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Issuer's £280m deal was cleverly marketed
With equity returns under strain, managers would do well to slow the pace of CLO issuance
Issuance has kept going by giving investors just what they want
John Healey resigned because the money was not there for defence. It may not be there for anything
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Plans by US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson to reform the US regulatory system are largely a step in the right direction. But though Paulson is an impressive man, he is not infallible. It is the job of all interested parties to make sure regulatory reform is done right. If the US gets it wrong, it could create problems, rather than solving them.
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Clear Channel is deeply worrying, but the European leveraged loan market has more pressing concerns — like frontrunning. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and breaking syndicate ranks might just be one of the best ways out for banks wanting to clear their books and prepare for the new wave of better priced, more tightly structured deals that reflect the new, more cautious financial world.
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Marcel Ospel’s departure as chairman of UBS is the climax of a revolution, in which the bank’s top management has been changed and a new policy of risk-aversion introduced. UBS is certainly being thorough and serious about the regime change. But the bank has been here before, in 1998. Can investors be sure that this time, its more careful use of balance sheet will last more than five years?
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Standards of public governance have improved greatly in many parts of the world. But it is now time for a new step change: governments should produce annual reports, just like companies. These would revolutionise the ease with which voters — and the financial markets — are able to understand what government does and hold it to account.
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The Hellenic Republic was attacked by some bond bankers for launching too many bonds too quickly in January and February, damaging their market performance. But now Greece looks clever. It has made very good headway with its funding programme for the year, while markets have got more difficult. The game isn’t over, but as the first quarter draws to an end, it is round one to Greece.
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Syndicated loan banks have many reasons to be grateful to Russia at the moment. A record volume of deals for Russian borrowers is coming to market, without causing the feared logjam in the market. But bookrunners are having to keep much of the deals as syndication has withered — and they fear that further US subprime losses could lead to a clampdown.