| Popis: |
The unprecedented dynamics of credit markets, as well as reinforced regulatory and shareholder pressure, have required banks to reassess their conventional methods of transacting business, often leaving them in protracted transition phase. With investors again in search of yield enhancements and portfolio managers in need of hedging and return on capital improvement, a new equilibrium with generally lower liquidity but improved transparency and counterparty risk management seems to have been found. Additionally, the formerly distinct loan, corporate bond and credit derivative markets increasingly have merged as alternative sources for acquiring credit risk and for refinancing, serving the needs of both investors and borrowers. A record-setting new issuance of corporate bonds in 2010, 2011, and again in 2012 bears witness to the decision of corporate treasurers to prefer reliability of available funds to flexibility in terms and conditions that only loans offer. As a Bloomberg article1 noted, the amount that firms borrowed in the form of syndicated loans and credit lines fell by a hefty 13 per cent for the U.S. and 25 per cent for Europe in 2012 compared with same period in 2011, while corporate bond issues in Europe now account for 52 per cent of the €467 bn total new funding volume, overtaking loans for the first time in history. |
