Mizuho's Gulf bond debacle: Japanese bank forgets to pick a side

摘要

Losing an underwriting slot at the last minute on one US$10bn-plus sovereign bond deal is bad enough, but losing two is nothing less than a disaster. But that is what happened to Mizuho when it badly misjudged the Gulf region's delicate political balance and, in the space of just a few days, lost underwriting roles on deals from saudi Arabia and qatar, missing out on fees of up to US$2m in the process.