After the famine, the feast. The year kicked off with a riot of sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) issuance as one segment of the market reopened after another. Even the mass downgrade of nine euro sovereigns failed to dampen spirits. HSBC was able to parade its SSA credentials and had its busiest week ever, managing 30 benchmark and tap transactions, including an unusual two-tranche deal for freshly downgraded Austria.
The chain of deals worked on by HSBC’s debt capital markets team was a graphic example of how issuers and their banks could chisel away at openings in the market. As each transaction revealed more about the location and strength of demand, it generated enough confidence to launch the next and, for as long as it lasts, 2011 seems like another era.
