Covered Bond Opinion

When the European Central Bank (ECB) is suggesting the additional tier-one market could cost the euro area up to 0.25% of GDP growth in the next year and a half, it is probably time to start thinking about reforming the asset class.

Surging redemptions and aggressive buying by the ECB — which is also offering issuers a cheaper funding alternative — mean a reduced supply outlook for the covered bond market and, therefore, ever tighter spreads. But higher yielding, safer alternative investments are on the horizon, meaning the asset class may soon lose its allure.

The double whammy of coronavirus and a crisis at the top of the bank makes the most testing of times for the new head of Commerzbank’s corporate clients division to make his mark. But Roland Boekhout has a broad vision for the firm’s corporate and investment bank and ideas for how to implement it, writes David Rothnie.

Agreement in the EU this week on a €750bn recovery fund should remind market participants of the UK’s newfound vulnerability.

Each week, Keeping Tabs brings you the very best of what we have found most useful, interesting and informative from around the web. This week: what’s next for the US after its war on Huawei, the impact that more robots would have on the gender pay gap, and a look on the bright side of Europe’s mishmash of state guarantee schemes.

The Wirecard scandal — like other recent debacles such as NMC Health — shows that financial reporting, oversight and governance, as they are currently practised, are woefully inadequate.

It’s time to get the toughest deals done as market conditions are likely to deteriorate in the autumn, when a second coronavirus wave and a more material deterioration in banks’ balance sheets could knock sentiment.

Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, has already thrown some cash from the air to boost the economy and prevent a more serious downturn, with job retention measures, a cut in VAT and meal vouchers. But that won’t be enough. The UK needs a full scale helicopter drop.

When mortgage payment holiday schemes start to run out at the end of the year, there looms a genuine risk of a wave of defaults. Allowing investors access to borrower-level data may be the only way banks can clean up their balance sheets and maintain lending to the real economy but it is fraught with hazard and must be deftly handled.

Each week, Keeping Tabs brings you the very best of what we have found most useful, interesting and informative from around the web. This week: liquidity in the age of central banks, making bank capital green, and US fiscal stimulus.