“I have had meetings with any number of start-up direct-lending platforms, and although I think there is a small need for them, the vast majority of them are total bullshit and a crisis waiting to happen”
A senior banking executive doesn’t take well to being disintermediated
“The logic behind raising $21 billion in the bond market to buy a triple-B rated company is simply that, if you don’t do it, someone else will raise $21 billion and come along and buy you”
The Actavis Allergan acquisition provides an interesting case study of the impact that the QE-fuelled corporate bond markets might be having on executive thinking
“That’s like asking me: ‘When was the last time you beat up your wife?!’” A global fixed income portfolio manager suggests a mere request to comment on when he last traded emerging market corporate bonds is a loaded question, citing the uptick in defaults and illiquidity
“Let’s not confuse KYC with democracy!”
A senior banker, tongue fortunately in cheek, on the dangers of providing banking services to countries where an authoritarian leader has a controlling hand in both finance and business