Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, riled China this week by dropping in on Taiwan. The ripples of the visit spread across the Asian bond market, already suffering from myriad pressures both local and global.
Issuers pulled deals as investors worried about just how far China would go in its retaliation but it was not such a bad week for every borrower, as Singapore demonstrated. We look at how the diplomatic dispute will hurt the Asian bond market in the weeks and months ahead.
In Europe, trouble is brewing in the collateralised loan obligation (CLO) market. The investors which stump up the cash to allow issuers to put CLOs together in the first place are being squeezed to the point where it is becoming uneconomical for them to put money in. We examine the causes driving this and what the CLO market can do to overcome it and keep the deals flowing.