Separating the wheat from the chaff in debt services

Survival of the fittest

Primary debt poll: Overall

Primary debt poll: Best service provision

Primary debt poll: Best by currency

Primary debt poll: Best by product

Primary debt poll: Full methodology

EXACTLY 12 MONTHS ago we wrote that ‘in a benign credit environment, banks might point to their profits as the only indicator of performance they need but when liquidity begins to dissipate and business is not so abundant, borrowers will remember the debt houses that took the best care of them and reward them accordingly.’

And that is exactly what has happened. As liquidity disappeared along with the benign environment, many investment banks were left badly exposed. And the borrowers have taken note. "Some banks have been affected more by the crunch than others," says Barbara Bargagli-Petrucci, head of capital markets at European Investment Bank. "We have continued with our normal dialogue but can now differentiate more between those banks that are in a position to underwrite deals and those that are not."

"We can differentiate more between those banks that are in a position to underwrite deals and those that are not" Barbara Bargagli-Petrucci, European Investment Bank

That some banks have not been in a position to underwrite even the safest deals would have been unthinkable this time last year, and one of the main things separating the better debt houses from the lesser ones is how long it took them to realize how bad things would become.