RUSSIA's woes and the disarray of stockmarkets globally made for a turbulent week in the bond markets. Bond and swap spreads widened dramatically. However, the unsettled background, and the seasonal slowdown, did not prevent a relatively active week. Lehman Brothers single-handedly accounted for $2.5bn of new one year debt -- described by some critics as league table plays -- as well as acting as joint bookrunner, with HSBC, on GMAC's $1bn global FRN. And if Lehman had league table aspirations in mind when launching the deals, the ploy worked -- it jumped two places in the international bookrunners table to eighth position.
August 14, 1998