LatAm Loans

Only a short while ago, forward starts were viewed with disdain by much of the loan market — an instrument that many believed let borrowers get away with murder. But perceptions have changed as the instrument has been standardised to suit the needs of lenders as well as borrowers.

Two things are clear from the first quarter DCM league tables: there’s more money in being a top 10 corporate bond house than there has been for years — and the composition of top 10 is changing faster than ever before. The reason: Europe’s banks are demanding the juiciest-ever bond mandates in return for extending loans to their closest relationship clients.

Underwritings have been absent in the loan market over the last six months. New money lending has been dominated by clubbed and short-term term transactions. But K+S’s Eu1.4bn loan — for its $1.7bn takeover of Morton Salt — is different, the first proper underwrite seen in Europe this year. But while it is undoubtedly encouraging news, it’s too early to tell whether it heralds a return to the good old days in the syndicated loan market.

An emerging markets corporate needing to refinance billions of dollars of loans taken out to fund a risky acquisition made at the top of the market? Is Tata Motors attempting mission impossible? No, the strength of its relationships is likely to see it through.

Jean-François Balay has been made head of global loan syndications at Calyon following the departure of Carol Shymanski. Balay, previously headed the corporate origination team within the loans business at Calyon, a position he has held since a reshuffle in 2005.

Former Citi loans banker Judith Fishlow Minter has joined a new New York-based debt advisory firm, North Sea Advisors.

The syndicated loan market has been at the centre of the political storm over the freeze in bank lending, and there has never been a greater need for it to be represented by a strong trade body. It should be the perfect time for the Loan Market Association to step up to the mark, but after a disappointing decision not to re-elect a chairman until July, it will have to undergo some serious soul-searching first.