Barclays Capital’s CEO explains how proving itself in Europe is an ideal platform for building its US business. By Geraldine Lambe and Brian Caplen
When Barclays Capital CEO Bob Diamond was passed over for the top position at Barclays last October, there was a lot of media speculation that if a good offer came from another firm, he would be happy to jump ship. Mr Diamond’s rebuttal is adamant and he says his “enriched mandate” to combine the wholesale and institutional businesses gives him a good enough reason to stay.

Europe has become the home of OTC derivatives innovation but, as Natasha de Teran reports, European houses are gearing up for a predicted upswing in demand on the other side of the Atlantic, and will give US firms a fight on their own turf.

Timing conspired to line up three back-to-back, ground-breaking deals for Merrill Lynch’s Financial Institutions Group, allowing it to clinch 10 firsts in three markets within five days. Geraldine Lambe reports on the team’s many reasons to celebrate.

Parmalat’s fall from grace in December indicates inadequate disclosure by the company – at best. The markets are spooked and the company’s five-year spreads have widened to 2408.8 basis points. Geraldine Lambe reports.

In this “conservative” economic recovery, the last thing any CEO relishes is a mega merger.

Still M&A bankers can always look to Germany, where the long-awaited consolidation now seems imminent. However, those who were speculating on a Citi/Deutsche deal obviously were not listening to Citi CEO Chuck Prince, who had already said that the bank was more likely to do fill-in deals (witness the Washington Mutual deal) than transformational ones.

HSBC is advising Rosbank on its retail strategy and AT Kearney, which seems an unlikely choice, is advising HSBC on its investment banking model. The project reports to Mark Ramsey, acting head of global equities. Like every bank, HSBC has to figure out how to cover the high costs of research by means of paltry broking commissions, especially since research working with corporate finance is now a no-no. The answer is simply to cut the crap.

Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank
John Costas is enjoying life. Not only has his firm, UBS, made
substantial inroads into traditional US territory, it is also showing
enviable profits. He talked to Geraldine Lambe about the firm’s appetite for growth.

Equity-linked issuance continues to bloom. Jules Stewart reports
on the product innovations, new issuers and investor appetite that are
likely to keep the market growing even as volatility drops and interest
rates rise.