Part of SBC Warburg's success must spring from the unusual structuring of its business. Credit, government and derivatives trading have been separated but all of the bank's credit products have been integrated, which means that loans, asset swaps, securities and money-market instruments are under the same management and valued on similar models. This, SBC Warburg reckons, makes for a transparent and credit-focused approach to client market-making.
The bank has also split the trading books in an attempt to ensure that all clients receive an appropriate price service. Getting back to basics, the bank is a market-maker in Eurobonds and globals in more than a dozen currencies, has a strong reputation in the US as a result of its being a market-maker of choice in international dollar product and has one of the most stable trading teams in the market - on average, traders have been with the firm for more than four years.
Top tier Merrill Lynch Emerging markets, local currency, subordinated debt, Euro-preference shares, structured finance, credit derivatives and high-rated senior debt are some of the multitude of products that are encompassed within Eurobond trading at Merrill Lynch.