Borrowers head west to diversify funding sources
“I would say that the theme this year has been on the high number of European banks that have gone to the US. Every European issuer was previously focused on the euro market – building their curves, establishing their investor base. They have all now done that. I wouldn’t say that they are bumping up against any kind of lending limits but let’s say that they’ve explored the boundaries of the euro market,” says Alan Patterson, European head of the financial institutions group at Citigroup.
Patterson points to significant market consolidation as one reason for this trend – many banks are much bigger now. For example, UniCredit and Santander both now have $20 billion borrowing programmes – far in excess of what they had five years ago. So their need for diversification is that much...
