Strength in adversity

Following 12 months of unprecedented turbulence in the financial markets, Danske Bank has retained top place in the 2009 Nordic Risk derivatives rankings, fending off a stiff challenge from Nordea Bank in second and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken in third place. Rob Davies reports, with research by Xiao-Long Chen

Back in June 2008, when Nordic Risk last compiled its annual rankings of derivatives dealers, bankers in the region were reluctant to make bold predictions about where the financial markets were heading. Their caution proved well founded, as the subsequent six months saw the financial crisis reach a new nadir with a number of high-profile casualties.

September and October, in particular, saw a chain of events that would have been simply unthinkable in mid-2007. In any normal month, the