United States

Central bank independence has long been one of the sacred cows of western financial policy, but the rise of populist politicians is increasing the possibility that it might be on the way to the abattoir.

Europe’s private debt markets are progressing admirably. More and more companies are issuing, or at least aware of the possibility — and they have a varied choice of markets. Players in the Schuldschein and US PP markets are confident and looking ahead to new opportunities, as the products grow in geographical reach, asset class and technique. As Jon Hay reports, there’s just one snag — the credit cycle is nearing its end.

LONDON PRIVATE DEBT ROUNDTABLE The UK’s private debt market is one of the most vibrant in Europe. London is the most active centre in Europe for US private placement investing, and UK borrowers have longstanding links with that market.

The US private placement market has carved itself quite a following among borrowers in the UK and Europe, with its enticing offer of long dated debt at tight margins. But since Britain voted to leave the European Union, agents are playing on another of the market’s strengths — its resilience to external shocks. Silas Brown investigates.

The City of London Corporation, via its endowment fund the City’s Cash, is set to enter the US private placement market for the first time. While UK councils are still a rare sight in the US PP market, agents believe they may be a fruitful asset class for the future. Silas Brown reports.

PARIS PRIVATE DEBT ROUNDTABLE European private debt markets are developing fast and diversifying — although many market participants would rather they became standardised. The Euro Private Placement market, founded in France, has not blossomed into a rival to the US PP. Many French issuers now travel to Germany’s larger Schuldschein market.

A group of US senators have proposed a bill that threatens to block the IPOs of many Chinese companies in the country, and cause the delistings of mainland stocks from US exchanges.

In this round-up, the Mainland’s industrial production and other activity slowed in May, the Chinese foreign ministry urged the US to stop interfering with the country’s ‘internal affairs’ and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) tried to calm the market again regarding Baoshang Bank’s bailout.

In this round-up, US president Donald Trump warned of higher tariffs should his Chinese counterpart not meet him at G20, UBS’s chief economist employed questionable language when discussing the rise of Chinese consumer prices, and total exports edged up in May while exports to the US fell again.

The US corporate bond market enjoyed a busy period of issuance this week, as expectations of a rate cut rose and trade tensions with Mexico eased. But concerns still linger over dwindling supply.

BNP Paribas has hired a banker from SMBC to fill the vacant position of head of US private placements.

The sterling corporate bond market has shown surprising strength for issuers in short maturities this year, but on Wednesday its traditional forte shone through — the ultra-long end, where, as so often, the curve is inverted. Berkshire Hathaway found such good funding there that it scrapped a planned euro issue altogether and raised £1.75bn in sterling.