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Sustainability-linked bonds: a win on several counts
With Asia’s sustainability-linked bond (SLB) market thrown wide open with the first transaction, there is a case to be made for the opportunities offered to both issuers and investors by this nascent asset class.
13 Jan 2021 -
Rating agency treatment of EM risk at odds with the people who take it
Credit rating agencies are attracting harsh criticism over their treatment of emerging market sovereigns. Some in the bond markets believe it threatens to undermine their authority when it comes to assessing creditworthiness.
12 Jan 2021 -
Investor activism: three kinds of impact
Big firms like HSBC, BlackRock and JP Morgan are always being criticised for environmental, social and governance failings. The remedy lies in their hands.
12 Jan 2021 -
Institutional investors look set to suffocate bitcoin’s radical past
The emergence of institutional money into bitcoin is the death knell for its revolutionary dreams of a decentralised economic system.
12 Jan 2021 -
Indian loans: some good news after a bad year
Asian loans bankers are expressing guarded optimism about their prospects this year. Most of their hopes are so far concentrated on India, where a mix of public and private sector deals — as well as the occasional sponsor financing — should bring some welcome supply.
06 Jan 2021 -
Bolder central bank policies will be pitched as the cure to economic long Covid
Cancelling debt, dual interest rates, helicopter money: if the recovery from the coronavirus crisis stalls in the developed world, we will see calls for more radical central bank action.
05 Jan 2021 -
New lockdowns have ripped up January’s usual sleepy corporate bond calendar
The more infectious new variant of the coronavirus has rattled Europe, plunging major economies back into lockdowns. This is already reshaping January’s usually lethargic pace of high grade corporate bond issuance and market participants should expect a frenetic start to the year.
05 Jan 2021 -
Covereds will shine when it rains
Financial institution borrowers are expected to concentrate efforts on their more difficult trades at the start of this year, reflecting the view that credit conditions cannot get much better — a prudent approach to funding. But the economic recovery is unlikely to be as smooth as expected, and although central banks stand ready, credit market volatility should revive covered bonds as the rainy day funding product of choice.
05 Jan 2021 -
Biden and climate: four short cuts to a greener US
The world is watching full of hope as Joe Biden prepares to take the helm of the world’s most important economy. He has promised to act decisively on climate change, which must include financial reform. There is much worthy work to do — but four things would save Biden a lot of time.
23 Dec 2020 -
Investors want EM, whether it restructures or not
For years, meeting obligations has been the be-all and end-all of emerging market debt management. Pay your debts, or wave goodbye to international investors.
22 Dec 2020