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Awards for Excellence 1999

Il gatto e' fuori dal sacco

The government's intervention to prop up the Hong Kong stock market last year was necessary, says finance minister Donald Tsang - to keep the elephants of international capital from treading on Hong Kong's small and delicate pond. Our poll finds that most of Hong Kong's financial leaders agree. Tsang speaks to Steven Irvine about who was to blame for the speculative attacks, how the state holding will be unwound and the impact of mainland Chinese equities on the island's market.

Global Winners

Awards for Excellence 1999

Awards for Excellence 1999

Awards for Excellence 1999

Scandinavian banks are falling over themselves to make acquisitions and take stakes in the Baltic states. What they get are brand-new, hi-tech banks with underdeveloped markets. The downside is that experienced local bankers are thin on the ground. The locals seem pleased enough by the invasion but some hint that more diversity of foreign involvement might offer a wider window on the world. Alex Mathias reports.

Foreign investors are buying large amounts of US agency debt as a substitute for treasuries. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both publicly listed companies, are expanding their balance sheets and pushing into new markets. But they are not treasury lookalikes. The implications should concentrate the minds of investors. James Smalhout reports.

With jumbo syndicated loans generating large fees - $600 million for Olivetti's deal alone - syndicated lending is suddenly a big revenue earner for investment banks. But how much old-fashioned lending business is there left for the market's smaller players? Jack Dyson reports.

An M&A flood has shaped the financial markets landscape of the past 12 months and seeped into almost every category of our global awards for excellence this year. Lots of banks and investment banks are riding the tide but none more so than Morgan Stanley, our best investment bank of 1999 and best M&A adviser. More than ever, acquisitions have been financed by big loans. That has helped underscore the dominance of Chase, our best bank. Citigroup's success in many categories provides evidence that Citi and Salomon are confounding the sceptics and learning to work together.

For over a decade after 1987, when it first topped the US bond league tables, Merrill Lynch enjoyed unfettered growth, profitability and renown as the world's premier securities firm. Its mix of retail distribution, dependable income and worldwide expansion became the model for big investment banks to aspire to. Then, last year, things started to go wrong. Merrill's bond traders made huge losses, acquisitions in Japan and Canada produced sorry results, US asset managers put in a weak performance and clients defected from Mercury Asset Management. Most worrying, internet stock traders began to encroach on Merrill's retail business. For the past few months, the firm has licked its wounds, fended off merger rumours, and laid new plans. Now it's coming out fighting. Antony Currie reports.