Bonds
Riksbank economist warns on corporate bond market
Economist at the Swedish central bank says it will become ‘increasingly important’ to consider the impact of the corporate bond market on financial stability as it expands
BIS paper investigates factors behind birth and death of benchmarks
Working paper studies ‘benchmark tipping’, finding that although many government rates are being displaced by private benchmarks, China and Brazil may develop new government bond futures markets
ECB reveals details of asset purchases
Mario Draghi would not be drawn on the size of the asset and bond programmes, but said the ‘potential universe of purchases is up to €1 trillion’
Supreme Court clears Central Bank of Sri Lanka over Greek investment
Sri Lankan governor and monetary board members cleared over investment in Greek government bonds; Supreme Court says investment decisions ‘best left to central bank’
EM East Asian bond success could be undermined by ‘tighter liquidity’
ADB says US interest rates, geopolitical tensions and a ‘slowing property market’ in China could undermine the performance of East Asian bonds
ECB and BoE seek insights into yield curve behaviour
Frankfurt conference aims to improve understanding of the yield curve in the wake of the financial crisis, at a time when European and US yields are diverging
Hong Kong's first Islamic bond raises $1bn
Five-year sukuk sells at ‘tightest spread ever achieved’ over US Treasuries; strong demand from across the globe sees orders in excess of $4.7 billion
MAS seeks to widen retail access to Singapore bond market
Singapore’s central bank proposes a host of regulatory changes to ‘make it easier’ for retail investors to buy corporate bonds
ECB paper quantifies OMT benefits
OMT announcements depressed Italian and Spanish two-year government bond yields by roughly 200 basis points, but left their French and German equivalents ‘largely unaffected’
Preferential treatment distorts banks' demand for government bonds
Transaction-level data suggests comparatively beneficial liquidity and capital regulation is incentivising banks to swap other bonds for sovereign debt
Sovereign bonds offer ‘return-less risk' says GIC's head of fixed income
The returns on offer from the biggest sovereign bond issuers offer too little return even for the small level of risk associated, says GIC's managing director in charge of fixed income
IMF paper examines banks’ public bond holdings
Working paper published by the IMF finds that large banks accumulate high-risk public bonds during sovereign crises; examines relationship with bank lending
Reserve managers look to exit bonds sooner as global ‘taper' looms
Fed taper has reserve managers fretting, new Central Banking Publications survey of 69 central banks shows; ETFs are gaining traction as reserve asset class
Bank of Ghana admits monetising government debt
Central bank offers relief as investor flight drives sovereign bond yields to spike; ‘printing money to finance the deficit' will cause inflation and currency depreciation, Fitch warns
Frontier bonds find buyers as investors reach for yield
Pakistan sells $2 billion worth of Eurobonds as investors look for alternatives to US Treasuries; Greece and Swaziland among countries to find success with bonds in own currency
Two injured as bomb blast hits Bank of Greece
Bank of Greece security personnel injured by attack hours ahead of county’s return to international bond markets and visit by German chancellor Angela Merkel
'Coupling' of domestic bonds to foreign markets increases in turbulent times
Chilean corporate bond returns are affected by long-term government bond returns and by foreign macroeconomic shocks in the eurozone and the US
Norwegian governor backs SWF rotation into higher-yielding equities and real estate
Øystein Olsen says it is ‘natural' for the country's pension fund to invest in different types of real assets; talks up the possibility of an above-average market return
Central Bank of Iceland to offload Kaupthing bonds acquired in the crisis
The bank will sell $860 million worth of covered bonds issued by Kaupthing Bank before the financial crisis over the next five years
Credit ratings hit prices 'significantly' more in times of crisis, paper finds
Effects of rating actions on market prices not crucial during favourable market conditions but 'very significant' in times of crisis; analysis covers ratings and prices of 16,500 bonds over 12 years
Risky loans reach pre-crisis levels as banks are increasingly bypassed, warns BIS
Basel-based organisation also frets over impact on corporate bond markets from interest rate normalisation; cross-border lending falls in Q2 as non-banks play increasingly important role
BoE paper proposes new sovereign debt instruments
Economists from the UK and Canadian central banks says that sovereign cocos and GDP-linked bonds could help reduce the likelihood of liquidity and solvency crises
Danish authorities tackle mortgage bond refi risk
Lars Rohde hails a new bill forged by the central bank and the government as the solution to the ‘excessive refinancing risk’ in Denmark’s mortgage bond market
Central Bank of UAE set to bolster ‘under-developed' local bond market
UAE has looked to economies with strong trade balances as role-models to help develop a domestic bond market; may issue government debt in the coming years