Citi

Never let it be said that running a global financial services organization leaves you bereft of a sense of humour. Talking to investors in Singapore in February, Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince was reiterating his stance on future acquisitions. As Prince has publicly explained, the bulk of the $50 billion pre-tax net income that he wants Citigroup to be making in five years' time will come from organic growth. There will be no repeat of the Citicorp/Travelers merger of 1998, which was truly a transforming event for both sides.

The very richest clients of private banks are natural candidates for the services of investment banks. Hence the big banks' efforts to foster links across their own activities. Welcome to the world of the double-sided business card. Mark Brown reports.

Highly commended: Deutsche Bank

Highly commended: JPMorgan Treasury Services, SEB, The Bank of New York

Afer three years of speculation about his departure, Citigroup's CEO Sandy Weil has finally named a successor. But the story doesn't end there.

Citi takes over top position from Deutsche in Euromoney’s annual poll of polls. Deutsche is beaten to second place overall by UBS.

Runner-up: JPMorgan Treasury Services

Runners-up: Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank, UBS Warburg

Many banks that took part in this year's foreign exchange internet awards will no doubt groan with disappointment when they see that Citigroup has won the award for best bank in online forex for the second year running. And that is understandable. As standards rise across the board, the differences between one suite of online forex tools and another shrink.

People often talk metaphorically about a glass ceiling being an obstacle to career progression but at the Citigroup tower in Canary Wharf the threat from above is all too real.

So Sandy Weill has a successor at last. Or does he? The chairman and CEO of Citigroup has announced that Bob Willumstad is being promoted to president.

Citibank/SSSB and Deutsche are neck and neck in our annual poll of polls compilation of survey results. Deutsche tops the underwriting table again and jumps ahead of both Goldman and Citibank/SSSB to win the advisory section. Citibank/SSSB wins our new internet and transactions processing tables and beats Deutsche into second place in the trading section. Goldman scores strongly in all categories save transactions processing, and JPMorgan Chase is in the top four in all categories except underwriting.

While it has become clear that the combination of an investment bank and a commercial bank works, it may be a long and hard journey for Citigroup to achieve across-the-board success.

John Reed kept himself to himself in the latter part of his career at Citibank. And these days he is pretty reclusive. Colleagues say he is still haunted by the period in 1999 when, in the aftermath of Citi’s takeover by Travelers, he was eclipsed by his co-chairman, Sandy Weill.

What do the the CEO of Standard Chartered, the finance minister of Pakistan, the central bank governor of the Philippines and the opposition leader in Liberia have in common? They all used to work at Citibank.

The world’s best global bank in emerging markets

The world’s best credit bond house

The world’s best foreign exchange bank

The endgame being played out in the Polish banking sector is messy and aggressive and cuts to the heart of the attractions and the problems faced by strategic and portfolio investors in this emerging European market. The protagonists include three of the world’s powerhouse banks: Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. Minority shareholder rights have been ignored in the scramble for market position. Ian Dawson reports on the fight for the last seats at the top table

When Citibank and the Travelers Group merged, the hype was about cross-selling retail products. Citi's distribution network and Travelers' products would be a potent combination, claimed Sandy Weill and John Reed. The investment banking brew had less to offer and was expected to be more troublesome. But so far it isn't working out like that. The investment bank is the success story. Meanwhile, cross-selling isn't working. Antony Currie reports

Edited by Antony Currie

Citicorp's chairman, John Reed, is now 59. Though he looks likely to remain in place while the merger with Travelers Group is work in progress it won't be too long before his succession is again debated. When it is, one name certain to figure prominently is Victor Menezes, who with Michael Carpenter now has the job of knitting together the corporate banking businesses of Citicorp and Travelers' Salomon Smith Barney.

As the markets began to crumble around Wall Street executives in late August, former Salomon Brothers chairman and chief executive officer Deryck Maughan was in a good mood. "He seemed tickled pink that he had sold the firm a year earlier," says David Berry, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, recalling a conversation with Maughan.

The fans love them both. Weill, the deal maker, is adored by Travelers' employees who hold big stakes in the company. Meanwhile Reed has kept his iron grip on Citibank by juggling his managers and mastering detail. The culture of the two companies is as different as the style of their CEOs. But the combination could be spectacular - if they can make it work. Peter Lee takes in the show.

Last month's announced merger of bulge-bracket firm Salomon Brothers with brokerage Smith Barney creates something bigger than Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. But the chairman of its parent, Travelers Group, may have overreached himself as he triggers another culture clash on Wall Street. By Michelle Celarier.

This year, Euromoney's Awards for Excellence are broader in scope than ever before. A number of new categories have been introduced to reflect changes in the structure of international markets.