Comment - Tuesday View

Latest Tuesday Views

• Ireland’s early IMF repayment sets a dangerous precedent

  Ireland’s finance minister Michael Noonan has proposed refinancing part of Ireland's bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund, while keeping its less expensive borrowing from the European Union — a decision that contravenes the original terms of the programme. It is good news that Ireland is strong enough to even consider this option, but EU leaders should think of the precedent it sets before agreeing.

  • 29 Jul 2014

• How long until the Deutsche naysayers pipe down?

  Deutsche Bank, according to recent wisdom, trades too many bonds. Or rather, it doesn’t trade nearly as many as it had planned to. Global fixed income volumes are on the floor, banks cannot hold much inventory, margins are under pressure. Clients are over-broked, prop trading is over, and you still have to pay everyone. But is the German giant ramming that back down critics' throats?

  • 29 Jul 2014

• South Korean issuers should rise to the IPO bait

  South Korea’s Cuckoo Electronics priced a blockbuster W255bn ($248m) IPO this week that saw the institutional tranche close to 600 times covered. But others looking to emulate it need to act sooner rather than later. With Samsung Group set to raise large amounts of equity later this year, they risk losing out.

  • 29 Jul 2014

• Summer is no solution for Russian loans

  Loans bankers are looking for silver linings in the imminent prospect of deeper Western sanctions against Russia. At least the market has shut down in August, when Russians take their summer holidays. No deals would have been done anyway, so no matter. But the situation will not be over by the autumn, and August is not the listless month many market participants assume.

  • 29 Jul 2014

• Don’t expect the bear to bounce yet

  The Russian-Ukraine crisis has risen from its slumber in a roaring angry temper. Russia’s next recovery in the capital markets may not be as quick or as painless.

  • 28 Jul 2014

• Don't knock EFSF's divisive strategy

  The European Financial Stability Facility, fresh from hitting the bid for short-dated bonds with a one year early this month, went to the other extreme and set out with a debut 30 year on Tuesday. With blow-out deals at the extreme ends of the curve it is proving itself to be a savvy issuer.

  • 22 Jul 2014

• Mauritian bid to be African sukuk hotspot stacks up

  Islamic bankers don’t need new excuses to travel to the world’s sunnier climes, but meetings in Mauritius next to its pristine coral sand beaches could soon become a feature of the market — and not just for obvious reasons.

  • 22 Jul 2014

• Corporate green loans make little sense without green lenders

  UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury has signed what it has called the first ever corporate green loan. But aside from some positive PR for the firm, it’s hard to see the direct benefits the green label will provide to lenders or borrowers in the loan market.

  • 22 Jul 2014

• Xiaomi may have bitten off more than it can chew

  Xiaomi’s $1bn financing has become a talking point among bankers. The Chinese mobile phone company has ambitious plans for expansion but there is concern in some quarters over how it has chosen to execute its debut. The company should brace itself for an uphill climb. Closing this deal isn’t going to be easy.

  • 22 Jul 2014

• With time, the Royal Mail IPO looks less like a failure

  Public outrage is a lot faster than the digestion of an IPO. But thanks to a timely profit warning, at last they're getting in sync.

  • 22 Jul 2014

• BES crisis should have been an opportunity

  Banco Espírito Santo offered a welcome chance to re-evaluate a proposition that nobody really believed anyway. The market didn't take it.

  • 17 Jul 2014

• Are investment banks competitive yet?

  You might think the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority had enough on its plate. The UK regulator has a wide remit, running from insider trading to insurance, and from Wonga to Warburg Pincus. So why is it proposing another review of whether investment banks are competitive enough?

  • 16 Jul 2014

• Sukuk market should rally round Luxembourg's euro choice

  Luxembourg’s decision to issue its debut sukuk in euros seems to defy common sense, since it will be selling into a Gulf-dominated market where most investors are fixated on dollars. But the grand duchy is right to stick with the currency and sukuk market participants should welcome this unusual choice.

  • 15 Jul 2014

• KfW ups green game but don't all rush at once

  KfW threw down the gauntlet to other issuers with its debut green bond this week by adding another factor to reporting standards: impact reporting. Investors clearly like it — Tuesday’s deal at €1.5bn is the biggest ever new issue green bond in the sovereign, supranational and agency sector. But it is good to see KfW pioneering new green features, it won’t be good for the market if every issuer rushes to include it.

  • 15 Jul 2014

• Don’t laugh at de-dollarisation talk

  Recent comments about the de-dollarisation of financial markets and the wider adoption of the renminbi by countries like Russia have been met with incredulity in some quarters. But while the dollar will retain its reserve currency status for many years to come, the fact such talk exists shows how far the RMB has come in a very short time.

  • 15 Jul 2014