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The botched bank job in Cyprus has clearly thrown in a spanner in the works for Asian bond bankers, but they have shown before that they can work around problems from Europe. The biggest hurdles are not fundamental, they are technical. The sheer scale of supply building up now means bankers are in for a rocky ride over the next few months.
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Demand among Asian private bank investors for subordinated debt from both European FIG issuers and domestic names has been under pressure. As Aberdeen Asset Management meets those investors in advance of a potential Reg S perpetual transaction, it must get its message right and think carefully about execution.
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The extent of Société Générale’s struggles to meet the targets it set itself in 2010 for its Ambition SG 2015 restructuring plan were laid bare on Wednesday as it reported full year results that were just a fraction of what it once thought possible.
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Turkish bank borrowers are again causing controversy in the loan market. But despite some lenders’ vociferous protests, Turkish banks’ march to sub-100bp pricing seems unstoppable.
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Korea Housing Finance Corp has come under fire for pressing ahead with a covered bond before the country’s new domestic framework is in place. But fears that it will damage investor appetite for other Korean deals are overblown.
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Letting central banks run monetary policy seemed a great idea in the 1990s. But it manifestly failed to end boom and bust. Now everyone shouts at central banks to solve the economy’s problems. Who should decide what they do? Only elected governments can, and it should be their responsibility.
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The Libor scandal has taught the banking industry that mainstream perceptions of behavioural risk are utterly flawed. A new approach to supervision is needed, and fast.
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The nationalisation of SNS Reaal has reignited the bail-in debate. Some European politicians have called for a Europe-wide bail-in framework to be implemented sooner than originally planned. The danger is that doing so could knock investors’ confidence at a crucial time.
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The UK will be Europe’s investment banking battleground in 2013 as heavyweights slug it out for market share, writes David Rothnie.
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US investors are threatening to leave money market funds if regulators impose a floating net asset value on the industry, which would damage an important source of dollar funding for eurozone banks. US regulators should be wary of the potential consequences of their actions.