When China's biggest bank, ICBC, launched its first dollar bond issue, it offered investors a rare opportunity of direct exposure to the mainland banking system. There was no shortage of interest. Along with UBS and ICBC's own investment arm, Barclays Capital landed the role of global co-ordinator, helping BarCap cement its Asian standing.
Issuing in Europe in 2011 has been a hazardous task, but Com Hem's highly leveraged buyout bridge underwritten by joint mandated lead arranger Goldman Sachs managed to defy the odds, thanks in no small part to the diverse elements of the deal.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development may have found a new and much-needed source of infrastructure funding in pension funds, but the problem is far from solved, as governments still need to set up the framework to help them invest.
As investors flock to the perceived safer ground of corporates at the expense of sovereigns or financials, RBS has been busy successfully utilising the private placement markets in a $1bn deal for caterer Compass Group and the Swiss franc issuance market for utility provider GTS Suez.
Nobody knows how many billions of dollars have been squandered by Nigerian officials since the country’s independence in 1960. By even the most conservative estimates, however, the scale of graft and bad governance has been staggering, meaning that Nigeria is still far from fulfilling its great economic potential.
It has taken nearly two years, but Indonesian mobile telecoms operator Axis has secured $1.2bn of sharia-compliant financing. For many of the players involved, it was their first dealing with sharia principles, presenting HSBC and its Saudi affiliate with a complex task.
Transaction banking has had three good years since the 'masters of the universe' slunk off to lick their wounds in the wake of the global financial crisis. Cash management, trade finance, securities custody and card payment operations all became the unlikely stars of the post-crisis landscape, but now times are getting tough for them as well. Is the honeymoon over for transaction banking?
The listing of Swiss commodity trading and mining group Glencore caused a few headaches for joint global coordinator Morgan Stanley. However, the impressive list of investors it helped secure shows that there is a big global appetite for commodities.