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Tightening bank budgets may mean cutting back on business trips, but sometimes making those trips is the only way to get the full picture.

Thriving local investor demand, as well as determined government efforts at both national and local level to finance Japanese green projects, could soon encourage an underwhelming domestic green bond market to bloom, writes David Bell.

A feeling of cautious optimism surrounds the Japanese economy, according to minutes from the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting in January. This positive mood is encouraging some to suggest that, under the dramatic reforms of prime minister Shinzo Abe, the country is on the right track.

Four years after Abenomics was implemented, and following ratings downgrades in 2015, prospects are beginning to improve for Japan’s top credits. With the financial year starting in April there are reasons to be positive. Foreign investors are returning to the Japanese debt market, the economy is showing some improvement and companies are ramping up their funding targets. GlobalCapital sat down with senior officials from some of the most highly regarded issuers in Japan, as well as respected bankers, to find out about their fundraising plans and how they will approach the debt markets.

Japan’s economic and political stability is making its domestic credit markets an attractive haven in light of political uncertainty in Europe and the US. With global monetary policies diverging, Japanese debt is becoming an attractive proposition for an increasing number, and variety, of overseas investors, writes David Bell.

Unitranche funds are hauling in money, even though lending spreads have come down a long way. At a time of exceptional conditions for borrowers in the syndicated leveraged loan market, unitranche lenders are still finding deals to do. Speed is in their favour — and wider market volatility this year may also play into their hands. Max Bower reports.

Corporate medium term note issuance has been dwindling, as borrowers have been sucked away by more attractive sources of financing. But MTNs still have their own appeal, providing financing in tenors and currencies not easily accessible through other means. Lewis McLellan reports.

The private debt markets may well be regarded as the final frontier for technology’s appropriation of the world of capital flows. After all, how can such a bespoke sector — reliant on face-to-face communication to tweak and nuance deals to suit issuer and investor — ever be run by machines? But after scratching below the surface, Craig McGlashan finds several areas where the robots may well be taking over.

The US private placement market is famous for its stability and consistency. But beneath the surface, much is changing. Last year issuance hit a record of $65bn, even though deal flow from continental Europe ebbed.

Efforts to boost the UK’s private placement market are making it easier than ever for borrowers to access non-bank finance. But for some, the UK private placement market should be reaching for greater union with its European counterparts, even as Brexit wrenches Britain and the EU further apart. David Bell reports.

London sits at the intersection of several private debt markets: the US private placement, Euro PPs, the Schuldschein, Euro medium term notes and direct lending. Each is different, but all exist in the same economic environment, in which banks are eager to lend and pricing in the public bond market is highly attractive to issuers.

Quantitative easing has made investors’ lives hard, even outside public markets. As spread compression makes its way into private debt markets, even the most experienced buyers are finding it hard to source investments that pay enough yield.