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Covered Bond Opinion

  • Covered bonds offer a way for Baltic banks to develop a new seam of long-term standalone wholesale funding. But a successful conclusion to this project will depend on whether investors are convinced there is an effective mechanism for cross-border recognition of assets.
  • As investors and service providers pour into the market for Greek non-performing loans, authorities in the country have proposed two schemes to help the country's banks meet their ambitious targets for selling off these assets and cleaning up their balance sheets. Only one of them deserves serious consideration.
  • Additional tier ones couldn’t have reacted any more calmly to the first ever extension of a deal this week, but the market is still a long way from overcoming its ultimate test.
  • UBS is re-balancing its corporate finance business to end its reliance on its Financial Institutions Group with impressive results, writes David Rothnie.
  • Biofuels have swollen thanks to policies to combat climate change — even though often, they do not help the problem and can make it worse. This is a shocking record, born of ignorance, both accidental and wilful.
  • Many of the assumptions that surrounded older iterations of perpetual bank capital instruments are still there in the new class of additional tier one securities.
  • The European Central Bank (ECB) is well aware of the fact that €400bn borrowed under TLTRO II will no longer be counted as stable funding from June, so a new financing package is certain to be announced in the next month or two. But issuers waiting for a handout are going to be disappointed by what follows and will be obliged to tap capital markets, just as conditions deteriorate.
  • Pacific Gas & Electric has gone bankrupt with $52bn of debt, blaming forest fires that seared California during 2018. Vale, with $11bn, has been downgraded to the bottom edge of investment grade after its horrific dam burst last Friday.
  • While banks fight shy of big-ticket mergers, a select group of private equity firms are leading the restructuring of the industry in Europe, writes David Rothnie.
  • Japanese banks are unlikely to enjoy any let-up from razor-thin net interest margins in 2019. This is worrying for their long-term sustainability, but it’s potentially a bonanza for DCM specialists in Europe and the US.