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WHICH BANK WILL BE FIRST FOR THE BIG SALE?

Out went the traders; out, a few days later, went the man they had been chafing against, John Abell; out went two top syndicate men....

Amid a sucession of changes in the Euromarkets, mant banks have lost their way. Others are striking out in what they think is the direction of the future. Rarely is it leading them to profit. Few have enough skilled people or space to put them in. The story of Orion Royal Bank is such a parable that we devote a seperate article to it. No bank has coped with all the challenges of 1985. Which one will do better in 1986?

THE STRIFE OVER PAN EL

Competition between banks in China is something new, and it's catching on fast. It could prove a vital lubricant for Deng Xaioping's economic reforms. From January 1 three more institutions were allowed to handle foreign exchange or raise funds abroad. A plethora of top-quality Chinese borrowers could soon come to the international capital markets, rivalling the good names of CITIC and the Bank of China. But there are still some legal hurdles – and doubts about China's long-term future.

Citibank's William Rhodes has led reschedulings for Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay. His style is measured – but determined.

Persuading all the leading merchant families of six different Arabian and Gulf states to back the first serious investment bank in the region was some feat on the part of Nemir Kirdar. Now the president of Arabian Investment Banking Corporation – Investcorp – has to start delivering first class deals. By Peter Field

Banking has probably changed more over the last year than it did over the previous 20, so how should a major international bank position itself in a decade in which change will probably accelerate? Here’s a case study of one strategy – that of one of the most international of all banks, the Chase Manhattan.

Even the good African risks may reschedule as bankers hold off.

Sulaiman Abdel-Aziz al-Rajhi, the Saudi money changer, is conservative, pious and modest. The firm he founded is worth a far-from-modest $7 billion. How he prospered. By Michael Field

Eight African countries rescheduled last year and 21 turned to the IMF. Besides importing depression from the west, Africans have created problems for themselves. Yet some well-run countries show what the possibilities are.

Adela, the great Latin American dream that turned into a nightmare, has made history of a kind – its bonds are the first publicly-listed Eurobonds ever to be rescheduled.