Ever since Lehman Brothers collapsed and brought the global financial markets to their knees, the phrase 'subprime' has unsettled regulators, policy-makers, investors and even certain bankers.
So South African banking group Investec's decision to launch a sterling bond transaction backed by non-conforming (or subprime) mortgages was distinctly courageous. The deal was the first to be launched in the UK since 2007 when Lehman, of all banks, brought a £730m ($1.17bn) transaction to market.
