December 2004
| Euromoney December 2004 Barclays Capital has increased its staff by 30% to 7,000 in the past 18 months - and there's more to come. The objectives - more client contact and a broader product range - seem to be attainable. What's not so clear is whether increased revenues will outweigh the costs of this headlong expansion and how it will transform the firm's culture. |
Euromoney December 2004
Will Cazenove's blue-blood culture and exclusive corporate clientele be under threat in its joint venture with JPMorgan? Rivals would like to think so but the two parties are aware of how crucial these features are. What's more, there's nowhere much else for top corporate customers to go. The biggest danger is that the merged firm will cater for so many blue chips in such sectors as mining that conflicts of interest might emerge.
Euromoney December 2004
Top bankers' talking shop the Institute of International Finance and the G-20 group of sovereign borrowers have proudly unveiled a new set of principles for orderly restructuring of sovereign debt. The Argentina fiasco underscores the urgent need for such an agreement. Unfortunately, this one was negotiated without much input from the most important groups of creditors.
Euromoney December 2004
GE is not just a big lender. Through its diverse manufacturing and service operations the group has also built up vast experience in business processes. So it was reckoned to make sense to offer consultancy to potential clients for free in the hope that their businesses would grow on the back of that advice and that they would then turn to GE to fund that expansion.
Euromoney December 2004
Banks and exchanges are working to expand their commodity-based products to capture new opportunities that will arise from the burgeoning European carbon dioxide emissions trading scheme. The use of Isda documents is already boosting trade volumes. And banks are starting to lend against allowances as collateral.
Euromoney December 2004
European mezzanine finance is growing fast in absolute terms and as a proportion of the financing of individual deals. With hedge funds and CDO structurers eager for the paper there's a fear among some traditional mezzanine investors that pricing is not taking proper account of risk and that innovative structures are an unhealthy development for the market.
Euromoney December 2004
The market for Shariah-compliant finance has grown rapidly in size and sophistication in the past few years, demanding expertise in regulation, product structuring, legal services and marketing. Nigel Dudley speaks to pioneers of the industry.
Euromoney December 2004
Investors are now content with the quality of secondary bond markets in Europe. They can transact large sizes on tight bid-offer spreads without moving prices against themselves. But is this just a bull market phenomenon?
Euromoney December 2004
Banks are trying, with mixed success so far, to interest institutional investors in structured products based on funds of hedge funds and hedge fund indices. For institutions that have been slow to obtain approval for alternative investments, structured products offer a quick fix. But suspicion abounds.
Euromoney December 2004
China's economy is humming along in top gear but its domestic securities markets remain stuck in neutral. As the central government continues to struggle with financial reform, losses mount and systemic risk increases.
Euromoney December 2004
From unlikely roots, US private-equity investor Lombard has deftly re-invented itself to emerge as a leading local value investor in Asia. It has some way to go before it has truly regional scope but an unconventional approach to investing has yielded impressive results to date.
Euromoney December 2004
Larger Asian companies have seen the benefits from improving their governance in investment and foreign expansion. Now smaller companies are also recognizing the advantages of compliance with international standards and starting to shine in our annual best Asian companies poll.
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004
Euromoney December 2004