Currencies

Corporate bankers’ confidence grows for strong spread backdrop in busy January window

Fall in rates could push investors towards longer and lower rated paper

Aggressive withdrawal of central bank support set to reprice sovereign and covered bonds in 2023

Bank pounces on credit rally with opportunistic trade to end its funding for the year

As the world came out of the coronavirus pandemic, bond market conditions in 2022 did the opposite of what was expected of them and sharply deteriorated. Rising inflation, in part a result of the war in Ukraine, supply bottlenecks and fast tightening central banks all hurt banks’ abilities to access stable funding in international markets. Accessing unsecured primary financing, even senior debt, was no mean feat as new issue premiums moved higher for most of the year on top of skyrocketing spreads. Refinancing subordinated bonds at economic levels was far more challenging amid extreme volatility that brought back memories of the 2008 global financial crisis. Four bellwether deals are recognised this year for their market-leading achievements and successful execution that empowered the rest of the FIG market in Europe. They not only re-opened market access to a broader issuer base but also gave much needed confidence boost to battered investors. By Atanas Dinov and Frank Jackman.

After ESG share of total bond issuance fell this year, labelled funding is expected to spike across all FIG asset classes in 2023

Strong domestic demand to support spreads despite shrinking ECB support

European high grade utilities forecast to bounce back from a bruising year

Bank will maintain dividends to investors and its funding plan will remain unchanged

Sovereign to issue €539bn next year

Sovereign will raise over €5bn in green formats next year

Refinancing TLTRO repayments could see volume rise above 2022’s levels