The outbreak of Warsh

© 2026 GlobalCapital, Derivia Intelligence Limited, company number 15235970, 161 Farringdon Rd, London EC1R 3AL. All rights reserved.

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement | Event Participant Terms & Conditions | Cookies

The outbreak of Warsh

Warsh, Kevin testifies at confirmation 21Apr26 from Alamy 1May26 1000x666

◆ The Fed's Powell era ends with split decision ◆ Bank capital to lead Gulf bond revival ◆ SSAs, corporates and FIG face busy May

President Trump appointed Jay Powell as Federal Reserve chair — then hounded him continually to ease monetary policy and ended up launching a criminal investigation against him. What could possibly go wrong for Kevin Warsh?

The central question for markets is whether he will have an independent mind or be Trump’s puppet. So far, Warsh is getting the benefit of the doubt.

After 62 days without a public bond deal from the Gulf, Emirates NBD reopened the market, surprising observers by bringing a deeply subordinated additional tier one capital deal.

It could be more than a one-off. A lot of banks in the region have capital securities to call and replace, and these are likely to bulk large as issuance gets back into gear.

Across the public sector, financial institution and corporate bond markets, May is set to be exceptionally busy with issuance, but each sector is taking the prospect in a different way.

Corporates are gung-ho, while SSAs are still gripped by the urge to avoid risk by funding as much as possible early. Financial instutions have borrowing to catch up on, but are close to a cliff edge. Spreads are ultra-tight, but nasty spectres could easily spook the market.

Subscribe to GlobalCapital's Podcast

You can listen and subscribe for free on your favourite podcast platform including:

Related articles

Gift this article