Citi bested closest league table rival Deutsche Bank with US$7bn-equivalent of deals, a record number for offshore public G3 (versus Deutsche’s US$6.56bn 2007 tally) through an equally record-breaking 45 deals (against Deutsche’s 28). This 13.5% market share was achieved by the leveraging of the bank’s vast Asian franchise, which boasts a massive commercial banking line as well as heavyweight capability in primary and secondary debt and equity markets. The year represented the definitive pay-off

For several years, investors have been taking advantage of the combination of extremely low Japanese interest rates and historically low volatility across all financial markets to borrow yen and invest in assets such as stocks, commodities, real estate and any currency that offered above- average yields. Stories about the carry trade even made the jump from the financial pages to the human interest sections of newspapers when the phenomenon of the “kimono trader” became evident. Newspapers were

Citi did not top the equity and equity-linked league tables coming in second to DSP Merrill Lynch, but it outshone the latter in the new ideas it brought to the table and the breadth of its deals. Citi clocked US$3.98bn in league table over the awards period with 29 issues, giving it a 12.9% market share. Citi made its mark with interesting and innovative deals, particularly on the convertible bond front. The Citi-designed convertible alternative reference securities (CARS) structure – introduce

With US$41.23bn in loan volumes from 136 deals, India was by far the busiest market in Asia outside of Japan and Australia in the 12-month review period ending mid-November 2007. This was more than double the US$20.32bn transacted from 104 deals in the same period in 2006 and 38% higher than the US$29.8bn in volumes seen in the whole of 2006. ABN AMRO finished number three in the league tables for the review period, with US$3.27bn in bookrunning credits from 17 deals. ABN again kick-started the

Ranked by deal volume, the Hong Kong syndicated loan market was the third largest in Asia (ex-Australia and Japan) in 2007. But it proved to be another uninspiring year characterised by self-arranged or top-heavy transactions. Of the players that kept the show on the road, however, HSBC stood out. It managed to show its strong execution capability and consistent leadership by maintaining the number-one slot in the bookrunner league table for the third consecutive year. It also managed to have no

It was a topsy-turvy year for fixed-income players. Despite the turbulence, HSBC put up a great performance in the Hong Kong bond market, particularly with regard to product variety and finding solutions for issuers’ and meeting investors’ needs in a challenging time. In the period under review (November 16 2006 to November 15 2007), HSBC led 165 Hong Kong dollar deals raising HK$46.08bn (US$5.91bn), excluding self-led deals, for domestic and foreign issuers, according to Thomson Financial. That

For the awards period, CITIC topped the domestic bond league tables with Rmb70bn (US$8.75bn) in bookrunner credit. In competing in the domestic market, CITIC typically engages in a slugfest with CICC and BOC International (China). Both are formidable foes, but CITIC thrives on the debt front, largely because it has made fixed income a priority ever since the firm was established in 1995. It has consistently been the most innovative and aggressive among its peers in embracing the debt product, in

Big year. That was the most dramatic, eventful 12 months seen in the region since the financial crisis. The highs and lows were extreme, with debt and equity markets often trading in opposite directions, completely oblivious to each other’s booms or busts. There was a lot going on but if one were pressed to choose the dominant theme for Asian markets in 2007, this would be it: the localisation of Asian finance. The region’s domestic markets are coming to the fore. As China and India take their p

Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin) priced a D3trn (US$187m) 10-year bullet bond in March 2007 via sole lead Deutsche Bank. In the process it managed to print Vietnam’s biggest onshore deal and attract the biggest roster of offshore investors to a domestic deal from the country. Pricing came in at 9%, the tight end of the 9%–9.25% final guidance, which equated to 8.92% after the deduction of withholding tax. Initial guidance had been released two days before the final pricing at 9.25%

Typically, the giant universal banks find themselves in a bind. The bigger they grow, the more unwieldy and bureaucratised they become. They’ll milk their economies of scale, their enormous multi-asset, multi-geography banking platforms, but they’ll leave it to their smaller, nimbler rivals to do the truly clever trades. The universals find themselves having to trade off brainpower for brawn; dexterity and speed for scale. But Deutsche Bank has demonstrated that big does not have to mean dim. It

In South-East Asia, Standard Chartered (StanChart) bested its competitors – both local and foreign – in three of five local currency bond markets, ranking top in the 2007 Thomson Financial bookrunner league tables for Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Nor was its performance too shabby in league table terms in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia. “Asia’s economic growth has resulted in larger pools of investors open to investment avenues beyond their local geographies,” said Brad Levitt, gr

Appetite for credit risk from Asia has grown dramatically over the past few years, with more and more investors prepared to take on increasingly complex exposures. It was no different in 2007 – until July that is, when the first wave of the sub-prime crisis was felt. From then on, liquidity dried up in Asia’s credit markets. Turnover in cash bonds almost disappeared, to be replaced by a rapid rise in single-name default trading and, more latterly, an increased reliance on the revamped iTraxx ind

Citi stood out from its rivals with its impressive showing in acquisition and leveraged finance. Citi’s hallmark in that space was the mandate it won in May 2007 on the £3.67bn (US$7.5bn) non-recourse takeout for Tata Steel that refinanced a bridge supporting the Indian steelmaker’s acquisition of UK-based Corus Steel. What was truly remarkable about the mandate was that Citi did not feature on the bridge financing that had been completed in early April by ABN AMRO, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Ba

Philips on March 9 2007 announced a plan to completely exit its US$8.5bn stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC). As part one of that plan, Philips said it would sell up to US$1.75bn worth of TSMC stock on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Three days later, on March 12, Goldman Sachs raised NT$57.65bn (US$1.75bn) for Philips in a disposal of 887m TSMC shares. Taiwan blocks are rare because of arcane regulations that restrict such transactions, and local blocks of this size are unheard

JPMorgan’s performance in 2007 is a story of dominance and consistency. The bank featured in almost all the mandates for the largest and the most innovative equity-linked deals in the region. It decisively led the Thomson Financial league tables through the awards period, having placed 25 deals for US$6.8bn. It was testament to JPM’s dominance in 2007 that almost none of its usual rivals even attempted to compete for this award. The verdict was unanimous – 2007 was JPM’s year. Again. Second-plac

Australasia enjoyed a bumper crop in loan volumes, which reached US$127.88bn from 199 deals in the 12-month review period ending November 15 2007, and showed remarkable resilience despite the turmoil brought about by the global credit market crunch. Leveraged deals – the worst affected by a move towards widespread risk-aversion – kept appearing despite a handful of high-profile jumbo deals falling through for reasons entirely unrelated to the sub-prime crisis. With many of the big US and Europea

Over the years, Malaysian national mortgage corporation Cagamas has developed strong recognition and investor support. That support was amply reflected in the response to its deals throughout 2007, especially during times when other originators had to defer issuance after the credit market tanked in August. Cagamas has been a prolific promoter of securitisation and executed a number of path-setting MBSs in 2007, but it was its synthetic securitisation of M$600m (US$177m) of SME loans through who

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Corp (Metrobank) priced a Ps10bn (US$236m) Lower Tier 2 10-year non-call five unsecured subordinated bond in October 2007. With ING and Standard Chartered leading, it represented Metrobank’s debut in the onshore subordinated space and was the largest domestic deal to emerge from the Philippines outside the quasi-government sector. Demand was so frothy that the leads were able to increase the issue from a planned Ps8bn to Ps8.5bn three days later, bringing the deal jus

Fila’s US$300m LBO was the deal that defied convention and there were many who doubted a successful syndication. To start with, there have hardly been any instances of a former subsidiary taking a tilt at its one-time parent and actually succeeding. The parent, sports brand owner Fila Global, had appeared to struggle in the years following a private-equity takeover in 2003. The target’s Ebitda was languishing at US$20m – pitiful for a business with global brand name recognition. The US$300m debt

Samsung Card’s W576bn (US$623m) deal was the first domestic IPO to include an international tranche. It proved that it was possible to tap overseas liquidity and attract quality global investors without neglecting domestic investors. The deal also tore up the rationale for South Korea/offshore dual listings and demonstrated that the country could operate to international standards. A transformation of the capital markets like this took a determined effort from Samsung Card, the regulator and bot