Latest articles from Geraldine Lambe

Michael Uva

October 4, 2004

Designing organisational structures to best suit client needs and maximise investment banks’ flexibility is a difficult balancing act, especially if they must also match long-term market opportunities. Geraldine Lambe talks to Michael Uva at Morgan Stanley.

Gas deal fuels Russian ABS

September 2, 2004

Gazprom secured a hit with Russia’s first investment-grade securitisation, and one that will help to drive the country’s asset-backed securities market. Geraldine Lambe talks to ABN AMRO about its part in the deal.

Delete Merger marks Japan’s reform progress

August 24, 2004

Last month’s proposal of marriage between MTFG and UFJ would create the largest bank in Japan, but it will only be positive news if the two businesses can be integrated, writes Geraldine Lambe
For the Japanese banking system, recuperation has been a long and painful process. It is only now, after more than a decade of despair, that Japan’s so-called mega-banks are ready to start performing as mega-banks should.

Jean-Pierre Mustier

August 2, 2004

SG CIB had a good 2003 and a promising first quarter, but can it keep up the pace? The firm’s CEO tells Geraldine Lambe about the bank’s plans to do just that
Every bank has certain tenets that characterise its corporate culture. As such, SG Corporate and Investment Banking (SG CIB), the investment banking arm of French group Société Générale, could be summed up by its belief in a focused business model, the cultivation of an entrepreneurial spirit and what the bank calls a “profitable growth strategy”.

Japan’s banks rebuilt

August 2, 2004

After more than a decade wallowing in debt and seemingly unable to turn themselves around, Japan’s banks appear to be looking to new products and client segments to rejuvenate their business models and spread risk throughout the system. Geraldine Lambe reports.
For more than a decade, the Japanese banking system has suffered from painful indigestion – burdened by crippling levels of debt that the banks and the government were unable or unwilling to work out of the system. Whether we blame government policy, overly-cosy relationships between banks and borrowers or a lost decade of recession and deflation, Japan’s banks have for years failed to find a way to make themselves more profitable.

Merger marks Japan’s reform progress

August 2, 2004

Last month’s proposal of marriage between MTFG and UFJ would create the largest bank in Japan, but it will only be positive news if the two businesses can be integrated, writes Geraldine Lambe
For the Japanese banking system, recuperation has been a long and painful process. It is only now, after more than a decade of despair, that Japan’s so-called mega-banks are ready to start performing as mega-banks should.

Rose has the measure of Green in battle for M&S

July 2, 2004

Having already dismissed out of hand two offers for the high street chain, Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Rose seems to have seen off his old rival, UK billionaire Philip Green – at least for now, says Geraldine Lambe.

Jeremy Isaacs

July 2, 2004

Following Lehman Brothers’ push to diversify its business over the past few years, Geraldine Lambe talks to Jeremy Isaacs, Lehman’s CEO of Europe and Asia, about the firm’s new focus and toeing the company line.

Johnny Cameron

June 2, 2004

CEO, Corporate Bank and Financial Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland has grabbed the headlines recently for its successful forays in the US market, but the real story is the success of its overall strategy, reports Geraldine Lambe.

Epic issue proves to be groundbreaking deal

June 2, 2004

In the world of banking, as with most other fields, it is not often that a first can be said to have been achieved. However, says Geraldine Lambe, the E300m AFD 10-year bond issue was, for many reasons, exactly that.

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