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With Sinn Féin down in the polls, securitization investors should cheer at the thought of Fianna Fáil winning the Irish election this year. -
Direct lending funds have raised more money than ever this year, and are writing ever bigger cheques in the sort of investments usually done by broad syndication. However, in all but a handful of cases, syndicated financing is the better option.
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Collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) are on trial with regulators and central banks around the world, standing accused of being the financial instrument most likely to cause the next financial crisis. The prosecution, however, needs to look at the the facts.
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The ‘mortgage prisoners’ fiasco has made it easier for MPs to demonise useful financial tools. While thousands of mortgagors cheer at the news they are about to be freed from their loans, the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) support has come in too late to undo the reputational damage done to useful parts of the capital markets.
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The World Bank’s pioneering pandemic bond has failed to recognise what the World Health Organisation has said is the second largest Ebola epidemic ever, which took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a gross failure, but the jury is still out on using such instruments to fund disaster response in the developing world.
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The Bank of England should extend Libor beyond its set date of 2021 — or risk financial institutions setting their own rules.
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Moody’s has downgraded Ford Motor Credit Company from investment grade to a junk rating. It is not the only auto manufacturer to run suffer a prang, however, and as more securitization issuers move into the autos sector, UK market participants need to be wary of history repeating.
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Despite the agony of Brexit, the UK has been making impressive strides in turning away from climate change. The government's new Green Finance Strategy is the latest. It goes in the right direction, but unfortunately is less a leap, more a shuffle.
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While the cult of the environmental, social and governance-linked (ESG) bond has gone from strength to strength in investment grade markets, with dedicated bond funds, attempts to build risk-free green curves and more than $100bn of issuance per year, the leveraged finance market — in loan and bond form alike — has been a laggard. But it’s where the rubber (from sustainable sources) really needs to meet the road.
