| Headline: Central & Eastern Europe Awards Source: Euromoney Date: July 2000 Author: Simon Brady, David Shirreff Regional award Best Domestic Bank: OTP Best Foreign Bank: Bank Austria Creditanstalt Best M&A House: Citibank SSB Best Domestic Securities House: Publikum and Wood & Co tie Best Foreign Securities House: CA IB Investmentbank The wholesale purchase of the banking industry in this region by foreign institutions poses problems in this year's awards. There is no majority domestically owned bank that can be said to operate regionally. OTP is commended here for the excellence of its domestic operations as are Publikum and Wood & Co. However, this is the last year in which this type of award will be given. The battle for best foreign bank is fierce. In particular product areas some of the major, global houses are strong contenders Chase or Société Générale in syndicated loans; CSFB or ING Barings in equity research; Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in privatization advice. And a number of other banks, notably ABN Amro, have a consistent record in lending to the companies and governments in the region. In addition, Citibank, ING and HypoVereinsbank all have networks consisting of at least four subsidiaries across the region and deserve consideration, as does KBC, whose acquisition of CSOB has catapulted it into the top tier by size. |