Europe
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The European Commission made a play to snatch euro clearing business for the eurozone this week, proposing new powers to force the relocation of what it terms systemically important third-country clearing houses that clear euro denominated derivatives. Costas Mourselas reports. -
Enthusiasm for green and social bonds is mounting, and revisions to the Green Bond Principles (GBP) announced this week may give the market a further lift. Many of the same debates still exercise market participants as in the past, but they appear less daunted by these conundrums.
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The EU has caught the rest of the world on the hop. Years of neglecting structural reform, anaemic growth, all manner of financial crises, domestic political disruption, ructions with Greece — and now divorce with the UK — have variously driven predictions of death for both the Union and the euro. It hasn’t turned out like that.
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A call by US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin this week to lessen the capital burden on banks had a bigger effect on US rates than a well telegraphed Federal Reserve target rate rise, creating some breathing space in long end swap spreads. That could ease long dated public sector bond issuance, but with euro market offering enviable duration funding, there may not be a queue of borrowers ready to print, writes Craig McGlashan.
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The revival of equity-linked issuance in Europe continued this week with three deals, all of the kind investors are looking for: from smaller companies with higher credit spreads and interesting equity stories.
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A few months ago political risk was the new big driver of the markets. Yet as UK politics enters its most uncertain period in decades, the country’s banks are jumping into the market and accessing credit cheaply. Supply dynamics, not politics, are king, writes Jasper Cox.
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In contrast with its US counterpart this week, the Bank of England elected to keep its base interest rate on hold at 0.25% at its meeting on Thursday. However, the vote was closer than expected and the circling hawks caused a sell-off in Gilts and may have spoiled the outlook for sterling borrowing.
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Remarkably supportive conditions in the euro market allowed some rare SSA names to pull off strong deals this week, including a debut in the currency and a return from a two year hiatus.
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