In investment banking, deals were already becoming harder to do in central and eastern Europe before Russia invaded Ukraine, as interest rates began to creep up in the second half of 2021. Executing deals has since become even harder both because of the war and because of those rate rises.
But CEE’s best investment bank, Citi, has continued to win business in this environment. Although its business in Russia has not proved to be an asset since the start of the war, all the top-tier regional investment banks were active in that market and the breadth of Citi’s geographic strength remains rare – reaching across central and southeast Europe, the Baltics, Turkey and central Asia.
While JPMorgan is competing strongly for regional business, Citi’s dominance of the league tables may well continue thanks to this regional geographic diversity together with its product and sectoral expertise.