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A cash-heavy Islamic investor base starved of supply — compared to what conventional buyers were served up — helped Middle East and North Africa sukuk issuers secure bigger order books, giving them more pricing power than regional peers issuing regular bonds, writes George Collard

Central and eastern Europe sovereigns enjoyed big demand for benchmarks at the start of 2023 but paid high new issue premiums. This was reversed later in the year, as investors became more confident about the path of interest rates and when borrowers had less to raise. George Collard reports

If 2023 was a better year for CEEMEA bond issuers it is no great claim; 2022 was dreadful. But investors have gained a degree of comfort over the path of interest rates, giving hope — but not confidence — of a further rebound in the primary market in 2024, write Francesca Young and George Collard

Nearly 10 years on from its foundation, French local government funding agency Agence France Locale is building up its support for environmentally friendly and sustainable projects

The eclectic nature of US securitization left some sectors of the market flourishing and others floundering in 2023. Ayse Kelce, Kunyi Yang and Tom Lemmon look at which corners of the market have reason for cheer and whether there’s an expectation of a turnaround in sluggish or struggling sectors

Marathon runners fear the dreaded wall — the point near the end of a race where all energy and hope is drained. SSA issuers made it over the line with their funding in 2023 but there were signs of a flagging market in the final, hard yards, writes Georgie Lee

Sovereigns, supranational and agency issuers that could think a little differently stood out in 2023. As borrowers grappled with rates volatility, narrower issuance windows and yet no let-up in borrowing requirements, it was those that could be nimble or novel as well as those that laid down price markers for others that took the most plaudits

Europe’s corporate bond market kept working throughout a rough year of interest rate rises, despite some bashes along the way. As Mike Turner reports, investors now sense that rates have peaked and some are willing to take the risk of buying longer-term debt — but no one expects 2024 to be a smooth ride.

After a year of central bank tightening, corporate bond specialists are figuring out how ‘higher for longer’ will affect credit. As Mike Turner found in his survey, senior bankers and investors across Europe expect subdued volume, wider spreads, spots of credit anxiety — and then a new regime of economic stress and falling rates

It has been a busy year for capital markets across the Middle East in general, and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in particular.

When the shockwave set off by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank swept the legs from under Credit Suisse, all the talent and relationships of a big investment bank were up for grabs. UBS has tried to hang on to what it sees as the best bits — but the biggest beneficiaries are likely to be rivals. Jon Hay and David Rothnie report

European ABS market participants are optimistic about 2024, despite the persistence of rates volatility and economic fears. While poor arbitrage haunts the CLO market, managers are ready to tighten the straps on their captive equity funds and soldier on. George Smith and Victoria Thiele assess the market outlook for European securitized products