Foreword
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Setting a new benchmark
How often has any bank been able to lay genuine claim to creating a benchmark for how the business is conducted? Faced with some tough decisions about its own future amid the chaos of the new order, UBS fashioned an innovative and sustainable operating model that is now a blueprint for others to follow. It is IFR’s Bank of the Year.
Forging ahead
It takes confidence and a wealth of experience to successfully navigate around markets that throw up fresh challenges at seemingly every turn. Barclays displayed just the steady hand required and is IFR’s Bond House, Europe Investment-Grade Corporate Bond House and SSAR Bond House of the Year.
Still Number One
The consistency with which Goldman Sachs tops the global equity capital markets league tables every year would be tedious were it not so remarkable in one of the most cut-throat arenas of investment banking. The dominance of the US house whatever the weather is why it is feared and revered in equal measure. Goldman Sachs is IFR’s Equity House of the Year.
Consistent and committed
In a volatile year that made the long-awaited return of M&A a nerve-wracking affair for underwriters, Citigroup showed its commitment to clients as it deployed capital and consistently took risk. For this reason, Citigroup is IFR’s Loan House and Americas Loan House of the Year.
Identifying opportunities
Sweeping changes were afoot this year at the world’s best-known investment banks as newly-installed top brass slashed jobs, pared business lines and vowed to boost capital. But Credit Suisse demonstrated that its global structured finance business knows how to earn its keep, making it IFR’s Structured Finance House of the Year.
Doing it all
As intensified regulatory pressure pushes more banks to restructure, those that took their medicine early had the chance to tally significant gains. For taking advantage of being ahead of the curve, and cementing its position as a global full-service provider, Citigroup is both IFR’s Derivatives House and Credit Derivatives House of the Year.
Overcoming tough obstacles
In a year that was the most difficult and turbulent in emerging markets since the financial crisis, banks needed to display great skill and leadership. None did so better than Citigroup, which is IFR’s Emerging Markets Bond House, Asia Bond House and Emerging EMEA Bond House of the Year.
In good health
A swathe of super-sized US M&A deals came to fruition in 2015, creating a fee bonanza for top advisers. As the pre-eminent house across sectors, Goldman Sachs was in a prime position to benefit from the surge, making it IFR’s Advisory House of the Year.
Talkin’ about a resolution
The largest debt restructuring over the last year was Ukraine’s. The country faced a stand-off with creditors, including a single US investor reluctant to accept any haircut. For resolving this and numerous other tricky situations, particularly in the energy sector, Lazard is IFR’s Restructuring Adviser of the Year.
Back in 1992, IFR’s Duncan Balsbaugh got a ringside seat from his position on Morgan Stanley’s London trading desk to watch George Soros’s attack on sterling. They say you can’t fight central banks, but as Soros showed, you can – and you should!
A plunge in commodity prices has left many energy exploration and production companies locked out of markets and struggling to refinance. Some are starting to get creative in an effort to ensure continued funding for their ongoing businesses.
Guidelines issued by the Fed, designed to limit leverage and reduce systemic risk, have made it harder for banks to compete in the leveraged lending business in the US. But while the leaders in the business have lost market share this year, lending remains healthy, with those borrowers looking for leverage able to find other options.
The central banks were once Olympian gods but have descended to be among men, and in doing so have lost many of their powers.
Low interest rates and rising equity valuations, and an investor base desperate for paper, drove an increase in exchangeable bond issuance in 2015. Corporates hesitated to issue bonds convertible into their own stock but leapt at the chance to use large cross-holdings for cheap financing.
The privatisation plan Narendra Modi touted when he came to power in India 18 months ago has failed to take off quite as the pro-business premier promised. Doubts over his reform agenda are mounting, but are they justified?
If 2015’s banking narrative was supposed to centre on a defensive strategy re-think, replete with slashed assets and diminished headcount, no one told Japan’s ambitious commercial mega-banks.
The dramatic rout that followed the latest bull run in China’s equity markets was a case of history repeating itself. Regulators are still grappling to understand the root cause, but they must realise there is only one solution – and it’s surprisingly simple.
Fast-growing companies seeking to build confidence in their business models and raise financing are increasingly turning towards private fundraising rounds. So far, the trend has been limited but it could become to IPOs what Uber is to public transport.
Securitisation has come a long way since the dark days of the financial crisis, when politicians – and many regulators – laid the blame for much of the chaos squarely at its feet. With both groups now broadly understanding the role it can play in stimulating lending, securitisation is on the march again, with a new and novel type of loan being considered for use in the asset pool.