Can you have a groundhog year? It certainly feels like 2020 is set to repeat many of the big themes of 2019. Brexit is still about to happen (and even if it does, we’re going to spend the year having the same interminable arguments about trade deals/no-deals/WTO terms); the US-China trade war rumbles on with no end in sight; Donald Trump is about to be impeached (or not); the US is heading into recession (or not); the ECB is buying bonds again in the hope that this time quantitative easing will get the eurozone fit and firing. Same old, same...Read more
To purchase printed copies or a PDF of this report, please email leonie.welss@lseg.com and shahid.hamid@lseg.com
Network effect:
Building on its globe-spanning corporate bank and a reorganisation that combined that unit with investment banking and capital markets, Citigroup made meaningful progress in 2019. In what was a down market for many, it moved up the league tables, increased market and wallet share, and added a host of star bankers to its ranks. Citigroup is IFR’s Bank of the Year.
League of its own
JP Morgan is the pre-eminent bond house. It is equally adept in the SSA sector as it is in high-yield; in US dollars and euros as in smaller currency markets; in flow transactions as in more heavily structured credits. No other firm can rival its dominance in so many segments of debt capital markets. JP Morgan is IFR's Bond House, US Bond House, SSAR Bond House and Emerging EMEA Bond House of the Year.
Icing on the cake
As equity capital markets activity concentrates among a trio of US banks, those firms become responsible for the highs and lows of activity. For picking the right deals, reacting to investors, and using its experience to make better decisions, Morgan Stanley is IFR’s Equity House, Asia-Pacific Equity House and EMEA Equity House of the Year.
Nimble thinkers
From corporate M&A, leveraged buyouts, middle-market lending and everything in between, Credit Suisse is one of the go-to names for private equity sponsors and global companies looking to fund their growth. For its leveraged finance expertise, proximity to the buyside and bespoke funding, Credit Suisse is IFR’s Loan House of the Year.
A steady hand
Geopolitical uncertainty and depressed client activity have made it a challenging 12 months for banks’ trading businesses. For burnishing its credentials as a global derivatives house through expanding its European operations, while maintaining its reputation as a steadfast trading partner, Bank of America is IFR’s Derivatives House and Interest Rate Derivatives House of the Year.
The hunt for yield
The squeeze in rates and the compression in spreads has forced banks to think about the best strategies for issuing clients to take advantage of such a supportive backdrop, while at the same time delivering value for investors. For its ability to navigate that balance across all the developing regions, Citigroup is IFR's Emerging Markets Bond House of the Year.
The bank that does good
Strengthening a leading league table position in the increasingly competitive world of sustainable finance was no mean feat in 2019. Banks fell over themselves to declare their green credentials as the world heated up, but for continuing to bring calm and thoughtful leadership to a rapidly evolving and sometimes chaotic market, Credit Agricole is IFR’s ESG House of the Year.
A new dawn
Advising on two US$50bn-plus acquisitions, providing advice that saved US$1bn, and assuming a dominant role in European IPOs is quite the list of achievements in one year. For taking its business to the next level, Evercore is IFR’s Capital Markets Adviser of the Year.
Jumping ahead
In a year when US domestic mega-deals dominated, Goldman Sachs increased its market share by advising on many of the most heavily contested transactions for both bidders and targets. It is IFR’s M&A Adviser of the Year.
Saving Steinhoff
The cracks in the easy-money edifice started to appear in 2019, as several companies with complex capital structures suddenly teetered on the edge, going from heroes to zeroes with little warning as there were no covenants to trip. A prime example was Steinhoff. For holding the retailer’s empire together and working against the odds in other situations, Moelis is IFR’s Restructuring Adviser of the Year.
Fig juice
In a relatively calm year for banks and insurers, a handful of landmark deals, the continued sale of unwanted assets by European banks, and the evolution of technology for financial firms provided highlights. One bank played a significant role across those trends, making Morgan Stanley IFR's Bank of the Year for Financial Institutions.
Private to public
Governments aren’t often associated with innovation and originality. But one bank has fought hard to replicate best practice in the private sector with its public sector clients. For its thought-leadership, and prowess across asset classes, Citigroup is IFR’s Bank of the Year for Governments.
Private dancer
With the big public-to-private deals of recent years in short supply in 2019, banks had to work harder to win business from their financial sponsor clients. For coming up with innovative solutions during a period of turbulence, Morgan Stanley is IFR’s Bank of the Year for Financial Sponsors.
Trade tensions between Beijing and Washington are threatening to spill over into capital markets, with some policymakers even calling for a ban on Chinese listings in the US. Just how far can it go?
As Japanese fund managers broaden their search for yield, international issuers are finding they no longer need to spend the time and money to prepare local language documentation. Old habits die hard, however, and lengthy marketing periods are still standard practice.
Primary bond markets have proved a testing ground for the transition from inter-bank offered rates to new alternative risk-free rates. But the abundance of issuance referenced to Sonia and SOFR should not obscure the unfortunate fact that most of the proceeds have immediately been swapped back to Libor by the borrowers.
Is the traditional green bond market threatened by the emergence of transition bonds, SDG bonds, general-purpose bonds with environmental targets and other debt classes intended to encompass wider environmental goals? Does it matter if new market segments are more effective at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases?
As another painful year for Europe’s banks draws to a close, the need for big bank consolidation has never been greater.
