Awards for Excellence 2002
Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney
The combination of Citibank and Salomon Smith Barney has created a bank with deep links in all emerging-market countries - especially where it owns big local banks, such as Banamex in Mexico or Handlowy in Poland - and a local presence and product platform that no other firm can match.
In loans, in liability management, in external bond issues, in local-currency debt financings, for sovereign and corporate clients alike, Citi's franchise is unrivalled - in Latin America, in central and eastern Europe, in the Middle East, in Africa and in Asia.
"We try to think very broadly about our customers' liability needs rather than just coming in and pitching a bond issue," says Mike Corbat, who co-heads the firm's emerging-market capital markets business with Phil Bennett.
Bennett adds: "Before the merger we were the classic investment bank that just dropped in every once in a while. Now we have the ability to leverage our local base and our daily client coverage."
In terms of international bond issuance, Citi has been prominent across the board over the past year. In Latin America, it has led landmark sovereign transactions and liability management exercises for Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.