While Barclays has been getting recognition for overall achievement in the debt capital markets, its sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) team surpassed itself this summer when it was joint bookrunner on no less than five benchmark deals on the same day. To do it, Barclays had to convince itself that this was not only feasible but also fair to its clients.
It has been an uneven year in the bond markets, to say the least, reflecting the ebb and flow of fears about the world economy in general and the eurozone crisis in particular. The first quarter saw an explosion of issuance after the European Central Bank (ECB) deployed the first of its long-term refinancing operations (LTRO), to provide more liquidity for banks.