Securitisation is perhaps not the most exciting financial market. Talk of asset-backed bonds makes many an eye glaze over and chin nod towards chest. Hats off to Guy Cross and his team at Bear Stearns, then, for breaking the tedium at the recent securitisation conference in Barcelona.

Not content with having the best stand, equipped with a Scalectrix slot racing track to amuse the boys, the US bank also threw a glamorous evening party at Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi's creations, which succeeded brilliantly in firing up the weary conference-goers for an evening's networking over tapas and sangria.