead managers for the Republic of Turkey’s E500m bond issue.

Deutsche Bank acted as lead arranger, bookrunner and financial adviser for Metronet

Morgan Stanley acted as adviser to GM for its $17.88bn debt offering. See best corporate bond deal.

Rodrigo Rato, Deputy Prime Minister & Economy Minister, Spain

Luisa Diogo, Minister of Finance and Planning, Mozambique

Antonio Palocci, finance minister, Brazil

Peter Costello, treasurer, Australia

2003 saw benefits flow from fiscal austerity. Finance ministers who got tough on public spending got just rewards. It is this trend that flavours The Banker’s choice of finance ministers for 2004.

It has been a chequered year for central bankers, with most responding to sluggish growth or tackling the aftermath of crises. Strong, decisive leadership was the hallmark of The Banker’s choice of central bankers for 2004.

The Banker magazine launches its Company Awards in this edition, a
showcase of exceptional companies across the world. More than 500
invitations to enter the awards were sent to companies in 35 countries.
A strict prerequisite for selection was that companies had to enter to
be considered, a system designed to ensure legitimacy and transparency.
By making assessments on the basis of a standardised entry form only,
it was possible to compare like with like and make evaluations across
industries and sectors.
The key criteria for consideration were historical financial
performance; adoption and impact of new technology; potential for
revenue and profit growth in the home market or globally; and
governance and corporate social responsibility.
The multi-disciplinary selection panel made a qualitative assessment to
identify companies that had an extra “edge”, either investing in new
technologies or implementing bold or innovative strategies to grow. The
objective was to find companies that are financially sound with the
potential to grow significantly in the future. The final element was to
balance rapid growth with sustainability and good corporate governance.
The end result is 29 companies in 29 different countries (in the case
of six countries, an award was not made because the quality of
responses was not up to standard). Ahead you will see familiar names
and some not so familiar, all are high profile companies in their
respective markets.