Well Prepared For Hard Timesbnp Paribas

摘要

While no one can be sure that the worst is over, the debt capital markets began the year with a burst of confidence. An important contributor to the mood was BNP Paribas, which reopened the public covered bond market in early January with a €1.5bn, five-year issue. This was the first covered bond issue since the collapse in September 2008 of Lehman Brothers. It was all the more striking as some commentators had forecast a freeze in this type of issuance until beyond the summer of 2009. It helped that BNPP had already been visible in the marketplace during December, when it reopened the unsecured bond market for the shrinking population of non-government-guaranteed banks. That €1.5bn, five-year senior transaction focused investors' minds on the BNPP name and - given its 'safe' reputation - attracted €3.5bn in orders. It was priced at 160 basis points (bps) over mid-swaps. "The dialogue we had with investors also revealed demand for a covered bond," says Valerie Brunerie, head of funding in the BNPP Corporate & Investment Banking treasury.