No-one could claim that 2007 has been uninteresting. Unpredictable, maybe: uncomfortable, almost certainly: but uninteresting, definitely not. From the first indications of problems in the US sub-prime mortgage market in early spring, there were market participants who were calling the end of the bull market run. There were also those, however, who pointed to previous hiccups in the relentless march forward over the past few years and how they eventually proved to present nothing more than temporary obstacles. The beauty of the global market is...Read more
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The primary corporate bond market in Europe has re-opened for business following a hiatus of around seven weeks, albeit at a cost to borrowers that have been forced to accept a notable spread concession to access funding. While there is definitely an increase in risk appetite, the question is how market professionals view the current environment and how they see the corporate market shaping up in the medium term. Andrew Perrin reports.
Most SSA borrowers have followed the traditional front-loading route for their financing this year, leaving relatively little for the next few months. The question is what format this will take and what the alternatives could be. Michael Winfield reports.
Although the deterioration in credit conditions was sparked by the US housing sector, many of the tangible examples from the fallout surfaced within European entities and curtailed what might have been an otherwise productive summer. Andrew Stein reports.
As investors continued to handle everything mortgage related with asbestos gloves, some contagion from the liquidity fallout was inevitable in the covered bond market. But was the extreme widening witnessed in some jurisdictions justified? Rachelle Horn investigates.
Lacking liquidity and confidence in equal measure, the European financials market has floundered since late July and has been severely stress tested since. The run on Northern Rock notwithstanding, broad consensus is that the fundamentals for the banking system remain sound and banks are, by and large, well capitalised. But it will be a while before they can overcome the period of pain. Malini Menon reports.
The sub-prime problems had much less of an effect on Japanese markets than those in the US and Europe. Nevertheless, conditions changed significantly as a result. A wave of renewed liquidity in September saw a rush of foreign supply as investors proved themselves still amenable to bond issuance, albeit at significantly wider spreads than previously. Atanas Dinov reports.
ICICI Bank has borrowed a staggering US$5.8bn this year from the offshore markets, for the second-largest annual issuance total from an Asian borrower since Hutchison Whampoa broke all records in 2003. Despite the risk of investor fatigue, there can be little doubt that the bank is setting the borrowing standard for corporate India, as Jonathan Rogers reports.
With many historical avenues of funding all but shut to borrowers, the non-core markets have been tipped by some to step into the breach. This may well prove to be a triumph of hope over experience, however, with risk aversion not purely the preserve of the more developed markets. Philip Wright reports.