Search results for

Sitting on the balcony of his plush Bangkok apartment building, sipping his gin and tonic and watching the city's pollution-enhanced sunsets (the fumes make for some spectacular pink and orange evenings), one of Bangkok's most prominent farang investment bankers is amused to see a poignant sign of the times.

The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) booked its first high-profile transfer from the private sector last month, appointing Gay Evans of Bankers Trust as director of markets and exchanges. Evans will report to head of financial supervision Michael Foot from September.

Leaders of Africa's new deal

Leaders of Africa's new deal

Who's to blame for Asia's crisis? And what happens now? Nine of the region's movers and shakers give their views on the pace of change across the region, the part played by the Japanese banks, the future of Hong Kong's currency peg and the role of China.

I expect the US equity market to fall 30% to 40% this year. The catalyst for the turn in sentiment will be static (or falling) corporate profits, rising inflation and higher interest rates. Mania will drive the collapse. When the dust settles, the US economy will slide into recession. Consumers will retrench to pay down debts. The dollar will fall. It will be the dawn of a two-year bear market.

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.

Leaders of Africa's new deal

Does Stephen O'Sullivan know something we don't? The former head of research at MC Securities in London has decided to move to Moscow to join the more discreet United Financial Group (UFG), a majority Russian-owned investment bank. The leading oil and gas analyst in the Russian market admits that the sale of MC Securities' Russian business (United City Bank) to Flemings has triggered his decision.

After decades of steady growth for six big banks, the Canadian banking sector is fast consolidating. The old certainties have been undermined by the announcements of mergers between Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal in January and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto Dominion Bank in April. The rush to merge follows a global trend fuelled by the need to cope with increased competition, and was stimulated by the BankAmerica/NationsBank merger in the US. But unlike their US counterparts, RBC/BMO and CIBC/TD have to run the gauntlet of rigorous banking regulation, entrenched political conventions and hostile popular opinion.

Investment bankers are sometimes accused of seeking an image that is more pin-up than pinstripes. One of their number at least will be among the throng at the Cannes film festival, but she will be quite happy for the paparazzi to keep their lenses trained on the starlets cavorting on the beach. Premila Hoon will be looking for projects to launch Société Générale's new film-finance business.

On Wall Street, the cult of McKinsey continues to flourish. Long considered the management consultancy of choice by bankers and brokers, McKinsey's image has been further burnished in recent years by the success of several ex-employees who have made the leap to the securities industry. Prominent among them are Phil Purcell, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Larry Linden, a partner at Goldman Sachs.