The Banker’s Deals of the Year for 2012 celebrate the most impressive transactions in FIG capital raising, M&A, corporate and SSA bonds, infrastructure and project finance, loans, structured finance, equities, restructuring, Islamic finance, and this year a newly added trade finance category. Many deals were undertaken in very difficult market conditions, while banks from emerging markets are noticeably playing a larger role in the top transactions in their countries.

The Banker’s Deals of the Year for 2011 celebrate the most impressive transactions in FIG capital raising, M&A, corporate bonds, SSA bonds, infrastructure and project finance, loans, structured finance, equities, restructuring and Islamic finance.

Central banks are looking for reasons not to hike interest rates. It is a gamble that may not pay off.

Commerzbank’s bold liability management exercise – the first to address Basel III at both ends of the capital structure – shows that banks need not wait for national and European regulators to finalise minimum capital requirements. It also serves as a possible blueprint for Germany’s other banks to strengthen their capital base.

M&A activity throughout the world's exchanges may improve performance, but it could also make them less competitive.

Much has been written about the shift in the balance of global financial muscle away from the ailing eurozone and US toward the likes of China and Brazil. But even within the EU itself, the same trends are discernible.

Contingent capital, of one form or another, continues to be a hot topic in European financial markets.

As the bankers' bonus season arrives and the world's media ogle the figures, something seems to have gone missing in the debate. One of the recommendations urged by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, backed up with the threat of further intervention if ignored, was to change the way in which bonuses are paid, rather than the size of them.