Search results for

Frenetic bond issuance at the start of the year smashed records for volumes in CEEMEA as borrowers sought to get ahead of rising US rates. But although the US’s hiking trajectory was the main concern at the start of the year, political spice, currency crises, sanctions and bailouts all combined to beat up EM bond markets in 2018. By Francesca Young and Oliver West

For CEEMEA and Latin American bond issuers, 2018 was not an easy year. To get a good deal done required impeccable timing — to the point of fortune telling; a nimbleness around political landmines in both regions, rising rates and falling currencies; and the courage to make difficult decisions on pricing. Often, the deals offered to issuers were not the ones they were used to. But in some cases, that did not mean they were wrong to print. Picking out the Deals of the Year for 2018 was not a straightforwardtask for GlobalCapital’s editorial team. But after much deliberation, the below were chosen, representing those market triumphs that stood out in a year of crises.

The US slammed the international bond market shut to Russian borrowers in April by imposing sharp sanctions on a few private companies. Seven months later Gazprom sold a euro bond, but it is a unique credit. Investors are still terrified of another kicking from Western authorities. Francesca Young speaks to Russian borrowers about how they are planning their funding in uncertain times.

The volume of euro bond issuance from US companies fell sharply in 2018 compared to recent years. The finger of blame was quickly pointed at Trump’s tax changes, but there were other forces at play. Can the barriers be lifted in time for a better 2019? Nigel Owen reports.

Conditions have rarely been sweeter for European borrowers seeking to diversify their funding sources. Europe’s dominant private debt markets for investment grade issuers, the US private placement market and the Schuldschein, are thriving, and agents in both are on the hunt for new borrowers. Their search will better if, as expected, public bond markets have a tough 2019. Silas Brown reports.

Mergers and acquisitions in Europe are back. But what loans bankers have long hoped would be great news for their businesses is in most cases turning out to be a far less lucrative development, as companies increasingly turn to smaller banking groups to finance their acquisition plans. By Michael Turner.

European Union member states are set to soothe banks’ concerns about having too tight a window to change their risk-free euro reference rate from Eonia, with a postponement of the transition to Ester due on Wednesday.

Italian populists rocked Europe in 2018, bringing fresh political and market turmoil, highlighting the EU’s failures while simultaneously making it harder to solve them. When the next crisis arrives, the bloc may well rue missed opportunities to shore up the financial system.

It has been more than a decade since the US government nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises at the heart of US housing finance. Private sector advocates have hotly contested their conservatorship — without results — but 2019 be the year that that changes.

Welcome to the People & Markets Quiz of the Year. Test your knowledge, earn the respect of your peers, amuse and enlighten.

Consumer spending habits have changed beyond recognition since the financial crisis 10 years ago. US households are more wary of debt and are turning away from many of the traditional avenues of spending that have driven ABS markets for decades. While the market has come back since the depths of the crisis, securitization in 2019 is a different beast.

Once a big portion of global structured finance, non-agency RMBS has been a small part of the MBS market since 2008, in spite of a housing recovery in the US. Alexander Saeedy examines the outlook for a comeback of private label bonds in 2019.