Awards for Excellence 2016
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Also shortlisted: |
Citi |
HSBC |
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Running a FICC business must be one of the toughest jobs in investment banking today. Total revenues have plummeted to less than $20 billion in the first quarter of 2016; that is little more than half what the run rate was three years ago and only a third of revenues in the pre-crisis glory days of the flow business. Trading volumes are lower, pre-Brexit volatility was almost non-existent and costs are biting – both in terms of the capital banks need to allocate to certain parts of the business and in terms of compliance and technology costs that businesses need to absorb.
Faced with these challenges, it is surprising how many banks’ markets businesses have been slow to adapt to the tough environment.
There is one notable exception: UBS. The story of how the bank adapted to a near-death experience after the global financial crisis and refocused its business on its core franchise of wealth and asset management, with a right-sized investment bank, has been well-documented and earned a great deal of praise – including winning Euromoney’s award as the world’s best bank in 2014.