Please click on the arrows to scroll through some of the best cartoons published during 2009 in IFR Asia. Point the cursor anywhere on the cartoon to read the caption.

Please click on the arrows to scroll through the graphics published during 2009 in IFR Asia.

REGIONAL AWARDS   BANK OF THE YEAR, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BOND HOUSE OF THE YEAR JP Morgan   ISSUER OF THE YEAR, SINGAPORE CAPITAL MARKETS DEAL OF THE YEAR Noble Group and its US$2.4bn three-tranche loan   BOND HOUSE OF THE YEAR Deutsche Bank   DOMESTIC BOND HOUSE OF THE YEAR HSBC   DOMESTIC BOND DEAL OF THE YEAR,PHILIPPINES CAPITAL MARKETS DEAL OF THE YEAR San Miguel Brewery’s Ps38.8bn three-tranche bond   SECURITISATION DEAL ME Bank’s SMHL Securitisation Fund 2009-2   DERIVATIVES HOUSE Deu

Maxis Communications was taken private in 2007 in a M$16bn (US$4.66bn) leveraged buyout by tycoon Ananda Krishnan. Many influential people in finance and politics alike felt that capital markets market activity in Malaysia had suffered as a result of the withdrawal of such a heavyweight stock. So when news emerged that Maxis was returning to Bursa Malaysia via the floatation of its domestic assets, it became the region’s most anticipated IPO of the year. The IPO, when completed on November 10, r

As one of the first securities firms to gain a full-service licence, Citic Securities provides comprehensive services to issuers of different backgrounds in China. It strengthened its fixed-income credentials in 2009 and brought a series of big, milestone transactions using the full range of bond instruments: corporate bonds, enterprise bonds, financial bonds, CP/MTNs and Panda bonds.  One notable achievement during the year was the Rmb30bn (US$4.39bn) offering for the Ministry of Railways in Se

The background to Transpacific Industries Group’s workout is a familiar one in the restructuring universe, involving a debt-funded acquisition blitz in a bull market followed by rising leverage in a market downturn and a string of breached covenants. In the face of the markets’ major loss of confidence in the company, reflected in a collapsing share price, restructuring was necessary for TPI’s very survival. Post-listing in 2005, TPI pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy, which positioned i

Thanks to the low interest rate environment, retail investors were the key driver for the baht bond market in 2009, which saw issuance skyrocket to Bt304.4bn (US$9.19bn) up to mid-November compared to Bt198.3bn in 2008. Bangkok Bank made great strides in the review period leveraging off its large depositor base that allowed it to play a key role in major transactions. The bank notched up bookrunner volumes of Bt48.6bn from 21 issues and ranked third in the league tables behind Kasikornbank and S

What a difference a year makes. Just 15 months ago, the world’s financial markets were staring into the abyss following Lehman Brothers cataclysmic slide into bankruptcy. To say that the past year has been tumultuous is an understatement. In what will remain one of the most seminal periods in financial markets history, Lehman’s demise created a dramatic liquidity squeeze that caused financial market meltdown and required massive government bailouts. The legacy is a move towards tighter regulatio

Citigroup’s targeted approach in providing specific financing solutions for Indian borrowers was in contrast to the seemingly league table-focused game that rivals were engaged in. Citi was at the forefront of market activity with marquee transactions and pioneering new products that added depth to the domestic markets and created milestones. The bank kicked off the review period in style when in January it sole arranged a Rs52.5bn (US$1.13bn) one-year CP for ONGC Videsh (OVL), the wholly owned

Taiwan has traditionally been one of the busiest lending markets in Asia, but the past year was a difficult one for the country’s loan market. The island saw a 75% drop in market volume in the first half of 2009, due to the global financial crisis. The average syndicated deal size shrunk to US$80m. The number of capex financings decreased as companies delayed investment plans and sought loans primarily for refinancing or liquidity purposes. LBOs, in particular, dropped sharply as private equity

“We were successful in our financing strategy this year as we built out our debt maturities, created a strong and conservative financial profile which positions Noble to finance our next growth spur,” said Noble CFO Stephen Marzo. “Indeed we have picked up market share in several of our businesses in the Past nine months. Now with the fundraising effort this year, we are in a position to grow significantly and meet our objective to raise net profits from US$500m to a US$1bn in the next three to

Like many global financial institutions, Shin Kong underwent its darkest period in the past year. As the third largest life insurer in Taiwan, its investment portfolio was badly hit by plunging equity and property markets, its insurance business barely saw any growth, and its several rounds of CDO/CBO write-downs significantly eroded its profits. In order to survive, Shin Kong sold in late 2008 a number of its landmark properties and sold NT$8bn (US$248m) shares to long-time business partner Dai

In late June, HSBC Bank (China) beat its rival Bank of East Asia (BEA) to issue the first renminbi bond by a locally incorporated foreign bank in the offshore market. The Rmb1bn (US$146m) two-year floating-rate senior unsecured deal was also the first renminbi FRN issued in Hong Kong and the first offshore renminbi issue referenced to Shibor – a floating-rate benchmark advocated by the People’s Bank of China. “It is important for us to be able to introduce new products to the market that provide

Like everywhere else in the region, Singapore’s loan market saw a significant drop in activity over the previous year. In the initial days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September 2008, DBS Bank showed impeccable leadership and stole a march over its peers. The bank not only won key new deals, but also actively led refinancings that formed the main theme of the Singapore loan market. “We are very happy to have been able to step up and stand by our clients in such a difficult market

Asian local currency markets continued to grow in 2008. The total volume of deals grew by almost 23% to US$160bn in the 12 months to mid-November 2009. And that excludes the vibrant China market, which if added to the volume, would bring the period’s total to slightly over US$300bn. “The local currency markets were important to keep liquidity ticking in the region,” said Stephen Williams, head of HSBC global capital markets Asia-Pacific. “They allowed borrowers to tap the markets and escape from

In early February when San Miguel Brewery (SMB) contemplated raising Ps40bn (US$869m) in the domestic bond market to fund its acquisition of the lad and brewery assets from parent San Miguel (SMC), the idea was scoffed at as pure madness. After all the credit markets were in freeze mode in the aftermath of the global crisis that had put a price on liquidity everywhere. The size was also gigantic for the domestic market where the largest deals had been for around Ps10bn for financial institutions

CIMB Investment Bank’s structuring skills clearly stood out in 2009 and were crucial in ensuring the success of transactions in difficult markets. “We bring a full suite of services to clients, including structured finance, corporate hybrids, securitisations and convertible bonds,” said Thomas Meow, head of investment banking at CIMB. The bank’s role in structuring Malaysia’s first non-innovative Tier 1 capital securities transaction sold on a bookbuilding basis (previous Tier 1 issues were priv

Following a non-descript performance in 2008, Morgan Stanley came out of nowhere to storm through in Indian equity markets. In the year to November 15 2009, Morgan Stanley led the India ECM (including convertible bonds) bookrunner tables, clocking US$3.2bn from 14 deals for a market share of 18.1%. The bank played to its strength by leveraging on its sales trading business, a 15-year old franchise that has enjoyed low staff turnover, to win primary deals. “When we bought out the business from JM

In August, Delta Dunia Property, a Jakarta-listed investment holding company, entered into an agreement with shareholders of Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama (Buma) to acquire the mining services contractor. Among other things, the buyout was conditional upon approvals on funding for the acquisition, the completion of the sale by Delta Dunia’s major shareholder of his entire equity interest in Delta Dunia, and the refinancing of Buma’s existing debts. Sole debt adviser Barclays Capital put together a

As offshore markets went topsy-turvy, the rupee loan markets in India stepped in to fill the gap and finance growth for Indian companies. As is the case with most emerging market economies, lending to infrastructure formed a key element of the loan market in India and SBI Caps featured prominently in the PF deals representing who’s who of the India Inc. The highlight of SBI Caps’ performance was its numero uno position not just in the India rupee loan league tables, but across Asia-Pacific (ex-J