Guy Hands built a reputation for private-equity innovation while at Nomura, which had deep pockets he could depend on. His new venture, Terra Firma, has managed to impress investors enough to raise its own funds but must now also out-think rivals that have adopted many of Hands' ideas.

New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer braved the wrath of sell-side analysts in person at Institutional Investor's equity research awards dinner last month. The self-appointed protector of retail investors was the guest speaker. He didn't pull his punches. He was glad to have been invited, he said, because "I really wanted to put faces to emails".

With the public corporate bond markets volatile and unreliable, companies need to take advantage of MTN opportunities. Debt capital market bankers have the time to present them with imaginative proposals. But some of these, such as private-to-public deals, are not without their perils.

No bank has won this award before. Frankly, no bank has ever deserved it. Over the past three years, Euromoney has seen banks that are good at online fixed income, some that are good at forex, others that are good at equity or derivatives and so on. Most banks had some good sites and some mediocre ones. No firm has been able to boast of high-quality offerings in all areas.

The Philippines

Chief executive officer, HSBC Amanah Finance

Jorge Jasson spent most of the Tuesday before Thanksgiving on JPMorgan's corporate jet, going to seven different one-on-one client meetings. But he wasn't selling a new deal. He was explaining his departure as head of credit and rates for emerging markets. He calls it his "farewell roadshow tour".

As more and more of their corporate customers fell out of favour, banks looked the best bet in bond markets. It couldn’t last. Lately investors have become more choosy. Some banks have been shut out of the public bond markets and have had to explore other forms of funding.

HSBC's purchase of Household International seems to have come in the nick of time. The US consumer finance group was under regulatory investigation and its accounts had just been restated. As a result its bond spreads had widened to a life-threatening degree.

With Brazil and Argentina hors de combat and Mexico replete, bankers are busy looking for smaller Latin deals, including escape routes for burnt foreign investors.

France