Chase is the biggest of the bunch in syndicated loans but the fact that it has consistently headed the league tables for the last five years is not the only reason it deserves this award. This rests also on its reputation, diversity and global scope.
Chase is in a symbiotic relationship with US blue-chip corporations. The companies have the prestige of working with the biggest bank on the block - it has more primary relationships with Fortune 1000 companies than any other bank - and having the lion's share of blue-chip business is good for Chase's bottom line.
Chase has outstripped the competition abroad as well as at home, having exported technology developed in the US market. A further indication of the bank's all-encompassing grip on facets of syndicated lending such as research, market information, structuring and execution was the fact that it topped the league tables for every major geographic region - the US, Latin America, Asia and Europe - in 1996.