A SUPPLEMENT TO EUROMONEY - MARCH 1996After the European Investment Bank (EIB) issued what they claimed was the first ever bond denominated in euros, investment bankers knew exactly where to look for other borrowers keen to follow suit. In the two or three days after his bank jointly led the EIB's euro 1-billion issue on January 31, Cyrus Ardalan, global head of bonds at Paribas, spoke to almost all the major issuers in Germany. Most are seriously considering an issue in euros. Germany has a flock of banks which carry some sort of state guarantee and consequently enjoy triple-A ratings or a notch below. All are regular issuers in the international capital markets. But most do their lending in Germany, so have traditionally borrowed in Deutschmarks to lend in Deutschmarks. The best known issuers, such as Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, have issued in other currencies for some years. But it is only over the past year that other banks have recognized the need to tap other currencies. This is not so much because they are investing and lending more outside Germany but also because they need to become better known to investors who buy non-Deutschmark debt. |