Latest articles from Sophie Roell

James Forese

September 2, 2004

Having been present during the turbulent times in the bond market in the mid-1980s, James Forese has since switched sides and is now a major force in the equities market at Citigroup, reports Sophie Roell.

Bondholders fight back

August 2, 2004

Two and a half years after Argentina’s debt default, creditors are up in arms over the country’s offer to pay back only a quarter of the Ł82bn it owes. But the government has so far refused to budge. Sophie Roell reports.
It’s not a promising sign in any negotiations when one party is not willing to talk to the other and both sides seem as unreasonable as each other. Furious with the paltry amount the Argentine government is offering for the $82bn in debt it defaulted on in December 2001, the Global Committee of Argentina Bondholders (GCAB), grouping together holders of about $37bn in debt, is fighting back with its own idea of a fair settlement.

Swiftness is key to Mexican deal

August 2, 2004

A close relationship and an ability to act fast when market conditions become favourable enabled Barclays Capital’s New York-based Latin American team to offer Petrotemex a range of options to refinance existing debt. Sophie Roell talks to the team.
It is a truism that timing is critical for any deal but for Latin American issuers, it is even more critical than for most. Volatility in the region is high, markets open and close quickly, and great opportunities can turn into missed chances in a matter of weeks.

In a spin over finding acquisition finance?

June 2, 2004

When a company decides to make an acquisition, it may not be a planned event. However, finance directors need not be caught short of funding, says Sophie Roell.

America for sale

June 2, 2004

European banks are rushing to buy American banks, but will they make money? Or will it all end in tears, as it did the last time they tried in the 1980s.

Asset management mindset is valuable

May 3, 2004

The progression towards commercial banks marking their loans to market seems almost inevitable, says Sophie Roell in New York. A new tool from Moody’s KMV can help banks to price loans and, more importantly, could help them with value management.

What will shape the new face of the US equity markets?

May 3, 2004

Wall Street’s equity markets have come through some tough times but now firms are eager for a fresh start. Sophie Roell reports from New York on their potential for a new image.
The word ‘crisis’, in Chinese, combines the character for danger with the one for opportunity. For Wall Street’s equity business, the last three years have certainly had an element of danger: a paltry number of IPOs and the erosion of commissions on the brokerage side to virtually unsustainable levels. And that’s not to mention a regulatory investigation that brought into question the value of sell-side research, and is now causing further alarm by focusing on the ‘soft’ money brokers get for services rendered to institutional clients.

Can Africa convince investors of its value?

April 5, 2004

Sophie Roell considers the prospects for Africa gaining a stronger presence on the world’s stock markets.

Party time in the Latin quarter

March 3, 2004

Even the weakest governments and newest companies have found issuing debt easy, writes Sophie Roell.

Leap of faith opens up a new market

March 3, 2004

With hindsight, Deutsche’s foray into the unknown – a joint venture with Fannie Mae to market an inflation-linked bond to institutional investors – seems as if it could not have failed. But it did not always look that way. Sophie Roell reports.
When Jeanmarie Genirs, managing director for US agency trading at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, left for work on the morning of February 4, she did something she never does: she asked her husband to wish her luck. “I need good luck, because today is either going to be a really good day or a really bad one,” she told him.

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