The 1997 Guide to Germany: Pfandbriefe

Europe’s largest bond market

Over the last two years one of the most important trends within the German capital market has been the internationalization of the Pfandbrief market. The process has evolved as German issuers have acknowledged that over the longer term they can reduce their overall borrowing costs if they diversify away from their historical reliance on the domestic investor base. At the same time, international investors have increasingly recognised that the Pfandbrief market, which has now become the largest European bond market in terms of total volume outstanding, is simply too large for them to overlook.