(Another) big moment for FIG, hybrid market's mall call, the future of the ESM

The covered bond market had a wobble this week. It was the last thing bank bond issuers needed just as the wreckage of Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank disappeared from the rear view mirror. But it could be the first sign of further volatility in FIG bonds with the market set to face an imminent, severe structural readjustment.

Commercial property firms are a class of issuer that have been facing up to tougher conditions for some time, leading to trickier financing conditions. We discuss shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s novel way of refinancing its hybrid debt, which is callable next month.

The 32^nd edition of Euromoney’s Global Borrowers and Investors Forum took place this week, at which GlobalCapital played a prominent role. The event, such a big part of the bond market calendar that it is known to most simply as “Euromoney”, draws in anybody who is anybody from the SSA, FIG and European corporate bond markets. Well, we certainly found a somebody to speak to: Pierre Gramegna, the new MD of the European Stability Mechanism spoke to us at the conference about the institution’s future.