Deals, deals, deals

The end of the year is always a busy time, but this year is busier than most, it seems. With the credit crunch suddenly and unexpectedly draining the market of liquidity, combined with the uncertainty wrought by the nose-diving dollar, many companies have turned – or returned – to structured trade finance as an alternative means of ensuring cash flow. ABN Amro, for example, is involved in a total of 17 major trade finance deals, which is more than some banks do in a year, although the team there does have a lot to prove following the recently concluded takeover saga.
Trade finance professionals are not just busier, but the size of the deals have ballooned as well, together with a healthy bumping up of margins. For corporates, this is a time when a good reputation and credit rating really pay off, too.
So we are looking forward to some exciting deals emerging in our annual Deals of the Year Awards. We’ve extended the deadline to 5th January to give everyone a little more time to get their submissions in.
Size is always important, of course, but we’re especially keen to learn more about deals with different or innovative structures, that break new ground or which simply help a borrower to move forward in ways they may not have been able to in the past.
For more guidance, please turn to page 19 – and then e-mail your entry to me as soon as you can, gburton@ark-group.com.

Graeme Burton
Managing editor

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