January 2002
| Euromoney January 2002 The insurance industry is at a turning point. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, capacity shrank, rates rocketed, and losses mounted. Some cover is still hard to come by. Yet a dramatic resurgence is under way as new capital floods in and as insurers adopt alternative risk transfer, dubbed insurance-based investment banking. It's now evident that the terrorist crisis has not simply served to highlight the notoriously cyclical nature of the industry but has greatly accelerated long-term changes in the sector. So what role will the capital markets play in providing capacity? And how will the latest and largest calamity hasten the convergence between the distinct cultures of insurance and banking? |
Euromoney January 2002
Citibank/SSSB and Deutsche are neck and neck in our annual poll of polls compilation of survey results. Deutsche tops the underwriting table again and jumps ahead of both Goldman and Citibank/SSSB to win the advisory section. Citibank/SSSB wins our new internet and transactions processing tables and beats Deutsche into second place in the trading section. Goldman scores strongly in all categories save transactions processing, and JPMorgan Chase is in the top four in all categories except underwriting.
Euromoney January 2002
Worldwide, investment banks that grew bloated in the bull run have been shedding staff and pulling in their horns in recent months. But something more fundamental is happening in Asia. The days of having an equity and corporate finance operation in every country in the region are coming to an end and many banks are becoming more centralized, while shifting their focus to the markets of north-east Asia, particularly China.
Euromoney January 2002
The Enron saga showed vividly how credit rating agencies can be key players in the endgame facing a stricken corporation. That's a disquieting role for the agencies, which present themselves as mere observers. But downgrades, by setting off forced selling, can push troubled companies over the edge. How did investors come to rely so heavily on ratings and what do they intend to do about it?
Euromoney January 2002
For years, overbanked Austria has been a byword for murderous competition and razor-thin margins. Now there are indications that it is becoming a more benign environment for bankers. Austrian banks are belatedly focusing on the business of making money, both at home and through energetic expansion in the central and eastern European region.
Euromoney January 2002
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are among 10 states, mostly central and eastern European, that Brussels is vowing to admit as soon as 2004. Only Bulgaria and Romania would be kept waiting. But this idea doesn’t please some existing EU members – and a radical view is emerging that what matters is market reform, not EU membership.
Euromoney January 2002
In Bucharest, the government of former communists has made remarkable strides in pushing through economic reforms including privatization of Banca Agricola and ailing steel company Sidex. It has even made some progress on banking regulation. If sustained, this should help the country catch up with neighbours in attracting foreign direct investment and bring it closer to eventual EU accession.
Euromoney January 2002
Adrian Nastase, the prime minister of Romania and Social Democratic Party leader, has been described as “a proactive politician”. During a recent trip to the UK, he explained that positive action is his priority.
Euromoney January 2002
The economy is booming, but Russia’s stellar growth rates of the past three years are already starting to slow. The impact of the cheap rouble and high international oil prices are beginning to wear off. President Putin must embark on painstaking structural reforms or the boom could peter out. But that means taking on powerful entrenched interests.
Euromoney January 2002
The focus of interest in central Asia is returning to strategic and newly oil-rich Kazakhstan where tycoons and reform politicians are vowing to shake up the longest-lasting regime in the post-Soviet constellation. With growth in double figures, foreign investors are watching too.
Euromoney January 2002
The happy solution to volatile equity markets or an accident waiting to happen? Hedge funds, long the darlings of super-wealthy individuals, are now attracting attention from institutions and even retail investors. Funds are pouring into the sector faster than ever. But though the salesmen say there is plenty more room for investors to fill their boots, some people fear that they could be the next investment bubble after dot coms and private equity.
Euromoney January 2002
With its economy already weakened by falling oil prices, Venezuela’s suffering is being intensified by the actions of president Hugo Chávez, whose populism is rapidly losing all support. More conflict is likely.
Euromoney January 2002
Unrest in Argentina lent a new urgency to preventing disruptive sovereign debt work-outs. But few experts yet accept IMF first deputy managing director Anne Krueger’s idea for legal protection for sovereign debtors.
Euromoney January 2002
For much of last year US equity issues were hard to get away and for a few weeks September 11 closed off IPOs altogether. Now a revival is apparent, though one characterized by caution. It should persist, if optimism about recovery from recession is not unfounded.
Euromoney January 2002
The past 12 months have been tough for online wholesale finance. Banks are ditching their e-commerce divisions, having finally realized that keeping them separate from the business lines is ridiculous. Some multibank sites have closed. But online analytics have come into their own, transparency is improving and banks generally have a better idea of what the internet can and cannot do. Even so the web is still not fulfilling its potential. Despite all the talk about the net making the markets more open, politics and secrecy are damaging web-based trading. Banks know that they have not found the perfect way to trade online but some of their individual products excel.
Euromoney January 2002
Despite jitters after the September 11 attacks, tier-one bank capital issues offering better returns than government bonds have continued to remain popular with investors, boosted by attractive new structures.
Euromoney January 2002
Operational risk is not new – it’s a concept that banks have been struggling with for years with varying degrees of success. But setting aside capital against the risk of loss from human error, systems failure, or fraud is new, and of growing concern to the industry. With the Basle Accord’s capital requirements coming into effect in January 2005, banks and other financial institutions are having to face operational risk issues with a new sense of urgency. In the following roundtable discussion, euromoney.com brought together a number of professionals with different operational risk challenges to discuss the questions they face and the business implications of the Basle Accord. IBM’s Keith Saxton moderated
Euromoney January 2002
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Convertibles
Euromoney January 2002
Collateral
Euromoney January 2002
E-Finance
Euromoney January 2002
Financial Security
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Argentine
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Mexico
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Russia
Euromoney January 2002
Latin America
Euromoney January 2002
Introduction of euro notes and coins involves complex decisions on the part of bankers on how to deal with legacy currencies in contracts.
Euromoney January 2002
Issuer: Diversified Global Securities Limited (UBS Principal Finance)Type of deal: Cashflow arbitrage CDO of CDOsAmount: $236.95 millionDate: December 13 2001Underwriter: Société Générale
Euromoney January 2002
Co-chairmen, Eulia
Euromoney January 2002
President, Tokyo Mitsubishi Securities