One of the most hotly contested markets over the past 12 year has been asset-backed securities, with five institutions that can stake a legitimate claim to being the best. Citigroup, even without counting self-issuance for its credit card business, has over the past three years forged a formidable operation now integrated all the way from commercial paper conduits through to true-sale term issuance.
Lehman, in the US at least, puts in a stunning performance for a firm lacking balance sheet and internal clients. The new JPMorgan, if merger issues don't detract, will be a new global force to be reckoned with.
So might Deutsche Bank, which has been steadily moving up the European rankings in recent years, and which within a year went from nowhere to the US top five after poaching the vast bulk of the CSFB team last year.
But the winner this year, and for the second time running, is the bank that lost the team to Deutsche: Credit Suisse First Boston. It wins for managing not just to retain its league table rankings, but also for providing what is the broadest franchise in terms of both products and geographic reach.