Many of the deals that would have been strong contenders for these awards in a normal year must be disqualified because they are now not so much underwater as sunk. It is hard, for example, to see which of the Asian financial institutions that invested in their ailing counterparts throughout 2008 could truthfully declare themselves to be completely satisfied with the decision. Yet there were undoubtedly good deals done as the financial crisis that some had thought would spare Asia instead engulfed it.
The Republic of Indonesia pulled off two $2 billion bond issues in 2008, one in January and another in June, that together accounted for almost a quarter of debt issued by non-Japanese sovereigns last year. The January deal, arranged by Barclays Capital, HSBC and Lehman Brothers, established benchmarks at durations of 10 and 30 years.