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Editor: Peter Lee

Bonds Syndicated loans Equity US deals of the year

The biggest opportunities for growth and profits in the fixed-income world in 2000 are in Europe. Corporate bonds, high-yield, securitization will flourish. There will be a fierce contest, as all manner of intermediaries - commercial and investment banks, Americans and Europeans fight for a place in the bond bulge bracket. According to the US model this should guarantee the eventual winners a honey-pot combination of high market share and profitability. The competition to hire the people - high-level originators, salesmen expert at advising institutional investors strategically, skilled and market-savvy credit analysts - will become ever more intense. Peter Lee's report heads a series of articles on the future of fixed income

Some investment banks in the euro bond market are pushing for underwriting syndicates to disclose their order books. On the surface, it's a technical debate about how to organize bond deals. Underneath, it's a fierce clash about different banks' competence. The argument polarizes US and European firms. Marcus Walker hears the claims and counterclaims, and how the internet might lead to an unexpected solution

Bonds Syndicated loans Mergers and Acquisitions Equity

Author: José Fucs

When a private bank due to be sold to a foreign group ends up in state hands it's hardly a sign that all's well with the European single market. This was the outcome of the stand-off between the European Commission and the Portuguese government over the Champalimaud banking group. Spain's BSCH attempted to take a stake in the group, sparked off a huge row about cross-border M&A and ended up with only some of the pickings. Other key assets have ended up under state control, even if only temporarily. From every angle the Champalimaud affair is an example of the wrong way to make takeovers. For octogenarian banker António Champalimaud it was a final chapter in a lifetime of battles with bureaucrats. Brian Caplen reports