Pre-migration untagged articles

Who’d be a rating agency? Kicked from pillar to post by everyone over their supposed dereliction of duty in the CDO market during the credit crisis, they are now being hammered for being overzealous in their treatment of European sovereign debt.

When a mysterious document appeared online this week outlining how the Fédération Bancaire Française might encourage Greek bondholders to refinance the country until 2014, it coincided with the passing of austerity measures through the Greek parliament to bring about that rarest of sights: a rally in Greek bond prices. But Greece is still essentially bankrupt and still nothing is being done to address that.

Dealers of private EMTNs: Non-syndicated deals for less than $250m excluding financial repackaged SPVs, self-led deals and issues with a term of less than 365 days

Many sovereign, supranational and agency borrowers will look to small private placements for funding over the summer, as they are highly liquid and ahead of their funding schedules for the year.

The total value of private equity exits in the UK in the first half of 2011 (£5.8bn) exceeded the total value of investments (£5.7bn) for the first time since 2006, according to a report published by Nottingham University’s Centre for Management Buy-out Research (CMBOR) on Monday.

After a blistering start to the year, the European high yield bond market is taking a breather as investors push back on aggressive structures. This is no bad thing.

Dealer of private EMTNs: Non-syndicated deals for less than $250m excluding financial repackaged SPVs, self-led deals and issues with a term of less than 365 days

Hurry up and pay up is the message to sovereign, supranational and agency borrowers if they want to maintain their strong start to the year over the summer.

Buyers favoured sovereign, supranational and agency MTNs in currencies outside the eurozone this week after European ministers postponed a decision on the Greek bail-out until July.

Steady dealflow is expected in the emerging market bond and loan markets ahead of the summer slowdown. Following record-breaking deals for Russia’s largest lenders, Gazprombank has sent a request for proposals for a three year loan of more than $1bn.

Markit's iTraxx European indices were all wider on Wednesday morning, in spite of the Greek confidence vote on Tuesday. But they had fallen ahead of the vote and are still down on last week. If confidence returns, the braver corporate bond issuers may revive plans to issue this week. So far there has been nothing major on the screens in corporate bonds apart from Tuesday’s surgical raid by Deutsche Bahn, bluest of blue chips, which raised Eu500m of five year money with a deal aimed partly at retail investors in Germany, Italy and the Nordic region.