UBS’s financing business might not have the widest scope in the industry these days, nor does the bank top the debt and equity capital markets league tables, but what it does have is expertise that is unusually well tailored to the times. For its skill in responding to its target clients’ needs, and particularly those of financial institutions, it is our pick as western Europe’s best bank for financing.
Debt capital markets issuance from western European borrowers has fallen progressively over the last two years, following the unusual surge of financing needed by governments and corporates in the pandemic years. For this awards period, issuance was at $1.4 trillion, some 31% below the roughly $2 trillion of issuance of April 2020 to April 2021.
Within that $1.4 trillion, corporate issuance was just half what it was in the earlier period. Sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) volumes fell about 40%. But financial institutions have bucked the trend, in large part driven by continuing regulatory requirements, to rise by 26%.
That