Annual Report 2002 (pdf, 1319K) - WestLB

05
The strategic focusing on promising business segments paid off in the past year. In
the specialised finance business comprising structured finance, principal finance and
asset backed transactions, we were able to consolidate our market positions thanks to
our acknowledged expertise. Our leading market position in selected business areas
was confirmed once again by numerous awards from international trade magazines,
for example in project finance, commodity finance and bond issuance.
With a view to strengthening our market position in core businesses, we pooled our
know-how further, integrating in particular various trading units with the specialised
finance business. The Structured Finance and Asset Backed Transactions units, for
instance, have been merged in the new Global Specialised Finance business unit and
our expertise in the credit derivatives field has been amalgamated with the credit
activities of the Global Financial Markets business unit. These measures will not only
yield additional synergies but also facilitate client access to our products.
In response to the rapid growth of the European covered bond market, we established
the WestLB Covered Bond Bank in Dublin. Irish covered bonds are an attractive alternative
to the German Pfandbrief for both investors and issuers.
As the central institution for the savings banks, we will intensify our close cooperation
with the savings banks in the future. We have signed a framework agreement with the
North Rhine-Westphalian savings banks mapping out the future cooperation. This will
allow us to exploit the potential afforded by our working partnership with the savings banks
even more effectively through complementary product ranges and joint acquisition
efforts.