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Three ways to make a mark

Spanish banking is clearly segmented by strategy, domestic banks competing for the retail markets and foreign banks heavily involved in offering services to multinationals and attempting to develop lower-level corporate business. With some privatizations still to be undertaken and rapid development of the equity market at both issuer and investor level there's substantial growth to play for. Margaret Popper reports.

January 01, 1998

BANKING

Power dressing finale

It's often said that Hong Kong moves faster than other places. And staff at Indosuez WI Carr can testify to just how quickly life can change. In the space of a week the firm went from all the bacchanalia associated with a bull market to huge job cuts.

January 01, 1998

BANKING

... and get ready for more bonds?

Asia's crisis brought bond issuance in central and eastern Europe to an abrupt halt. The region's issuers, tarred with the same brush as south-east Asia, have seen their spreads widen dramatically. So what will tempt investors back? And how long will it take? Robert Minto finds out.

January 01, 1998

BANKING

Counting the weeks

It's just under a year until the start of European monetary union, and you would expect banks to be pulling out all the stops. But while they wrestle night and day with the technical details, little is being done to inject some fun into the proceedings. Salomon Smith Barney is leading the pack with its "Countdown to Emu calendar" - displaying the number of weeks left until January 1 1999 - recently erected in the firm's lobby.

January 01, 1998

Buy when the blood flows

When markets crash canny investors seize the opportunity to buy cheap. A few will make huge profits from the turmoil. But it's a risky business. Calling the bottom and selecting recovery stocks is challenging the analysts. No wonder the majority of investors are too terrified to come off the sidelines. Peter Lee talked to strategists about their 1998 plans.

January 01, 1998

Velvet costs are piling up

An easy transition to capitalism is proving a mixed blessing in the Czech Republic. The so-called Velvet Revolution has left many essential works undone. Banks remain in state hands and underegulated markets have encouraged asset stripping and fraud. Then as former prime minister Vaclav Klaus began to get serious about change, his government fell. In the ensuing political stalemate, reform is the chief victim. Nigel Dudley reports.

January 01, 1998

An issuer with an open mind

Issuer: Banque Générale du Luxembourg

January 01, 1998

BANKING

The pundit's progress

When Daniel Lian changes his job, the media are sure to follow. When he resigned from the NatWest office in Singapore recently, the permanent Reuters camera, one of only four in the country, also moved out. Sure enough, when he started at ANZ the camera reappeared, enabling his popular television appearances to continue. This is impressive testament to the currency and bond strategist's reputation as a television economics pundit.

January 01, 1998

Opinion

The boom in Doom

If you're impressed with the inexplicably long hours your colleagues have been putting in over the past couple of months, ask them what they've been up to. They may be part of the growing number whiling away the small hours playing computer games such as Doom, a virtual-reality shoot-'em-up game of extreme violence.

January 01, 1998

Star-gazing in Switzerland

You read it here first. In May 1996 Euromoney quoted a normally well-informed source in Switzerland as follows: "Who do you think has been buying UBS shares for the past few weeks?" Swiss Bank Corporation, he says. "They're already merging, they're doing a dance together." Apparently they had been doing this dance since 1995.

January 01, 1998

Caught with their pants down?

Rating agencies have been strongly criticized for failing to spot the Asian crisis. Investment-grade bonds have been downgraded to junk status - but only after problems have appeared and without much warning. For the first time the agencies are having to justify themselves. Are they as good in Asia as they are in the US? Steven Irvine reports.

January 01, 1998

Michel rings a bell

Last National Bank of Boot Hill,

January 01, 1998

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