The Dutch stay in touch
Why the European government bond markets have failed...and what the European Union would like to do about it
Europe’s primary sovereign debt markets have suffered market failure for many years. But is there anything the EU and its commissioner for internal markets and services, Charlie McCreevy, can do about it? Alex Chambers reports on how sovereign debt managers have coerced primary dealers into subsidizing Europe’s government debt markets by as much as €600 million a year.
European sovereign bond auctions do not work. A lack of price transparency makes participation at auction hazardous for all but the most savvy of operators. Most investors will not even consider using auctions to access the markets.
That doesn’t mean the auctions are failing. Far from it: most public sales of bonds are comfortably covered. In fact bonds sold at auction...
