Team Trump turns gaze on MDBs

02/07/25 • 47 min

◆ Trump orders review of US involvement in multilateral development banks
◆ What's driving Reverse Yankee issuance?
◆ Deutsche Bank sparks new controversy in AT1 capital

Among many of the executive orders Donald Trump has signed since he became US president for the second time was one which ordered a review of the country's involvement in international organisations. That will include the multilateral development banks, in which it is often the biggest shareholder and which are big bond issuers.

We investigate how seriously the MDBs and the bond market should take the review as there is evidence of support for the sector in Trump's previous stint in the White House but also seemingly a revitalised sense of isolationsim and nationalism this time around.

US influence was prevalent in the European investment grade corporate bond market this week too. IBM was among a trio of US issuers pricing Reverse Yankee bonds. We look into what is driving the supply and what deals are to come.

Finally, we talked about whether Deutsche Bank's hint that it would not call two of its dollar additional tier one deals this year would rile investors at a time when the market for the product is red hot.

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◆ Trump orders review of US involvement in multilateral development banks
◆ What's driving Reverse Yankee issuance?
◆ Deutsche Bank sparks new controversy in AT1 capital

Previous Episode

Your bonus explained, HSBC shuts up (some of the) shop

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◆ Why you got paid what you got paid

◆ Insider reveals what really goes on when bonuses are allocated

◆ HSBC winds down M&A and ECM

We lift the lid on how bonuses are allocated in investment banking from the top table to the lowliest analyst.

Our columnist, Craig Coben, who spent many years as a senior equities banker at Merrill Lynch and then Bank of America, has been through the bonus cycle many times and reveals just what goes into someone's number and the bank's true motivation and aims in paying out.

Meanwhile, HSBC shocked many this week by revealing it will shutter much of its M&A and equity capital markets business. Our Southpaw columnist, David Rothnie joins us as we discuss why the bank is doing this and whether it is a step in the right direction.

Next Episode

How the capital markets can rearm Europe

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◆ Using the bond market to boost European security
◆ Africa nears sovereign debt stabiliser
◆ Sterling's ESG problem

With the new US government reasserting its belief that Europe needs to provide more of its own security this week, attention has turned once again to how to pay for it.

We discuss the various ideas in play, from setting up a new multilateral development bank to retooling existing SSA borrowers for the purpose, examining the pros and cons of each.

Meanwhile, the African Union may be about to bring to fruition a sovereign debt stability mechanism. Africa is the only continent without one and proponents believe it will ultimately bring down borrowing costs for issuers as well as offering an alternative source of ready capital in a crisis. We delve into how the entity will work.

Finally, we have been investigating why the UK bond market lags others when it comes to ESG labelled bonds and question whether the government and regulators should do more to encourage issuance.