The Big Interview

Muddy Waters has fostered a fearsome reputation as a credible, thorough and forceful short seller whose explosive reports are a danger to anyone harbouring a stake in its intended target. Carson Block, its founder and chief investment officer, told GlobalCapital he has never been wrong about a company he’s shorted, though that doesn’t mean he’s made money from every position he has held. According to Block, monetary policies intended to stimulate markets through financial crises actually corrode them, and stifle accountability for serious failures in corporate governance.

Mediobanca frontloaded regulatory issuance and completed its funding plan before the coronavirus crisis struck. While its corporate loan book has increased, deposit inflows have also improved which means the bank is in no hurry to return to the public market according to head of group treasury, Carlo Masini, and head of funding, Paolo Labbozzetta.

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the Nigeria-based multilateral development bank (MDBs), has emerged at the forefront of regional coronavirus rescue efforts, providing financing for emergency hospitals, medical aid and more. As Africa finds itself at the centre of global calls for emergency financing and debt relief, the AFC’s chief executive, Samaila Zubairu, talks to GlobalCapital about the bank’s response to the crisis, how its own fundraising plans have been affected, and the future of Chinese capital in the region.

Jingdong Hua has seen his fair share of crises. In Africa when the Rwandan genocide happened, in the Philippines when the Asian tsunami hit, in New York City when the twin towers fell on 9/11, he now finds himself in Washington, DC at one of the key institutions the world is desperately looking to to lead it out of the coronavirus crisis.

Bank balance sheets are set to expand and Intesa's will be no exception. It will mean an an increased reliance on central bank funding. But apart from this, the Italian bank's mix of funding is likely to remain unchanged from February with the emphasis on regulatory capital. But as Alessandro Lolli, head of group treasury and finance told GlobalCapital, the bank has great flexibility in navigating its capital raising during the pandemic.

Unlike many banks, NordLB had been actively reducing its balance sheet well before the coronavirus crisis hit, so its need for funding is more modest than most. Though it seems likely Pfandbrief issuance will eventually return, German borrowers are hesitant to come to market, especially when there is cheap, plentiful central bank funding available. And, while Pfandbrief investors are well protected, it seems likely that a slow recovery in the commercial real estate market and a more questionable outlook for SME lending, will take its toll on lenders’ business models.

What is the significance of the agreement between German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on a European recovery package, funded through EU debt? GlobalCapital discussed it with Shahin Vallée, a senior fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and previously an economic adviser to Macron when he was France’s economy minister.

Governments across the world are scrambling to conjure up funds to offset the financial devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, including in the UK, which is expected to raise about £250bn between April and August alone. GlobalCapital spoke to Roger Bootle, economist and chairman of Capital Economics and recent author of “The AI Economy”, about the long-term implications of the UK’s higher borrowing.

Unédic, the French unemployment insurance agency, is facing an unprecedented strain on its services thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and its funding need has more than tripled as a result. CFO Jun Dumolard told GlobalCapital how the institution has been managing.

Unlike many other banks, ANZ has had no need to draw on central bank emergency liquidity lines during the coronavirus pandemic. Its risk-weighted assets have grown but this has been offset by greater retail deposits. And, as head of funding Mostyn Kau revealed, what subordinated debt issuance it does have to do will be for regulatory reasons rather than to do with Covid-19 crisis funding.

As UK mid-cap companies face the worst disruption that most of them will have experienced, many are turning to their corporate brokers for advice on how to survive the coronavirus crisis. Carlton Nelson, co-head of Investec's corporate broking business, has worked on a number of Covid-19 capital raising deals for UK companies and shared his experiences of an unprecedented crisis — its effects on the business that needs to be done and how it is executed.

Luca Bertalot, secretary-general of the European Mortgage Federation-European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC), speaks to GlobalCapital about the covered bond market living up to its reputation, the ECBC’s Covid-19 task force and monitoring report, transparency enhancements, the scope for a revival of the public sector market, and how green European Secured Notes (ESNs) and covered bonds secured on energy efficient mortgages could be flagships in Europe’s economic recovery.