Covered Bond Opinion

Lloyds Banking Group is marketing the first public European RMBS since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Does this mean things are hunky dory again in the securitisation market? Far from it.

Calyon has always been the marzipan square in the great chocolate box of international capital markets — colourless, unfancied and really there only to make up the numbers.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is, after months of talk, finally getting tough on hybrid capital. Panglossian banks that ignored repeated warnings about the future eligibility of the product may regret their enthusiasm.

If bankers think that the furore over bonuses has receded with the passage of time, they should think again. Politicians are mounting a renewed, and in some cases, co-ordinated attack as banks return to profitability and bad habits.

How do you solve a problem like bonuses? The UK’s Financial Services Authority has put forward some sensible principles but it has an almost impossible job, writes Gary Jenkins. A faster jobs merry-go-round could be just one of the unintended consequences of its attempts to tie pay-outs to risk taking.

Tom Montag, the new head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s investment bank is expected to name his senior management team at the beginning of September. With the firm’s integration largely complete, and investment bankers already able to call on balance sheet firepower, insiders are excited about the prospects for a fresh start, writes David Rothnie.

For all the talk of emerging markets and European potential, the US is still the market that matters most in investment banking, argues David Rothnie. That makes BarCap’s Lehman acquisition look smarter than ever.

An aggressive lending strategy focused on a select group of clients that is designed to maximise capital markets and advisory revenues — it’s page one of the investment banking play-book, 2009 edition. But while many are still trying, BNP Paribas has the wallet-share growth to prove it works, writes David Rothnie.

Fix Dinkum Ah! The middle of summer! The markets have quietened down, the stories are drying up and some analysts have taken to stating the bleeding obvious to have something to do.

Zurich Finance priced a callable lower tier two deal last week in yet another encouraging sign that the once-moribund subordinated market is returning to health. But while undoubtedly a positive development, dated callable deals are more likely to be museum pieces than everyday flow.