Euroweek, Euromoney’s sister publication, threw a lavish bash at London’s Royal Courts of Justice in April to celebrate its 1,000th edition and the 20 years the newspaper has spent covering the trillions of dollars that have been raised in the international capital markets during that period.
Therefore it seemed entirely appropriate to recognise those individuals that have made the greatest contribution to the development of the bond markets over the past two decades.
Winners were voted for by panels of bankers and borrowers. Bank originators had to put to the back of their mind the last mandate they missed out on and remember which issuers had impressed them most over the past 20 years. No surprise then that Italy was voted best sovereign – it has launched many groundbreaking deals and paid chunky fees at the same time. The World Bank was recognised for its innovation in issuance, while KfW was voted best agency borrower.
Citigroup and UBS dominated the bond house awards as voted by borrowers, winning three apiece.
But the biggest frisson of the night came as the individual awards for bankers were announced. Hans-Jörg Rudloff was, to no one’s great surprise, voted as the banker who made the greatest contribution to the markets in the past 20 years.