Barclays faces more discerning investors ahead of AT1 debut

Barclays is set to bring the UK’s first CRD IV-compliant additional tier one trade as early as next week, when it finishes a global roadshow for the dollar-denominated deal. The issuer is riding the coat-tails of other pioneering AT1 issuers, but as the asset class becomes more established, investors are becoming more concerned about when banks will skip coupons than about other loss-absorbing features like write-down and equity conversion.