In April, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation – the international wing of Japan Finance Corp, the government’s policy based financial institution – expanded its private Samurai guarantee scheme. The scheme had previously focused on South-East Asian sovereigns, via the ¥500bn (US$5.95bn) Market Access Support Facility, officially introduced in May 2009. The new global scheme, called Guarantee and Acquisition toward Tokyo market Enhancement (GATE), has a broader remit. It allows not only

A total of €32bn of high yield debt was issued in 2009. It is a remarkable feat for a market that only re-opened in July that year. Increasing primary market activity could set new records this year, with forecasts ranging from SG’s €35bn to Barclays Capital’s €40-€45bn. Issuance now derives from a wider range of industry sectors and geographies. DFS, Virgin Media, Manchester United Football Club, Ladbrokes, Matalan and Gala Coral have launched sterling transactions. Euro deals include US bottle

It has been a busy year for Latin American issuers. By late September, they placed a little over US$72bn in the international bond market in 2010. According to bankers, there is more on the way as long as the broader sentiment holds. Those volumes have already exceeded last year’s record US$71bn and are comfortably above the US$55.43bn seen during the region last high water mark in 2007. Latin America has certainly benefited from increased flows toward EM and fixed-income markets in general, as

Despite a macro-economic picture that is far from certain, bond markets throughout the globe have been firing on all cylinders since bankers returned from their summer vacations. And while September is generally a month of heightened activity – it would have been more noteworthy had the expected business not transpired – the sheer scale of investor appetite has been notable. It has been well known that investors have been cash rich, but their renewed enthusiasm has skewed the demand/supply dynam

Despite the fanfare attendant on the Basel Committee’s latest promulgation on September 12, for many involved in the bank capital market it was just the first phase of revelation about the new regime. Common equity, or core Tier 1, will be increased from 2% to 4.5% while the total Tier 1 ratio will be raised from 4% to 6%. That leaves 1.5% to be filled by non-equity paper, most probably hybrids. The market will have two years from January 2013 to accomplish this – an achievable task for most ban

The US investment grade corporate bond market has been the go-to place for investors and issuers for the past few years, managing to thrive despite – and because of – the recession, attracting new and seasoned issuers around the globe. But now that the recession and credit crisis are months in the past, and the risk of inflation is perceived by many to be minimal, high-grade bonds are still the security of choice. They are, if nothing else, a higher-yielding safe haven away from nearly riskless

The Russian Federation (Baa1/BBB/BBB) returned to the Eurobond market in April 2010 in rather different circumstances to its previous visit just prior to the 1998 domestic debt default. Although execution was less than perfect, thanks to overly aggressive pricing and a deteriorating market backdrop, Russia raised US$5.5bn from five and 10-year offerings that priced in line with official guidance at 125bp and 135bp wide of US Treasuries. Both the US$2bn 3.625% 2015s and the US$3.5bn 5.0% 2020s lo

The ECB’s response to the deterioration of the credit market differed from that of other central banks. The UK’s asset purchase programme can be seen as a response to a sharp decline in economic activity. The US response targeted the restoration of confidence in the housing market. The ECB’s priority was to support the European banking sector. One of the immediate casualties of the financial crisis was a heightened credit differentiation. At times, the preservation of capital was seen as more im

What is normal? It is a question nobody knows the answer to, exactly. The last time there seemed to be a clear answer to it was in 2007, before the credit crunch bit, but it seems increasingly clear that the answer that would have been given then no longer holds. In the second half of that year, the market was abnormally frozen, while 2008, defined by the collapse of Lehman and the near collapse of the financial system, was anything but normal. In 2009, things looked to be getting back to normal