'And here history rattled over the points'

08/09/24 • 20 min

◆ Issuers and investors look for clues after violent price swings
◆ Which borrowers will lead autumn deal spree
◆ How pricing has shifted in primary market
There are moments that change what is to come. When poor US employment data and corporate earnings, and a rise in Japanese interest rates last week sent the markets into a tailspin at the start of this one, it changed how issuers will approach the capital markets when issuance volumes start to ramp up later this month.

And this year, the autumn issuance window is particularly important with the fractious US election threatening to make October and November an ill advised time to be in the capital markets with lots of funding to do.

We discuss how this week's turbulence has changed the picture for borrowers making plans for the rest of the year in terms of timing and pricing of deals.

As one of the characters in Alan Bennett's play The History Boys notes, there are times when events force people down a different course — "and here history rattled over the points", he says. Was this week one where the capital markets headed off down a different track to the one they thought they were on? We find out.

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We discuss how this week's turbulence has changed the picture for borrowers making plans for the rest of the year in terms of timing and pricing of deals.

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Slovenia takes the lead in blockchain bonds

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◆ First eurozone government sells bond on distributed ledger
◆ The rate cutting wheel turns faster
Making innovations a reality is partly about who does them, so the first eurozone sovereign issuer selling a bond on a blockchain is a milestone that takes the market up a notch in credibility.

GlobalCapital’s reporters discuss their findings after speaking to Slovenia’s treasury this week about why it wanted to take the lead among peers by trialling this new technology with a €30m four month bond. Other sovereign borrowers told us they were content ― for now ― to watch from the sidelines.

Slovenia chose the Banque de France’s solution, wanting a system in which both legs of the trade were fully tokenised.

Meanwhile, conventional bond markets have been gripped by central bank fever again, as the Bank of England joined the European Central Bank on the rate cutting path. Although the Federal Reserve held rates, it was seen as a dovish hold. That leaves the public sector bond market raring to get started on issuing ― but will it find suitable windows?

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The UK bonus episode

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Banks have started to reveal how they will restructure the pay of front office staff following the removal of the bonus cap in the UK. We investigate who will benefit from the new rules (spoiler alert: it's probably the banks).

Recent market volatility has thrown up opportunities for corporate issuers. Firstly, we discuss why we are about to see more US companies issuing bonds in euros.

Then we travel to the US convertible bond market where we delve into a new debt package for the airline JetBlue, which resulted in a plunging share price and a credit rating downgrade.