Investment grade debt issuance market share
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| Source: Thomson Financial |
Source: www.breakingviews.com is Europe's leading financial commentary service
Date: August 2003
By Christopher Hughes
The commercial banks' assault on the US debt underwriting market is among the less visible shake-ups caused by the bear market. Some of them are even said to have offered loss-making loans to companies in a bid to win mandates. Yet for all the excitement surrounding bond issuance, underwriting it is a commodity business characterized by poor returns.
At first glance, it looks as if these banks are just taking share for the sake of it.
Three integrated banks - Citigroup, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank - have made the biggest push into US debt underwriting. Between 1998 and 2002, their collective share of the market rose by 11 percentage points, according...
