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The growing pains of foreign exchange

Euromoney’s first Latin American company ranking is based on a survey of market analysts at major banks and research institutes in Latin America. We received 57 replies. Respondents were asked to nominate the top three companies in each of the countries or sectors they covered, taking into account market strength, profitability, growth potential, quality of management and earnings.

“We’ve made $100 billion of investments in the past few years. We have to be number one in every product, in every market. We have no choice. There’s no other way to go.”

“Citigroup should wipe the floor with everyone in credit derivatives. What happened?”

Summer cum laude

This survey is open for completion to the world’s largest issuers in the international bond markets.

It hasn’t been the easiest of starts to 2006 for Citigroup in Asia, with continuing integration challenges at its Korean banking acquisition and difficult negotiations with existing and future partners over its China strategy [see Citigroup fails to solve the China conundrum, this issue]. Now Citi’s China strategy will need to be reconsidered after the departures of chief rainmakers Francis Leung and Wei Christianson.

The problems of open-ended real estate funds might pave the way for the rapid success of Reits.

Javier Lazaro has joined Credit Suisse as head of global markets solutions covering Spain and Portugal from Goldman Sachs’s leveraged finance group. He will report to Paul Raphael, head of European equity capital markets, and Marisa Drew and Craig Klaasmeyer, co-heads of European leveraged finance origination.

The number of Middle East-based hedge funds is set to increase. In January, Abu Dhabi headquartered First Gulf Bank launched the first hedge fund of significance in the region. The fund, Al Saqer (“the Falcon”), is a macro-strategy hedge fund and has a capitalization of Dh3 billion ($817 million).

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has launched a snowfall index. From the end of February, investors were able to trade snowfall futures and options based on snowfall in New York and Boston. “From municipal snow removal budgets to holiday retail sales, snowfall, or lack thereof, can have a major impact on local and regional economies,” says Scott Mathews, president of CTA WeatherEX. “Our clients will be able to hedge the expense or revenue side of the snowfall equation.” It will be a little too late for those affected by the snowstorms in New York in February. A record 27 inches of snow fell in 24 hours, costing the city an estimated $20 million.

As KPMG wins a $5.4 billion advisory mandate, are consultants stealing big deals from investment banks?