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The globalization of the securities markets can put issuers and underwriters in breach of us law without their realizing it. And journalists can be the unwitting bearers of illicit news. Peter Lee asks if the SEC is about to make some long overdue changes.

In the course of the year, Morgan Stanley was involved in the largest merger ever. Novartis combined Swiss pharmaceuticals companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz to create $20 billion of market value on the first day of trading.

Three years of declining margins have lenders scrambling for yield. They are turning to higher risk areas such as project finance and emerging markets. But the curse of high liquidity soon tracks them down and ruins the rates. Only by aggressive portfolio management and offering additional services can banks make money. Nigel Pavey reports.

Awards for Excellence 1997

No surprises at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development after the departure of treasurer Mark Cutis to Nomura. His successor is Marcus Fedder, the 38-year-old former deputy and a member of the EBRD's only profit-maximizing team since 1991.

Credit is this year's buzzword in investment banking. Credit analysts, credit trading, credit products and credit spreads are the talk of managers around the world. The excitement is driven by solid economic factors such as European monetary union, improving credit fundamentals, low interest rates and the search for yield. But markets are also being talked up by some traders looking for the upside in bonds almost as if they were equities. Investors are mistaken if they believe that credit derivatives provide a hedge in the same way as interest rate swaps. Will it all end in tears? Peter Lee investigates.

The postponed Philippines' yankee was finally launched last month in a way that appeared to save face for both the country and lead-manager Salomon Brothers but which, in reality, retained the quirkiness of the entire saga.

Exchange-traded derivatives now have their own standard-form agreement. But that's no excuse for leaving your brain at home. Christopher Stoakes reports.

France may fudge its pensions, Germany may quibble over the value of its gold, but Belgium has come up with a unique solution to meeting the Maastricht criteria: selling its embassy in Tokyo. One Tokyo property agent thinks the embassy, or more particularly the site, could net the Belgians $200 million, knocking anything between 1.6% and 2.8% from the budget deficit. This could knock 0.1% off the Maastricht deficit to GDP ratio at a single stroke.

Goldman Sachs promotes itself as the company's friend, saying it prefers to advise clients on friendly acquisitions. So why has it pitched into three hostile takeovers this year? Not just because times and markets have changed. Michelle Celarier reports.

Awards for Excellence 1997

Contrasting with the bullish prices of much emerging market debt, Yugoslavia's has dropped from being traded in the high forties a few weeks ago to a low of 35%, following inconclusive talks held at the end of June between the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the FRY consists of Serbia and Montenegro) and the relevant London Club committee. Some analysts think the price could go lower still.