The GlobalCapital Podcast GlobalCapital

Will Credit Suisse survive and in what form?Tech lending after SVBA false dawn for EM issuersSwiss regulators are known for making capital requirements tougher for their banks than rule makers elsewhere — it’s known as the Swiss finish. But that didn’t prevent the Swiss National Bank from having to provide a Sfr50bn lifeline to Credit Suisse this week and the bank’s future is still far from certain.
We investigate whether the crisis-dogged Swiss lender will have time to implement the restructuring it began in October or whether it is about to have a completely different solution imposed upon it, with options including being sold to its local rival, UBS.


Credit Suisse got caught up in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) as markets scoured for weak links in the banking sector. We look this week, however, at what the funding for the tech sector will look like now that HSBC owns SVB UK.


 We also discover how hopes faded over the course of the week for emerging market issuers, which some had hoped would benefit from the rally in US Treasuries that followed the SVB disaster. Turns out it was the wrong kind of rally.

-                  Hand wringing at the end of Arm saga

-                  Green bond rebirth for corporate issuers
-                  Getting private money into development finance

-                  Lenders look to engage Europe’s telcos


Arm gave the UK equity capital markets a slap this week when it opted to list in New York rather than the celebrated microchip designer’s home exchange in London, despite huge efforts to persuade it to do otherwise. It has prompted a lot of soul searching about the state of the UK as a listing venue but we question if things are really that bad, or if the UK is even being judged against the right peers.


There has also been a resurgence in corporate green bond issuance as the market starts to find fault in sustainability-linked bonds. We look at what is driving the trend back to the OG of ESG-themed securities and what companies’ labelled funding mixtures will look like in future.


One of the biggest problems in global development is the mobilisation of private capital. We report this week on how a new fund is looking to solve the problem and what other solutions the capital markets have come up with to bridge what some reckon is a $2.6tr gap that needs to be bridged for the world to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.


Finally, we investigate the telecoms sector, which promises to be a big source of lending activity for banks in Europe this year if only something would stop holding it up.

- QT walks among us 
- Companies get a yen for yen 
- Divi recaps return 
- EU sets Green Bond Standard

Quantitative tightening got a bit tighter this week when the ECB stopped showing up in the order books for new covered bond syndications. The central bank’s asset purchases have been a defining feature of Europe’s bond market for the last few years as used its balance sheet to fight crisis after crisis. We take a look at what the impact will be of its withdrawal and who is taking up the slack.
A week ago, GlobalCapital reported on how expensive it was becoming for some banks to lend dollars to their corporate clients. This week, we found cheaper alternatives in Asia. We delve into the trend for yen in the loan market as borrowers look to manage their funding costs in a world of rising rates.
Meanwhile, one of the more bullish types of leveraged finance issuance is back – the dividend recap – despite the dust barely having settled on last year when banks struggled to syndicate leveraged debt into the wider market. We examine what has driven this spate of deals and whether there has been a sudden change of heart among investors.
Finally, the EU has agreed a political deal for its Green Bond Standard. But of course, negotiating such a thing over the five years it has taken is mere child’ play in European regulatory circles. We look into what needs to happen next for it to matter, including its passage into law and problems with the EU’s Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities.

Upheaval in the CEE bond marketCovid aftershocks in the US CMBS marketWhat Banga means for the World Bank and SSA bondsRussia shocked the world a year ago today when it invaded Ukraine. The world has felt the effects, including the capital markets. To mark the occasion we look into three areas of the markets profoundly changed by the war and question how they will develop as the conflict rumbles on.
The pandemic also had a profound effect on how we live our lives, in particular how and where we work. This is now starting to affect the securitization market in the US where deals backed by commercial mortgages are facing rising delinquencies because of the move to hybrid working and rising interest rates. We dissect this market and look at what lies on store.


Finally, it’s all change at the top of the World Bank as it searches for a new president to replace David Malpass who resigned earlier in the week. It may not be the biggest issuer in the capital markets but it is certainly among the most influential institutions on the planet both as borrower and lender. 


Moreover, the change comes at a time when some are urging multilateral development banks to borrow even more. We look into the surprise nominee for the presidency, Ajay Banga, and what his appointment, if it happens, means for the world’s development banks and their place in the capital markets.

Are EU bonds govvies yet?Fast moving credit market develops a strange rattling noiseDebt-for-nature: from the Galapagos to the developing worldThe EU’s huge funding programme and how it issues debt make it appear very much like a sovereign borrower. But while it might like to view itself as such, its audience of investors and bankers don’t entirely agree that it is… yet.
We discuss why the EU wants to be part of the govvie market, what it needs to do to get there and discover that there could be all sorts of consequences if it achieves its goal in the eyes of the bond market.
Meanwhile, the go-faster stripes seem to be wearing off of the speeding credit market as investors worry about spreads and interest rates and some new bank and corporate bond issues start to look a little stodgy — and it could not be happening at a worse time for issuers.
Finally, we look into debt-for-nature swaps and how this innovative bit of financing could help vulnerable countries deal with two of their most pressing problems: global warming and debt sustainability.

- Do two IPO swallows make a summer, or a winter of discontent?
- Why investors think SLBs are 'worthless' and what to do about it
- The buy-side grapples with government green bonds
- Moans in loans
The first two IPOs in Europe this year were priced this week, for Ionos and EuroGroup Laminations. They were a key test for the market after a dismal 2022 when many new listings were shelved as market participants grappled with inflation, rising rates, the threat of recession and geopolitical horrors. We examine what the deals tell us about equity capital markets this year.
Meanwhile, all is not well in the sustainability-linked bond market, a nascent crucible of innovation that aims to help issuers meet environmental targets. We look into why investors are calling the coupons the bonds pay irrelevant and look at the latest efforts to value the economics of these trades more meaningfully. We also look at a new resource to evaluate government green bonds.
Finally, although the bond markets has had a stellar start to the year, activity in the loans markets - an alternative source of capital for companies - is way down. We ask why and discover why having such a busy bond market could in fact be a source of encouragement for lenders.