Bonds without Borders: A History of the Eurobond Market

CHAPTER 4 Masters of the Market 1979–1984

The subject of Michael von Clemm has always evoked mixed responses. ‘A visionary of the Euromarkets … he built (the FRN) into the largest single component of the international bond markets. He did so almost single-handedly, and, in von Clemm fashion, totally single-mindedly. Banks, power companies, governments: all received the famous von Clemm visit: the compelling sales talk, the piercing eyes, transfixing issuers in the remotest parts of the world.’¹ ‘He impressed most of the bankers and borrowers he encountered, with his intellect, his powerful personality and the breadth of his interests.’² Others describe him as ‘vain, aggressive, arrogant and autocratic’, browbeating borrowers into awarding CSFB mandates.³ His three-year tenure as Chairman and Chief Executive of CSFB was characterised by great creativity, considerable risk-taking and continuous internal strife. One of his managing directors at the time felt ‘Von Clemm's management style changed the character of the bank. In the 1970s we’d had a good team spirit, but it stopped being an enjoyable place to work. You had to fight to get things done, and he liked to unsettle people.'⁴

If von Clemm felt people needed to be unsettled, then the hiring of Hans-Joerg Rudloff in early 1980 to run CSFB's syndicate department, would certainly do the trick.

With his new hire Von Clemm would revive the pre-priced issue concept that Rudloff had pioneered at Kidder Peabody and take it a step ...