Jean-Baptiste Pons, EADS head of corporate finance and treasury
It is unusual to issue bonds in August, when many investors are on holiday. However, when European aerospace corporation EADS issued paper worth €1bn last month, common logic was defied in style. Writer Edward Russell-Walling
On a high: Enel chief risk officer Claudio Machetti
The past 24 months have seen Italian energy provider Enel acquire Spanish counterpart Endesa, face threats of a credit downgrade from Standard & Poor's, and launch a successful €8bn rights issue, the largest ever by an Italian company. Writer Edward Russell-Walling
The UK company formed from NTL, Telewest and Virgin has been busy in the corporate bond markets.
As a rare entrant to the senior markets, with a robust AA rating in its favour, Nordea's inaugural fixed-rate senior issue was a covetable success. Writer Edward Russell-Walling
In the current financial climate, five-year papers are considered a no-go area for US bond investors. This makes the $4m, five-year issue pulled off by Germany's Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau last month all the more remarkable. Writer Edward Russell-Walling
The Dutch State Treasury Agency triumphed when it brought its 10-year bond to market with a coupon of 4%: the book closed within just four hours with most of the allocation going to real money accounts of international investors. Writer Edward Russell-Walling.
BNP Paribas’ €1.5bn, five-year covered bond has given the market a welcome fillip, but was only made possible thanks to the bank’s five-year strategy of diversifying its funding as broadly as possible.
When RZB announced its rights issue in October it was not in response to market pressure, but the final step of a three-year programme to build capital in line with the assets and liabilities of the growing bank. Writer Edward Russell-Walling.
In October, the World Bank responded to market tensions by proving that highly creditworthy longer-tenor funding was possible with its five-year global bond. Writer Edward Russell-Walling.
A conservative funding structure has helped the Swiss bank retain a strong capital base, while an integrated business model has given it more flexibility. This has enabled it to produce its largest-ever single debt issue. Writer Edward Russell-Walling.
